T-Mobile director Brian Holm has picked a mix of youth and experience in the eight-man team to ride the UCI category 2.1 Sachsen-Tour, which starts in Dresden tomorrow and finishes on July 23. Olaf Pollack and André Greipel will go for sprint wins, supported by André Korff.
23-year-old Linus Gerdemann, seventh in this year's Tour de Suisse, is T-Mobile's man for the GC as are Kim Kirchen and Italian Lorenzo Bernucci. The experienced Italian Daniele Nardello and Stephan Schreck will make up the remaining places. Schreck took the opener at the 2004 Sachsen-Tour and remained in yellow for two days.
15 teams have registered for the Sachsen-Tour, including seven ProTour teams. Gerolsteiner and Milram will be on the starting line as well as Discovery Channel led by classics specialist Vladimir Gusev. Rabobank pro Mathew Hayman is looking to defend his title at the 776km race. The Aussie won the 2005 edition despite crashing on the finishing straight and suffering a broken collarbone.
The undulating terrain in Saxony should play into the hands of the allrounders. The GC contenders will try to make their mark on the 24,6 km ITT, before Sunday's tough final stage around Dresden, featuring a decisive climb up to Zinnwald.
Stages
Stage 1 - July 19: Dresden - Oybin, 173 km.
Stage 2 - July 20: Ebersbach - Meerane, 229 km.
Stage 3 - July 21: Chemnitz - Riesa, 199 km.
Stage 4 - July 22: Oschatz - Oschatz, 24 km, ITT.
Stage 5 - July 23: Dresden - Dresden, 149 km.
