English
Dortmund: 05/03/2009
Team MILRAM is sending its allrounders to the 67th Paris-Nice (UCI category HIS) from March 8 to 15. With a squad that will be hard for its rivals to figure out, because it is very balanced and strong, the Dortmund-based team wants to ride aggressively in the “Race to the Sun,” put on by the ASO, which also organizes the Tour de France. The two Directeurs Sportif, Vittorio Algeri and Raoul Liebregts, will look in France to Christian Knees, Markus Fothen, Thomas Rohregger, Niki Terpstra, and Martin Velits, as well as Martin Müller, Matthias Russ and Thomas Fothen.
“The team’s goal is that someone from the team wins a stage,”
said MILRAM allrounder Christian Knees.
“It is only a question of time until one of us is the first over the finish line. The team makes a very strong and cohesive impression. My personal goal for Paris-Nice is quite simple: I want to ride a good race and be at the front in one stage.”
“It is my first start in Paris-Nice and I am really excited, since I have already heard so much about the race,”
said MILRAM’s Markus Fothen.
“I have a lot of respect for the weather and hope that it gets better every day as we go south. At any rate it will be a good new challenge, which I am really looking forward to.”
“The first three flat stages will be decisive, since the wind and weather can often play a strong role here,”
said MILRAM’s Thomas Rohregger.
“You have to ride carefully and near the front, so that you don’t lose contact. The profile of the last three days is good for climbers like me. I am really looking forward to my first participation in Paris-Nice and think that we will place a deciding role in this race.”
Paris-Nice starts on Sunday, March 7, with a 9.3 kilometer long individual time trial in Amilly. From there it goes on the following days 1,250 kilometers from central France to Nice on the Mediterranean Sea. The first three days are mostly flat, but on Wednesday, March 11, the allrounders and climbers in the peloton will have their chances. On the final stage of 119 kilometers starting and ending in Nice, three Category One ranked climbs will determine the winner of the race.
With Christian Knees and Niki Terpstra, MILRAM is sending two riders to the race who were also at the start last year. In that race former MILRAM rider Andrey Grivko put in a good performance and for two days wore the white jersey of the best young rider.
The Team MILRAM line-up:
Markus Fothen (GER/Kaarst), Thomas Fothen (GER/Kaarst), Christian Knees (GER/Euskirchen), Martin Müller (GER/Berlin), Thomas Rohregger (AUT/Innsbruck), Matthias Ruß (GER/Oberried), Niki Terpstra (NED/Haarlem), Martin Velits (SVK/Riemst,BEL)
Directeurs Sportif:
Vittorio Algeri (ITA), Raoul Liebregts (NED)
The Stages 2009:
8. March Stage 1: Amilly – Amilly 9,3 km (EZF)
9. March Stage 2: Saint-Brisson-sur-Loire – La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 195,5 km
10. March Stage 3: Orval – Vichy 175 km
11. March Stage 4: Vichy – Saint-Étienne 171,5 km
12. March Stage 5: Annonay – Vallon-Pont-d’Arc 204 km
13. March Stage 6: Saint-Paul-Trois-Ch̢teaux РLa Montagne de Lure 182,5 km
14. March Stage 7: Manosque – Fayence 191 km
15. March Stage 8: Nice – Nice 119 km
Total length: 1.247,8 Kilometer