Ciolek: Columbia or Milram?

German Gerald Ciolek is currently deciding between two teams for the upcoming season, according to an interview published Wednesday by tour.ARD.de. "The question is certainly, Team Columbia or Team Milram? That has not been yet cleared up," Ciolek said. At Milram, he could move into the role of top sprinter, in the absence of Alessandro Petacchi, while at Columbia he is a second-string sprinter behind Mark Cavendish and André Greipel.

The 21 year-old made his Tour debut this year, finishing second in the closing stage. He then rode, but did not finish, the Beijing Olympics road race. Ciolek has brought in only two wins this season, with two stages of the Bayern Rundfahrt. He hopes for better luck in the Deutschland Tour, where he won three stages last year.

Ciolek burst into the scene in 2005, when he won the German national road championship as an 18 year-old. He followed that up with the U-23 World title in 2006 in Salzburg. He joined the ProTour with T-Mobile Team (now Columbia) in 2007, and had seven wins that year, plus the overall title in the Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt.