Starting off as a very small squad in 1998, Gerolsteiner’s star was rapidly rising and can now really compete with their havily sponsored fellow German team of T- Mobile. Best example would be their win in the 2005 Tour of Germany, where Levi Leipheimer snatched victory, right in front of Jan Ullrich and the T - Mobile headquarters in Bonn. That must have hurt!


So what has happened with this team? Well, this team prides itself on having a real teamspirit, almost like a family. So they’re not just selecting fast riders but also screen them on “fitting” the team. And it seems to work well! For instance, they have Markus Fothen. A good 2005 Giro d’Italia put him in the picture, because of his climbing qualities. Much is expected for the coming years and they want to cling on to him, since they’ve contracted his younger brother (Thomas) as well.
Another revelation of 2005 is Heinrich Haussler, who performed miraculously well, at only 21 years of age, finishing in the Vuelta a España and winning a stage. He also seems to develope into a good sprinter, as well as a rider who’s well suited for the classics.


On the sprinting side, Gerolsteiner has ample possibilities. Although lacking a top 5 sprinter, forementioned Haussler is already fast. New signing Stefan Schumacher (Shimano) has proven to be fast in the continental ranks. We’ll have to wait and see how he fares in the ProTour. They do have some other fast guys: Old Rene Haselbacher is the opposite of Max van Heeswijk. He thrives on crowded finishes, and usually manages to finish well in the top 10. The brothers Zberg, especially Marcus, are fast attackers as well. Beat likes the hilly and even mountain finishes, where Marcus is more suited to perform well in the classics sprints.
However, their top sprinters are Peter Wrolich and Robert Förster. Their teamsprit makes them work for each other. Förster is probably fastest, but hasn’t had many victories yet, due to Danilo Hondo. Since Hondo was their main sprinter, Förster hasn’t had many chances to prove himself. Now Hondo is suspended due to doping usage, Robert will have his chance to show he’s fast. Wrolich will take his chances when Förster is having a bad day, but also in the smaller stageraces you’ll find him up front, sprinting.


The grand tours will be the dominion of Georg Totschnig and Levi Leipheimer. Both have performed well in earlier editions of the Tour de France and we’ll surely see them again. Support will come from former German time trial champion Michael Rich, who’s also an addition to them where team time trials are concerned. Pity they lost Uwe Peschel, who’s stopped cycling professionally. In support of these riders they have signed Hiekmann (T-Mobile) who’s a good prospect. In the mountains, the brothers Fothen will be very handy in their quest to win one of the big races.


Last, but not least, Davide Rebellin is in this squad. Rebellin will no doubt be the main contender in the classics, but also a force in stageraces like the Giro or Paris – Nice. He’s getting on a bit but his follow up is already present in the form of Fabian Wegmann, who posesses the same type of quality and can be a great help in achieving their goals. Experienced Frank Høj is a special rider for supporting and maybe even winning the cobble stone races in Belgium. The Gerolsteiner “family” seems to be well equipped and on it’s way in becoming one of the leading teams in the ProTour.


Additions to the team:
Thomas Fothen, Torsten Hiekmann, David Kopp, Stefan Schumacher


Left the team:
Uwe Peschel, Torsten Schmidt, Marco Serpellini, Thomas Ziegler