MILRAM newcomer celebrates biggest success in his young career

Dortmund, 9. May 2010. MILRAM’s Paul Voß brought in the first big surprise in the Giro d’Italia. In Sunday’s stage he set his eye on the mountain jersey and was able to put in on that evening with the narrowest of margins. The stage win went after 209 kilometers from Amsterdam to Utrecht in the sprint of a large lead group to American Tyler Farrar of Team Garmin-Transitions. In the overall rankings, Australian World champion Cadel Evans of BMC Racing Team took over the pink jersey.

„That is the biggest success in my career,“ said the MILRAM newcomer, who this year has already worn the leader’s jersey in a ProTour race, the Volta a Catalunya. „I went to my limits today. In the end I didn’t even know how it had turned out. The Italian Pirazzi and I had to wait a long time for the ranking to be figured out.“ But he had to survive a scary moment before he was able to don the jersey. „Shortly before the finish, I ended up going from full speed to the back seat of a team car, which had suddenly opened its door. Fortunately I wasn’t injured. But from there on I fought my way to the finish in a trance.“

„That was an absolute battle in the finale. Because of the many crashes, the peloton totally fell apart at the end. Paul Voß fought with all his strength through the chaos. Because of his higher finish, he won the mountain ranking by a nose. We absolutely wanted to win the climber’s jersey and be in the day’s escape group. Paul accomplished that most impressively. „
Together with Rick Flens (Rabobank), Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago-CSF) and Mauro Facci (Quick Step), Voss rode in the break group of the day. The quartet had a maximum lead of up to six minutes. At the same time, Voss and Pirazzi went head-to-head for the mountain jersey. Each of them won one of the two ranked climbs on the day. Although Voss also won the final intermediate sprint, the Italian led in the ranking up until just before the end. However, Voß crossed the finish line after a crash-filled finale just far enough head of the Italian to make the difference, and was able to put on ther jersey of the best climber at the ceremony in Utrecht.
Monday’s third stage runs over 209 kilometers from Amsterdam to the coast city of Middelburg before the first rest day of this year’s Giro d’Italia after three days in the Netherlands.

The stages 2010:
08.05. 1. Stage: Amsterdam (8,4 km/ITT)
09.05. 2. Stage: Amsterdam – Utrecht (209 km)
10.05. 3. Stage: Amsterdam – Middelburg (209 km)
11.05. Rest day in Savigliano
12.05. 4. Stage: Savigliano – Cuneo (32,5 km/TTT)
13.05. 5. Stage: Novara – Novi Ligure (168 km)
14.05. 6. Stage: Fidenza – Marina di Carrara (166 km)
15.05. 7. Stage: Carrara – Montalcino (215 km)
16.05. 8. Stage: Chianciano – Monte Terminillo (189 km)
17.05. 9. Stage: Frosinone – Cava de’ Tirreni (188 km)
18.05. 10. Stage: Avellino – Bitonto (220 km)
19.05. 11. Stage: Lucera – L’Aquila (256 km)
20.05. 12. Stage: Città Sant’Angelo – Porto Recanti (191 km)
21.05. 13. Stage: Porto Recanti – Cesenatico (222 km)
22.05. 14. Stage: Ferrara – Asolo (Monte Grappa) (201 km)
23.05. 15. Stage: Mestre – Zoncolan (218 km)
24.05. Rest day in Friuli
25.05. 16. Stage: San Vigilio di Marebbe – Plan de Corones (12,9 km/ITT)
26.05. 17. Stage: Brunico – Pejo Terme (173 km)
27.05. 18. Stage: Levico Terme – Brescia (151 km)
28.05. 19. Stage: Brescia – Aprica (195 km)
29.05. 20.Stage: Bormio – Passa del Tonale (178 km)
30.05. 21. Stage: Verona (15,3 km/ ITT)
Total distance: 3.418,1 Kilometer

Team MILRAM for the Giro d‘Italia:
Markus Fothen (GER/Kaarst), Robert Förster (GER/Leipzig), Linus Gerdemann (GER/Kreuzlingen,SUI), Dominik Roels (GER/Köln), Luke Roberts (AUS/Kerpen;GER), Thomas Rohregger (AUT/Innsbruck), Matthias Ruß (GER/Bad Cannstatt), Paul Voß (GER/Bielefeld), Fabian Wegmann (GER/Freiburg im Breisgau)
Directeurs Sportif: Christian Henn (GER), Vittorio Algeri (ITA)