Team Milram's Gerald Ciolek already has a new home should his team be unable to secure a new sponsor to continue in 2011. His former team HTC-Columbia, where he worked as a leadout man for Mark Cavendish, has said that the 23 year old talent is welcome to return.
"If he has no team, then he must come and talk to us," admitted HTC-Columbia sports director Rolf Aldag to SID. "Then we can talk about his sporting outlook and goals."
Ciolek left the American team for Milram to move out of Cavendish's shadow and assume a leadership role as top sprinter within the team. His biggest win at the German team has been stage two of Vuelta a España last year, with a second place behind Cavendish to his credit so far in this year's Tour de France. He spent 2007 and 2008 on the then Team Columbia, which is when owner Bob Stapleton took over the project and saved the team after T-Mobile dropped their cycling sponsorship.
The team will see the young German as a perfect replacement for André Greipel, who will no doubt be leaving the formation when his contract runs out at the end of the year. Despite notching up 13 wins already this season, the most of anyone on the team, Greipel's desire to participate in the Tour de France and other major races has put him at odds with the team's sprint king Cavendish.
His current Milram team has a press conference scheduled on the rest day at the hotel Club Med Avoriaz in Morzine, where team manager Gerry van Gerwen may make an announcement on the team's future. German milk company Nordmilch AG, the parent company for Milram, has been a huge supporter of cycling. They have already extended the planned termination of their sponsorship once, and it seems that their continued support may very well be the only hope for Germany's only ProTour squad.