More teams finalize Worlds selection

Luxembourg announced its team. Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) and the reigning champion of Luxembourg, Benoît Joachim of Astana, will join the Schleck brothers, Frank and Andy, of CSC. Christian Poos (CCT Differdange), who got second in the national championships behind Joachim, will also be there, along with Laurent Didier (Regiostrom-Senges).

Colombia may not be able to bank on an event held in high altitude, but at least there should be enough hills to make them competitive. The team is also not particularly a no-name team, headed by Victor-Hugo Peña (Unibet.com) and Leonardo Duque (Cofidis), who won a stage in the Vuelta a España just a couple of days ago. The duo will be accompanied by Mauricio Ardila (Rabobank), Alex Cano (Unidelta), Luis-Felipe Laverde (Panaria-Navigare) and José Serpa (Diquigiovanni).

Austria can send only three riders to the men's road race, and it has chosen Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner), Gerrit Glomser (Team Volksbank), and Christian Pfannberger (Elk Haus-Simplon". Their modest goal is a top ten finish. "That will be difficult, because as a small team we can only react," Kohl said. "But nothing is impossible. Glomser was called on the phone by national coach Franz Hartl yesterday. It is the fifth time he is racing for Austria in the Worlds. He won the bronze medal in 1997, in the U23 category.