Last ProTour race for Phonak's Stalder

The demise of the Phonak team at the end of this season will see another rider without a ride in the ProTour next year. Swiss rider Florian Stalder, who celebrated his best career result by taking fifth place at Paris-Bourges last Thursday, will bid farewell to the ProTour next Sunday at the Giro de Lombardie. In future, the young Swiss rider will be racing for the Austrian second-division team Volksbank.

"I had a lot of good moments. The Tour de Georgia with our captain's [Landis] win there and the Vuelta a España were great experiences. The fifth-place finish last Thursday was an encore," said the 24 year-old.

"I dreamed of becoming a pro and invested everything and trained hard to come this far. In the next couple of days I'll sign a one year contract with the Volksbank Professional Cycling Team. I hope to fulfil the expectations in the Austrian team by securing good results and then later return to the ProTour," added Stalder.