Harelbeke

26-03-2009 13:57:07

This coming Saturday, March 28, Team Milram will start in the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke (UCI category 1 HC).  At the Belgian race over 208 kilometers with start and finish in Harelbeke, Belgium, the German team will have to do without two important riders:  Captain Gerald Ciolek has to miss the race becasue of illness, while Austrian Peter Wrolich is suffering from the aftereffects of a crash in Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen.  Replacements: Luca Barla and Paul Voß.

The 22-year-old captain Gerald Ciolek, who was unable to start the Eroica race March 7 because of stomach and intestinal problems and is recovering from a cold since Tirenno-Adriatico, will not be available to start this weekend.  Austrian rider Peter Wrolich crashed in the one-day race Dwars door Vlaanderen and injured his shoulder, which makes it impossible for him to start.

The E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke has been run since 1958 and traditionally takes place eight days before the Ronde van Vlaanderen.  The start and finish is the city of Harelbeke in the Belgian region of Flanders.  In between lay 208 sometimes-challenging kilometers.  In the history of the E3 Prijs, only two Germans have been able to win, Dietrich Thurau (1977) and Olaf Ludwig (1991).

The Milram line-up:
Luca Barla (ITA/San Remo-Imperia), Markus Eichler (GER/Mönchengladbach), Thomas Fothen (GER/Kaarst), Artur Gajek (GER/Bergisch Gladbach), Servais Knaven (BEL/Meerle), Niki Terpstra (NED/Haarlem), Martin Velits (SVK/Riemst,BEL), Paul Voß (GER/Bielefeld)
Directeur Sportif: Christian Henn (GER)