Team Talk 14 - Updates

No Henninger Turm for Erik Zabel, Alessandro Petacchi also out, Barloworld announce Giro team, Giro stage cleared of snow for test.

The sick and injured list at the German ProTour Team Milram just gets longer and longer, only days before the important German race Rund um den Henninger Turm on May Day. After the team management had hoped until the last minute that Erik Zabel would be able to start, the three-time winner said on Tuesday afternoon that he would not be able to participate.

"After a knee specialist examined him, he tried for a few days to train,“ said Milram Directeur Sportif Raoul Liebregts. "But there is still fluid in his right knee and it causes him pain on climbs. We hope that Erik will be able to race again within a few days.“

The 37-year old star sprinter injured his right knee in a crash last week in the Belgian Ardennes Classic Fleche Wallonne, and was also unable to start in Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday.

Over the weekend, sprinter Alessandro Petacchi had already announced that he would be unable to ride in the traditional Frankfurt race because of a severe bronchitis. Also not at the start in Frankfurt will be Ralf Grabsch (knee injury), Elia Rigotto (light cold) and Martin Velits (wrist injury).

Erik Zabel's place will be taken by youngster Artur Gajek. Petacchi will be represented by his Italian helper Marco Velo.

Milram will send a very young team to the 62nd Tour de Romandie (ProTour). The team, with an average age of 23,7 years, will be led by Björn Schröder and Sergio Ghisalberti, who at the ages of 27 and 28 are also the oldest in the line-up. The team is also placing its hopes on U-23 World Champion Peter Velits, who has had a very strong spring. The Slovak came down with a cold during the Vuelta a Pais Vasco, which forced him to take a training pause. He was satisfied with his performance in the Classic Liege-Bastogne-Liege, but noted, "I am still not 100 percent fit.“

Kevin Van Impe and Kevin Hulsmans were involved in an accident today near Oosterzele (Belgium). The two riders were training near Van Impe's house, along with two others.

"We were just riding along easily," - explains Hulsmans - "when at a certain point a car coming from behind hit us and threw us to the ground. The impact sent Van Impe clear to the other side of the road. Luckily, there were no cars coming the other way. I ended up against a light post, and another one of our friends broke his clavicle.

The driver stopped and help was there soon after. We were very lucky. Considering how fast the car was going, and by the look of our bikes, I must say that it could have been much worse." Both riders from the team came away with minor scrapes and bruises on their arms and legs.

Mauricio Soler leads Team Barloworld's lineup for the Giro d'Italia

Team Barloworld have announced the riders who will take the start from Palermo on May 10 to ride the 91st Giro d'Italia. This is the first participation ever for Team Barloworld to the Corsa Rosa.

Mauricio Soler in Liege Bastogne Liege. Pic - fotoreporter sirotti

Colombian Mauricio Soler, after winning 2007 Tour de France's KOM classification, will be the captain for the first Grand Tour of the season, focusing on the final classification.

This year's Giro is definitely hard, so it is important to have a strong team for both mountain and flat stages: Francesco Bellotti (Ita), Felix Cardenas (Col) and Christian Pfannberger (Aut) will work hard to get Soler into a good position on the mountains, whilst Patrick Calcagni (Sui), Stephen Cummings (Gbr), Carlo Scognamiglio (Ita) and Geraint Thomas (Eng) will take care of the captain on the plain. Enrico Gasparotto completes the roster: the Italian rider already wore the leader's pink jersey last year, and will look to repeat in 2008, competing for both flat and hilly stages.

Team Barloworld looking for success at the Subida al Naranco and the Vuelta a Asturias.

While part of Team Barloworld is busy getting ready for the Giro d’Italia which starts on May 10, another squad faces back to back races in Spain. The first is the Subida al Naranco on Thursday May 1 and then immediately after there is the Vuelta a Asturias between Saturday May 3 and Wednesday May 7.

The team hope Moises Duenas can do well in the overall standings of the Vuelta a Asturias after showing some good form in recent weeks. The race will be an important test for the Spanish rider and will indicate if he suitable for the Tour de France.

Duenas will be joined by Italians Diego Caccia, Gianpaolo Cheula and Paolo Longo Borghini –who impressed at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Also riding is Marco Corti as he continues to gain experience in his first full season as a professional. Completing the team are South Africa’s John-Lee Augustyn, Hugo Sabido of Portugal and Christophe Froome (Ken). Flavio Miozzo is the directeur sportif.

Marzio Bruseghi, sport director Fabrizio Bontempi and mechanic Enrico Pengo will test the route of the Giro d'Italia Plan de Corones time trial.

The Giro organisers are to open thissection for just one day after having removed the snow: and one or two riedrs for each team will be allowed to pedal on the entire parcour, followed by sport directors and mechanics in jeeps. "We thank the organisor s for giving us this interesting chance" - Fabrizio Bontempi said - "Inspection will be helpful in order to choose gears and technical material".

Astana Cycling Team
Riders: Thomas Frei, Vladimir Gusev, Maxim Iglinskiy, Andreas Klöden, Julien Mazet, Steve Morabito, Dmitriy Muravyev and Sergey Yakovlev D.S.: Alain Gallopin

BMC Racing Team
Alexandre Moos, Danilo Wyss, Martin Kohler, Steve Bovay, Jeff Louder, Ian McKissick, Brent Bookwalter, Nathan Miller

Team CSC
Matti Breschel, Volodymir Gustov, Kasper Klostergaard, Alexandr Kolobnev, Gustav Larsson, Chris Anker Sørensen, Jurgen Van Goolen and Jens Voigt

Silence Lotto
Aerts Mario , Cioni Dario , Cornu Dominique, Devenyns Dries , Gates Nick , Jacobs Pieter, McEwen Robbie and Vanhuffel Wim

Quickstep
Riders: Matteo Carrara, Alexander Efimkin, Ad Engels, Juan Manuel Garate, Leonardo Scarselli, Hubert Schwab, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Wouter Weylandt. D.s.: Luca Guercilena and Rik Van Slycke.

Team High Road outline their schedule for the remainder of the 2008 season.

Race highlights for the coming months will be the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, after which the team will have several team members attending the Olympic Games in Beijing.

“We had hoped to support the Vuelta and we continue to have a strong interest in the Spanish market,” said Team High Road owner Bob Stapleton. “However, in the absence of a commitment from the Vuelta race organiser, Team High Road has respectfully chosen to withdraw its application and we will instead support the Tour of Britain, the Tour of Ireland and the Tour of Missouri – each of which meets the marketing objectives of High Road.

Rabobank look back on what might have been at Liege Bastigne Liege on the team's website -'We were not super today'. With Thomas Dekker sixth and three men with the first thirteen, att first sight this looks like a good result. Still there was minor disappointment in the Rabo camp as well. "None of us could follow at the decisive moment on that new climb. That hurts a little for a moment," admitted team manager Erik Breukink. "I got beaten on value there. Better luck next time," reported Robert Gesink (thirteenth. And Thomas Dekker? He had an excuse, was not in top shape, but refused to use that in his defense. (edHe had a stomach upset)

Team manager Breukink reported afterwards that letting his best man from last week drop out had never been considered. With the Tour of Romandie, in which Dekker will defend the victory he won there last year, starting on Tuesday, that had been an option. But neither the team manager nor the rider had considered that, not even for a second. Breukink: "We should not blow those stomach complaints out of proportion. He was perfectly capable of riding with it. But you cannot have even one percent of bad luck if you want to compete with the world top. What Thomas found out now as well. We do not have to worry about Romandie. That will be fine."

Team Slipstream in their build up to the Giro d'Italia will be fielding teams on 4 May at The Trophée de Grimpeur and on 6 May, the 4 Jours de Dunkerque.