Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

HTC-Columbia set to defend Paris-Bourges title and challenge at Paris Tours

Details

Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Thursday, 07 October 2010 08:41

Written by Luca Salvatelli

After winning Paris-Bourges two years in a row, HTC-Columbia will be gunning to pull off another victory in the French autumn Classic on Thursday. Led by 2008 winner Bernhard Eisel, the American squad is sending a strong mix of Classics specialists and all-rounders for the 193.3-kilometre mid-week race. The same line-up, reinforced by Dane Lars Bak, will then take part in the Paris-Tours Classic on Sunday.

"So late in the season when a lot of the guys are getting tired, motivatation is as big a factor as having good legs, and we're certainly motivated," said Brian Holm, HTC-Columbia Sports Director for both races. "Having won Paris-Bourges for the last two years, we won't be holding our fire and waiting for Paris-Tours this time around, either. I know Alex [Saramotjins] and Adam [Hansen] are both in great shape, and Bernie [Eisel] is looking good as well, even if he's a bit jetlagged after coming all the way back from the World Championships in Australia. But I'm sure that even if he's not at 100 percent because of all that travel on Thursday, he'll be up there with the top names on Sunday, when he's had more of a chance to rest and recover."

"As for Paris-Tours, we'll be watching the early breaks very closely like you always do in the big Classics, but I get the feeling that as usual it'll be those short climbs at the end that are going to be decisive. We will try to play our cards as close to the finish as possible and we'll take every chance we can to go for the win."

HTC-Columbia for Paris-Bourges (October 7th): Bernhard Eisel (Aut); Jan Ghyselinck (Bel); Patrick Gretsch (Ger); Adam Hansen (Aus); Frantisek Rabon (Cze), Vicente Reynes (Spa), Aleksej Saramotjins (Lat).

HTC-Columbia for Paris-Tours (October 10th): Lars Bak (Den); Bernhard Eisel (Aut); Jan Ghyselinck (Bel); Patrick Gretsch (Ger); Adam Hansen (Aus); Frantisek Rabon (Cze), Vicente Reynes (Spa), Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat).