Gerolsteiner riders sick and worried

Something is sweeping through the Gerolsteiner team, and it's not something that is very welcome. "The flu is going around," says Ronny Scholz. "Besides me, three other riders have now caught it. Unfortunately I now have to take antibiotics. No athlete wants to do that because it works negatively on your performance, gives you heavy legs. Plus my tonsils are swollen. It's very difficult to breathe, especially when I'm riding fast." (www.ronnyscholz.de)

One of the other riders who is coming down with something is apparently Fabian Wegmann. The night from Sunday to Monday "I didn't feel well at all. I could hardly sleep and felt feverish. More than once I thought about whether it was time to go home? I finally slept a little just before it was time to get up."

After a training ride and more rest, he felt better, he says, until he thinks about what is coming up on Tuesday. "I haven't even thought about Alpe d'Huez yet. That won't make me crazy. I think the bigger problem will be the mountains that come before it. You can't let yourself fall back there. Somehow I'll make it up the final climb. How often have I already ridden it? Never! I know this myth only from books and tv." (www.fabianwegmann.de)