German rider Roger Kluge is to leave Milram after just one year and head for the Dutch Skil-Shimano team. The German team looks set to fold at the end of the season as Bremen based sponsor Nordmilch is pulling the plug and a replacement has yet to be found. The 24-year-old track specialist is one of the first riders to confirm a transfer to a new team though.
Kluge joined ProTour team Milram at the beginning of 2010 after two years at Continental LKT Team Brandenburg. Before then, his best performances had been on the track, taking the silver medal in the points race at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He is a specialist in the Madison, winning German and European championships and World Cup events, partnered with Olaf Pollack and Robert Bartko.
In his first race for Milram, Kluge finished fourth overall and won the young riders jersey at the Tour of Qatar; he also won the 1.1-ranked Neuseen Classics in May.
Kluge rode his first ever Tour de France in July as lead out man for Milram’s sprinter Gerald Ciolek. Unfortunately though, he was forced to abandon with a broken hand sustained in a crash on stage 8 to Morxine-Avoriaz; the injury means that he may not race again this season.
As a powerful rider, Skil-Shimano expects Kluge to do well in prologues and the cobbled classics, as well as adding to its sprinting firepower. While he will concentrate on road racing in the immediate future, the German intends to return to the track for the Omnium competition at the London Olympics in 2012.