San Luis Obispo, California, 1 August 2008 – Fresh from their highly successful Tour de France, Team Columbia head for the Clásica San Sebastian one-day race in Spain this Saturday.

“We won’t be looking at getting in the early breaks unless they’re 15 or 20-strong and looking really dangerous. The best policy at San Sebastian is always to wait for the Jaizkebel climb close to the finish.” commented team sports director Allan Peiper.

“There’s invariably a move early on, but the Spanish teams always calculate it so things come back together for Jaizkebel. So that’s where we will plan to try and make our move.”

“We’ve got a lot of good climbers in our line-up here for San Sebastian, which is what you need for a really hilly race like the Clásica.”

Getting back into top form after a long spell out of racing because of a major injury, Germany’s Linus Gerdemann placed tenth in the recent Tour of Saxony – won by team-mate Bert Grabsch – and will be looking for a solid result in the Clásica.

“It’s important for him to keep building up his confidence after such a long time away from racing. Saxony was a great start, and San Sebastian is the next opportunity for Linus to move up another step.”

“Kanstantsin [Siutzou] did a good Tour, and San Sebastian is a great chance for him to use that form for an individual result.”

“He, Edvald [Boasson Hagen] and Michael [Barry] will be doing the Olympics.”

“So in that context, San Sebastian also represents an opportunity for them to shake off the cobwebs and have a good, full-on, test-out of their form before they head off to represent their country at Beijing.”

Columbia for San Sebastian: Michael Barry (Canada), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway), Linus Gerdemann (Germany), Craig Lewis (USA), Morris Possoni (Italy), Kanstantsin Siutzou
(Bylorussia).