Milram turns into a German team

By Susan Westemeyer

German cycling has gained a new ProTour team: Team Milram will be riding under a German license as of the coming season. The International Cycling Union (UCI) has approved the team's application and transferred the license from the former Italian team manager Gianluigi Stanga to new team manager Gerry van Gerwen, who purchased the license from Stanga. Van Gerwen confirmed the transaction.

The team, which was founded in 2006, features sprinter stars Alessandro Petacchi and Erik Zabel. It will have 12 German riders in the coming year, and a total of seven new riders for the new season. It will hold its team presentation January 10 in Bremen, Germany.

Sponsor Nordmilch announced in August that it would seek to buy the license from Stanga. The Italian had been named by Jörg Jaksche in his doping confession, as having introduced the young German to EPO in 1997.