"All parties involved have more security since the introduction of the ProTour," said Hans-Michael Holczer, manager of German Team Gerolsteiner in an interview with newspaper Wiesbadener Tagblatt. "Because the contracts run for four years, race organizers and teams both can make long-term plans and don't have to worry about coming up against something unexpected in the middle of the season. The professional business has won a new seriousness and we can approach our sponsors differently. For example, doping. If a team doesn't address this problem seriously enough, it will lose its Pro Tour licence quickly. And that is good." Furthermore, Holczer doesn't foresee problems with the Grand Tours in the coming year, even though their respective organisers have announced that they would would not be part of the series. "You have to know that the three Grand Tours were never formally a part of the ProTour," he noted. "After the most recent discussions in Brussels, I am very confident that a solution for 2006 will be found."
Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer
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