August is the time of year for the professional teams to pick up young, promising riders from the lesser ranks, toss them into the waters of high-level competition and see if they sink or swim. This year is no different, and a big crop of youngsters will hit the roads alongside seasoned professionals in several upcoming races.
The T-Mobile Team is continuing its trends attracting young, international riders by signing three stagiaires from three different lands. The young riders will immediately join the team and race with the pros until the end of the season.
Ian Stannard, 20, of Great Britain, is already riding the Tour of Denmark for T-Mobile, but the colours aren't completely unfamiliar for him. He rode previously for the T-Mobile Development program and the Dutch Continental team Van Vliet.
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23-year-old Dutchman Marcel Beima rode for the Dutch Continental team Rime-Van Hemert. The third rider is Andrey Klyuev, of Russia, who rode this season for the Russian team Moscow Stars. He will appear for T-Mobile Saturday in Rund um die Hainleite.
The Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner team will also be fielding several youngsters in upcoming races. According to the team's website, www.landbouwkrediet-tonissteiner.be, Belgians Sebastien Delfosse (25 - Bergasol-Euromillions), Kevin Maene (26 - New Heebra-De Lombarden) and the Dutchman Dirk Bellmaekers (23 -Van Vliet-EBH Advocaten) will represent the squad in upcoming races.
Meanwhile, the Saunier Duval-Prodir team will test the abilities of two Spaniards from its under-23 team, Rafa Serrano (20) and Héctor González (21), as well as Swiss rider Danilo Wyss (21 - Atlas-Romer's Hausbäckerei Continental Team).
