Will Team Gerolsteiner be "reborn" as a new team under the management of Gerolsteiner's Christian Henn? That is the latest rumour making the rounds, which also puts Canadian bicycle manufacturer Cervelo as title sponsor for this new squad which is reportedly to be registered in Switzerland.
According to Tuttobiciweb.it, the team could include Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre, who has yet to renew his contract with the CSC team. Sastre, whose contract with Team CSC expires the end of this year, recently issued a statement noting that he is bound to CSC through the end of this year and at the moment wants to concentrate his attention on the upcoming Vuelta a España. He did not address the question of where he will ride next year, leaving it open for speculation.
CSC-Saxo Bank manager Bjarne Riis said after the Tour de France that he would do everything he could to keep Sastre on his team.
The Gerolsteiner team has been actively seeking a replacement title sponsor after it learned that the bottled water company would not be renewing its support in September, 2007. Manager Hans-Michael Holczer has said that he is not optimistic of finding a replacement.
Henn, 44, rode for Team Telekom from 1989 to 1999. He went to Team Gerolsteiner as a Directeur Sportif and he is now assistant team manager and Sport Director.
Reports also link current Gerolsteiner riders Stefan Schumacher and Bernhard Kohl with the potential new squad. Kohl, who finished third in the Tour de France, has told Quick Step that he is not interested in signing with them, according to Het Nieuwsblad. The Belgian paper further added that the Austrian has offers from Silence-Lotto, Milram, Columbia and Milram, but that he is delaying his decision to see if there will be a continuation of or follow-up team to Gerolsteiner. (SW)
