Tour de France 2008 - High Road Announces Columbia Squad
Team Columbia Sends A Strong, Young, Talented And International Team to the Tour de France in Support of Kim Kirchen team leader. Hincapie Road Captain.

Bonn, Germany, 25 June 2008 - High Road Sports has announced the riders that will start the 2008 Tour de France. The roster consists of nine riders from eight different countries, and five riders aged 25 and under.

High Road Tour de France Squad
Kim Kirchen (29), Luxembourg,
George Hincapie (34) USA
Thomas Lövkvist(24) Sweden
Kanstantsin Sivtsov (25), Belarussia,
Mark Cavendish (23), Great Britian
Gerald Ciolek (21), Germany
Adam Hansen (27), Australia
Marcus Burghardt (24) Germany
Bernhard Eisel (27) Austria.

“We plan to be competitive in every stage without losing the focus on the support for Kirchen in the General Classification” explains Team Director Rolf Aldag. “This team is able to exploit and dictate the tactics on some stages”.

The team consists of a solid lead out group with the likes of Hincapie, Burghardt and Eisel to support young sprinters Cavendish and Ciolek. Cavendish has won seven major races in 2008 and makes his second start at the Tour. Ciolek makes his Tour de France Debut after winning three stages in the tour of Germany last year.

Tour of Switzerland: Kim Kirchen race leader after a solo victory on stage 6. Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

Support for Kirchen in the mountains will come from Hincapie, Sivtsov, who won the overall title at the Tour de Georgia this year and Lövkvist, who finished fifth overall in the Tour de Suisse last week.

George Hincapie, a veteran of 12 tours, will be the road captain and tactical leader on the bike during the race.

“The team has been on a big wave of success this year,” adds Bob Stapleton, Team owner, “and we bring confidence, team work and good spirit into the Tour. It was difficult to select the Tour de France team because so many of riders deserved a spot”.

High Road Sports will hold a press conference at the Tour de France on July 4 at 10am to introduce the Tour riders and the introduce the Columbia Sportswear brand to the sport of cycling and a huge International audience at the 95th Tour de France.

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