More teams for Mallorca

Milram counts on Zabel

Erik Zabel will be leading Team Milram in the Mallorca Challenge starting next week (February 11-15), the team has announced. "There is something for both the sprinters and the all-rounders in the Mallorca Challenge," the team noted.

All in all, Milram sends 12 riders to the Mallorca Challenge: Erik Zabel, Enrico Poitschke, Matej Jurco, Niki Terpstra, Björn Schröder, Marcel Sieberg, Sebastian Siedler, Sebastian Schwager, Martin Müller, Dennis Haueisen, Ralf Grabsch and Christian Knees.

Caisse d'Epargne - without Pereiro?

Spanish ProTour team Caisse d'Epargne will start its season in the race series on the Mediterranean island. Sports director José Luis Jaimerena chose the following 19 cyclists to participate: Florent Brard, Imanol Erviti, Marco Fertonani, Vicente García Acosta, Iván Gutiérrez, Joan Horrach, Pablo Lastras, David López, Alexeï Markov, Oscar Pereiro, Aitor Pérez, Fran Pérez, Mathieu Perget, Sébastien Portal, Vicente Reynes, Joaquín Rodríguez, José Joaquín Rojas, Luis León Sánchez and, of course, Alejandro Valverde.

The only problem for now is the participation of the 2006 Tour de France second-placed rider, Oscar Pereiro. Due to a flu, he might not be able to start, as the team informed (see above).