Under the leadership of Gerald Ciolek, Team Milram will look for its first major season success this coming Saturday, March 21, at the 100th edition of the Italian Classic Milano-Sanremo (UCI Category HIS).  The Milram captain will be supported over the 298 kilometers from the Lombardian city Milano to the Mediterranean by Germans Christian Knees, Johannes Fröhlinger and Fabian Wegmann, Netherlander Niki Terpstra, the Slovakian brothers Martin and Peter Velits and Austrian Peter Wrolich.

„Milano-Sanremo has its own set of rules,“ said team manager Gerry van Gerwen.  „The distance of 300 kilometers requires a rider to give everything, physically as well as emotionally.  It is our goal to have Gerald Ciolek in the front up to the finale at the foot of Poggio.  It would be optimal to have two more Milram riders, like Fabian Wegmann or Peter Wrolich, at his side.  I would be very satisfied with that because at that point in the race, anything is possible.

A complete interview with MILRAM team manager Gerry van Gerwen on this subject can be found on www.team-milram.com.

Milano-Sanremo with its nearly 300 kilometers is the longest one-day race in professional cycling.  The race has been organised by the Gazetta dello Sport since 1907 and is nicknamed „la classicissima“.  The route has been changed only slightly this year.  For the pros, it goes from Milano over the Turchino Pass to the coast.  Especially spectacular and usually decisive are the small climbs of the otherwise flat Classic shortly before the finish, including the Cipressa (about 20 km before the finish) and the Poggio die Sanremo (about six km before the finish).  Despite the two climbs, known as „Capi“, the race has often ended in the past in mass sprints, in which the sprinters could take the win.

The record champion at „La Primavera“ is the Belgian „Cannibal“ Eddy Merckx (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976).  Former MILRAM captain Erik Zabel is in third place with four wins (1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001) behind Constante Girardengo.  Zabel shares with Gino Bartali the third place in the list of winners of Milano-Sanremo.

The Team Milram line-up:
Gerald Ciolek (GER/Ermatingen,SUI), Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/Freiburg im Breisgau), Christian Knees (GER/Euskirchen), Niki Terpstra (NED/Haarlem), Martin Velits (SVK/Riemst,BEL), Peter Velits (SVK/Riemst,BEL), Fabian Wegmann (GER/Freiburg), Peter Wrolich (AUT/Klagenfurt)
Directeur Sportif: Christian Henn (GER), Vittorio Algeri (ITA)



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