U-23 World Champion Peter Velits leads German ProTour team in Volta a Catalunya

Publiceret af: danny 2008-05-17

Led by U-23 World Champion Peter Velits, Team MILRAM will be at the start of the 88th Volta a Catalunya (UCI ProTour) from Monday, May 19, to Sunday, May 25.  The Directeur Sportif of the German ProTour team, Vittorio Algeri, will look to not only the Slovakian but also to Germans Christian Kux and Dominik Roels, Italians Elia Rigotto and Luca Barla, Ukranians Andrey Grivko and Volodymyr Diudia, as well as Australian Brett Lancaster.  The young MILRAM line-up has an average age of 23.
„It is my premiere in Catalunya, and I am really looking forward to it,“ Peter Velits said.  „I feel good and could train a lot in the last few days.  The challenging profile with its many climbs fits to me and I hope that, like at Pais Vasco, I can improve from day to day.“
The race through northeastern Spain begins with a 3.7 km time trial in the resort town of Lloret de Mar.  Afterwards it goes for six days and about 1,030 km from the little town of Riudellots de la Selva to  Catalunya's regional capital, Barcelona.
Volodymyr Diudia and his Ukranian landsman Andrey Grivko have good memories of the strenuous days in Catalunya.  Diuda surprised everyone with a top ten finish in the third stage last year.  Teammate Grivko defended an overall eighth place for the first three days in 2006 and ended the race as best MILRAM rider in 32nd place.
The Stages 2008:
19.05. 1. Stage: Lloret de Mar - Lloret de Mar (EZF, 3,7 km)
20.05. 2. Stage: Riudellots de la Selva - Banyoles (167,8 km)
21.05. 3. Stage: Banyoles - La Seu d'Urgell (191,9 km)
22.05. 4. Stage: La Seu d'Urgell - Ascó "La Vostra Energia" (217,2 km)
23.05. Stage: Ascó "La Vostra Energia" - El Vendrell (163,5 km)
24.05. 6. Stage: El Vendrell - Pallejà (163,9 km)
25.05. 7. Stage: Pallejà - Barcelona (124 km)
Total length: 1.032 km
The MILRAM line-up in the Volta a Catalunya:  
Andrey Grivko (UKR/Poggio a Caiano,ITA), Brett Lancaster (AUS/Monsummano Terme-Pistoia,ITA), Christian Kux (GER/Chemnitz), Dominik Roels (GER/Köln), Elia Rigotto (ITA/Creazzo), Luca Barla (ITA/Sanremo – Imperia), Peter Velits (SVK/Riemst;BEL), Volodymyr Diudia (UKR/Belaia Zerkov)
Directeur Sportif:  Vittorio Algeri (ITA)