Varied line-up for the Tour of Austria

The Hervis Tour (Tour of Austria), scheduled for July 3-9, can look forward to an varied international field this year, including three Japanese riders. The tour will include 180 cyclists from 24 different nations, the organisers announced last week.

Favourites for the overall win include T-Mobile's Bernhard Kohl, third in the Dauphiné Libéré and newly-crowned Austrian Champion; Quickstep's Guido Trenti and Phonak's Johann Tschopp, who finished second in the race last year. Austrian riders Gerhard Trampusch (Wiesenhof-Akud) and Gerrit Glomser (Team Vorarlberg) are also expected to battle for the win.

For the first time, the Austrian race will have three Japanese riders: Yukihiro Doi, Tomoya Kano and Hidenori Nodera, all from Dutch team Skil-Shimano.

The teams for Hervis Tour are: Quick Step, T-Mobile, Phonak, Lampre, Discovery Channel, Rabobank, Credit Agricole, AG2R, Liquigas, Unibet.com, Chocolade Jacques, Naturino, Tenax, Wiesenhof-Akud, Skil-Shimano, Vorarlberg, Elk Haus, Aposport Krone Linz, Team Swiag Teka and Team Plast-REcycling.