Petacchi & Zabel to new German/Italian team?

Erik Zabel and Alessandro Petacchi will ride together for a new German team in 2006, according to the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper. The team will incorporate the structures of the current Domina Vacanze and Wiesenhof teams, with German dairy company Nordmilch replacing Wiesenhof as a sponsor under its 'Milram' brand.

As always at this time of year, though, initial reports may be slightly optimistic. Nordmilch spokesman Harald Schomacker told Germany's radsport-news.com, "I can confirm that we are in negotiations but the contracts and amounts are not yet decided. Basically a cyclesport sponsorship with Erik Zabel would fit with our new mid-price 'Milram' product range."