Team Milram at the Österreich-Rundfahrt

This coming Sunday, July 5, Team Milram will be at the start of the 61st Internationalen Österreich-Rundfahrt (July 5-12/UCI Category 2 HC).  The German ProTour team will be led by the new Slovakian champion Martin Velits.  The stage race through the Alpine nation will also see the return to racing of Matthias Ruß, who has recovered from his broken collarbone.  In addition to those two, Directeur Sportif Ralf Grabsch will look to Germans Markus Eichler, Thomas Fothen, Artur Gajek, Christian Kux and Dominik Roels, as well as Italian Luca Barla.

"The Österreich Rundfahrt is very difficult this year.  The winner will be decided in the first few days.  We will have to look from day to day," said Ralf Grabsch.  "Martin Velits and Matthias Ruß are in good form at the moment and are surely good for a surprise."

The Österreich-Rundfarht starts Sunday in Dornbirn.  An early decision as to the winner is expected, as the second and third days feature the climbs up the Kitzbüheler Horn and the Großclockner.  After eight stages, the challening stage race has its traditional end in Vienna.

In last year's Österreich-Rundfahrt, Thomas Rohregger, riding for Elk Haus-Simplon, won ahead of Vladimir Gusev (Astana) and Ukranian Ruslan Pigorny (LPR Brakes) for the the overall title.  The native of Innsbruck thus topped his success from 2006, when he won the King of the Mountains jersey.  "Unfortunately Rohregger can't start in his homeland," said team manager Gerry van Gerwen.  "He has already had a hard racing program with the Giro and the Tour de Suisse.  Then he was thrown back by a bad cold and severe sore throat.  Now he has earned a break from racing."

The lineup: Luca Barla (ITA/ Sanremo), Markus Eichler (GER/ Mönchengladbach), Thomas Fothen (GER/ Kaarst), Artur Gajek (GER/ Bergisch Gladbach), Christian Kux (GER/ Chemnitz), Dominik Roels (GER/ Köln), Matthias Ruß (GER/ Bad Cannstadt), Martin Velits (SVK/Riemst,BEL)

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