CSC expects much of Pais Vasco

Team CSC has no plans of anonymity, when the peloton begins the Basque ProTour race Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco on Monday, a challenging climber's event in Northern Spain. "We are quite ambitious with this race, because we'd both like a couple of riders at the top of the general classification and a top spot in the team's competition, but we'd really like a couple of stage wins as well if possible," said sports director Kim Andersen.

"It's still too early to expect a top spot from Carlos Sastre and Iñigo Cuesta after their recent injuries, but we have some strong profiles in both Bobby Julich, Fränk Schleck and maybe also Jens Voigt, while Alexandre Kolobnev might well show up in a couple of breaks," he continued.

Jens Voigt has made a tradition out of appearing in breaks in this particular race, but this year the final day does not include two stages like usually, and this is where Voigt in 2004 and 2005 won the first stage and in 2006 he was second. Bobby Julich followed his lead in 2004 by winning the time trial later in the day.

All in all, Team CSC has had four stage wins in the history of the race and riders among the top-5 overall three times. Angél Goméz (Saunier Duval) is defending his victory from last year and no present ProTour rider has won the race more than once. Spanish rider José Antonio Gonzalez holds the record with four overall wins back in the seventies.