At the 2005 Tour de Suisse, a young CSC rider had his first big moment. Linus Gerdemann, then 22 years-old, won the seventh stage by attacking out of a highly-experienced, six-man breakaway group. Bjarne Riis' model student gave a flash of his talent for the first time in his career as a pro. Björn Scheele believes there's plenty more to come.
After a mediocre spring, Gerdemann is now getting back into gear and showed great tenacity at the Volta a Catalunya, still relishing his sixth place overall. "In the first quarter of the season, my results didn't really reflect my form," he says. "After Rund um Köln I got very ill. The Volta a Catalunya was pretty important to me because it made me realize that I can actually keep up with the Tour favourites in the mountains."
