Münsterland Giro coming up

Martens was excited (Image credit: Florian & Susanne Schaaf)

Racing in Germany did not stop Sunday with the end of the World Championships in Stuttgart. The next race is the Münsterland Giro, which will be held Wednesday, Oct. 3, the Day of German Unity, a national holiday. The Giro premiered last year and has a UCI ranking of 1.1. The races winds 210 km, starting in Steinfurt and going up and down a number of hills -- but no ranked climbs -- before ending up with three laps of a circuit course in downtown Münster.

Last year's winner Paul Martens of Team Skil-Shimano will be there to defend his title, but he will face some strong competition, as five ProTour teams will be represented: CSC, Gerolsteiner, Milram, Predictor-Lotto and T-Mobile. They will be bringing some of their big guns, too. According to the start list, the race will feature two local boys: Linus Gerdemann of T-Mobile and Fabian Wegmann of Gerolsteiner. CSC will have both Andy and Fränk Schleck, both fresh from the World's race, while Milram is sending super sprinter Alessandro Petacchi. who will be supported by Christian Knees and Marcel Sieberg.