Equipe Nürnberger for 2007

Equipe Nürnberger has joined the trend of German teams with a new beginning - exactly half of the team's ten riders are new this season. The women's team introduced those ten riders, including former world champion Regina Schleicher, at its presentation this week.

The team is centred around three riders: Trixi Worrack, who finished second in the World's road race in 2006, Schleicher, who won that race in 2005, and newcomer Edita Pucinskaite of Lithuania, world champion in 1999 and winner of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.

"We have often had top riders leave us, but we have always been able to fill the holes they left behind," said sports director Jens Zemke. "I'm confident that we will compete on the highest level with this team."

The team is also sponsoring for the first time an amateur team with eight riders, all of whom are members of the national team. "If we can offer these young athletes professional training conditions, then that profits not only us but all of German cycling," said team manager Herbert Oppelt. "Professional teams in other sports have done this for a long time."

Equipe Nürnberger squad for 2007: Charlotte Becker (Germany), Andrea Graus (Austria), Claudia Häusler (Germany), Marie Lindberg (Sweden), Eva Lutz (Germany), Edita Pucinskaite (Lithuania), Regina Schleicher (Germany), Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Lithuania) and Trixi Worrack (Germany).