Pollack to concentrate on track racing

Olaf Pollack will concentrate on track racing this year since he was unable to get a contract with a road team for the 2009 season. Negotiations with Team Vorarlberg-Corratec and the American team Rock Racing came to nothing.

The German sprinter rode for the Austrian Professional Continental Vorarlberg-Corratec team last year, but said that they were unable to meet his financial requirements for this season.

He came into contact with Rock Racing through that team's new Directeur Sportif, Rudy Pevenage, whom he knew from their days at T-Mobile Team. "But the transfer didn't come about because of the UCI age limits," he said in an interview on Radsport-News.com.

Rock Racing received only a Continental licence this season, limiting it to 16 riders, of whom only a specific number may be older than 27 years old. That left no room for the 35-year-old Pollack.

Pollack turns his full attention to the track, where he has always competed along with road races. His first goal is the World Championships the end of March. "I want to stand on the podium," he said.

His more distant goal is the London 2012 Olympics. He and partner Roger Kluge finished fifth in the Madison at the Beijing Olympics.

Pollack became professional in 1997 with Team Agro-Adler Brandenburg. He rode with Teams Gerolsteiner, T-Mobile, Wiesenhof-Felt and Volksbank. In the 2004 Giro d'Italia, he wore the leader's jersey for one day. (SW)

(Additional editorial assistance from Susan Westemeyer)