By Susan Westemeyer
Marcel Sieberg's transfer from Team Milram to T-Mobile Team turned out to be rather confusing, with his former team changing from Italian to German and his new team changing its base from Germany to the USA, and now known as Team High Road. "That's the way it is. These days lots of things are changing in cycling," he said in an interview on radsport-aktiv.de.
The 25 year-old rode for Milram for only one year. "The professionalism and plans at High Road for 2008 told me a lot. That's why I took this step, although I felt very comfortable at Milram."
Things didn't start out well for the 1.98-metre tall redhead. He hurt an elbow in a crash during the team's training camp in California, USA, and couldn't ride for five days. Then the jet lag kicked in when he flew back to Europe and to start in the Volta ao Algarve only a few days later. "Fortunately things went better every day and I hope to keep on getting better for the coming races." Sieberg finished ninth in the Volta's final stage, winning the sprint of the following group.
Sieberg will build up to his season highlights – the cobbled Spring Classics in Belgium and France – by riding Omloop Het Volk and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne this weekend, to be followed by Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Sanremo. He will not be team captain, as he might have been at Milram. "We have a super team," he noted, "and I hope that we can have a say in the outcomes of the Classics. I think that I can learn a lot from my team-mates. I just hope to ride forward as long as I can and to be able to help them. And maybe I will have a good day, too..."
A win in Paris-Roubaix would be his ultimate dream. "Paris-Roubaix is simply one of the hardest and most beautiful races, and only happens once a year. With a win there, you go down in history. On the other hand, the Tour has 20 stages," he laughed. "But every win is good." He doesn't expect to be at the Tour de France this year. "Of course you hope to be at such a great race, but I knew from the beginning that it would be difficult to make the squad this year. If the team takes a sprinter and says, 'Sibi, we need you,' then that would be great. But if it doesn't happen, then that's not the end of the world."
