Following a quiet Tour de France, the Milram team is hoping for better fortunes in this Sunday’s Clasica San Sebastian in northern Spain. The eight-man squad will feature five of its Tour de France team – the German road race champion Christian Knees, Johannes Fröhlinger, Luke Roberts, Thomas Rohregger and Niki Terpstra. They will be joined by the veteran rider Peter Wrolich, plus the younger competitors Artur Gajek and Matthis Ruß.
The team’s best result in the Tour was Gerald Ciolek’s runner-up slot on stage five to Montargis, plus the third place achieved by Fabian Wegmann on stage two to Spa. Ciolek was eighth in the points classification, while Thomas Rohregger was best overall in 74th place. The German ProTour team was last overall in the teams classification, so there were few bright spots in the Tour.
Directeur sportif Ralf Grabsch wants things to turn around in the Basque Country race. “I assume that our riders will have recovered from the Tour de France and gathered their strength again,” he said. “We want to attack with new morale and present ourselves well in this difficult ProTour race.”
The pressure is on Team Milram as it still does not have a sponsor for 2011. It has been sponsored by the dairy company Nordmilch AG for five years, but it has indicated that it will not continue past the end of this season. Two of its biggest riders, Ciolek and Linus Gerdemann, are reportedly looking elsewhere, with the former linked to a possible move back to HTC Columbia.
Team manager Gerry Van Gerwen is apparently chasing up two leads but even if something materialises, it will be September before arrangements are in place. The team therefore needs to start showing results, and Sunday’s contest is a good place to start.
The Clasica San Sebastian began in 1981 and has been part of the ProTour since 2005. It features several tough climbs, including the Alto de Jaizkibel. Quick Step’s Carlos Barredo won last year.