By Susan Westemeyer
Some of the top German pros have checked out the course for the 2007 World championships in Stuttgart, Germany, and they agree: it won't be easy.
Milram sprinter Erik Zabel says it right on the limit, "because there were a lot of crashes on some of the stretches when the Deutschland Tour rode over it." "It won't be very easy," said T-Mobile's Linus Gerdemann. "Riders who can climb well do well on this selective course."
Gerolsteiner's Markus Fothen also had an opinion on the course, a 19 kilometre round course which is to be ridden 14 times, for a total of 266 kilometres. "It will certainly be a real challenge. It is a hard but fair course." His teammate Stefan Schumacher called it "a very demanding course, because it constantly goes up and down.
Both Gerdemann and Schumacher were looking forward to a world championship in their home land. "Having the cycling world championship take place at your own front door only happens once in a lifetime," said Schumacher. "For that reason it is my dream to win a medal." According to Gerdemann, "Having the World's in your home land is always something special. I hope that we will have a really strong team on the start."
