T-Mobile Roster for Tour of California
The Bonn based team brings a strong international squad to California; Sprint duo Henderson and Ciolek, Mick Rogers 3 time World TT champ. Five riders to debut in the Magenta jersey.

Five T-Mobile newcomers will be climbing into the saddle for the start of Sunday’s Tour of California (18.-25. February). Celebrating their race debut in magenta colors are American Aaron Olson, Michael Barry from Canada, Adam Hansen (Australia), Dane Jacob Piil as well as the young sprinting star Gerald Ciolek from Cologne. The 8-day challenge along the US west coast will cover a distance of 1,000 km from San Francisco toLong Beach.

For Australian Michael Rogers, three-time time trial World Champion, it will be his first race of the season. New Zealander Greg Henderson and Kim Kirchen from Luxembourg have already had their first taste of racing this season at the Tour of Qatar. The 8-man T-Mobile Team will be accompanied by Sporting Manager Brian Holm from Denmark.

Like last year the tour will start with a 3.1 km prologue in San Francisco. Eighteen teams will be racing against the clock from Pier 1 in the harbour district and then on to Telegraph Hill and the finish line at Coit Tower. The start is a real challenge for the cyclists with differences of 250 meters in height matching mountain climbs. "The intervals will certainly be greater than the usual city courses”, said Holm.

The 44-year-old Dane was there last year with the T-Mobile team during the US tour and knows from his own experience what his riders will be facing. "If you consider which phase of the season we’re in at the moment then you can’t really talk about a preparation race. Here, you are up against it from the start.”

Nevertheless Brian Holm is optimistic that his team will be able to pull off a stage win. In 2006 T-Mobile Team won two podium wins along the Pacific coast and this time around there is a also good chance of victory in the closing stages. “With Greg Henderson and Gerald Ciolek we have two sprinting talents in the team, who’ll be able to show their ability on a course like this”, said Holm. In the general classification Holm will be able to rely on the experience of Olson, Piil and Kirchen, who are all “rearing to go”.

T-Mobile roster for Tour of California:
Michael Barry (31/Canada)
Gerald Ciolek (20)
Adam Hansen (25/Australia)
Greg Henderson (30/New Zealand)
Kim Kirchen (28/Luxembourg)
Aaron Olsen (29/USA)
Jacob Piil (33/Denmark)
Michael Rogers (27/Australia)
Sporting director: Brian Holm (44/Denmark)