More races outside of Austria, the victory in the home Tour, and a wildcard invitation to the Tour of Deutschland -- those are the goals of Team Elk Haus Simplon in 2007. The team presented itself to the public in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday.
The Professional Continental team (see Cyclingnews' teams database), under manager Bernhard Rassinger, now boasts a budget of more than €700,000 and 18 riders.
The team's captain is Christian Pfannberger, who last year finished third in the Österreich Rundfahrt and won the prestigious Kitzbüheler Horn mountain stage, wants to do more this year. "I am planning my whole season around the Österreich Rundfahrt, which I want to win." He hopes to bring in some victories before then, too, "so that there won't be so much pressure." He particularly hopes to improve in time trialing, which was the discipline which lost him the lead in the Ö-Tour last year.
The 27 year-old will open his season with the Settimana Ciclistica Lombardia starting April 4.
The team also hopes for one of four wild card invitations to the Deutschland Tour, which runs through Austria.
The 18-man team consists of Christian Pfannberger (Aut, 09/12/1979), Clemens Frankhauser (Aut, 20/09/1985), Hannes Gründlinger (Aut, 24/07/1977), Harald Starzengruber (Aut, 1/04/1981), Harald Totschnig (Aut, 06/09/1974), Jan Valach (Svk, 19/08/1973), Jochen Summer (Aut, 28/05/1977), Marc Weisshaupt (Ger, 07/07/1970), Markus Eibegger (Aut, 16/10/1984), Martin Comploi (Aut, 08/10/1975), Michael Pichler (Aut, 28/07/1982), Peter Pichler (Aut, 12/01/1969), Robert Lauscha (Aut, 5/06/1983), Stefan Denifl (Aut, 20/09/1987), Stefan Rucker (Aut, 20/01/1980), Thomas Rohregger (Aut, 23/12/1982), Tomas Konecny (Cze, 11/10/1973) and Wolfgang Murer (Aut, 22/12/1979).
