A selection of Team Milram riders inspected important sections of the upcoming Tour de France route in the last few days.  Linus Gerdemannn & Co., under the direction coach Jochen Hahn, rode through the mountains on the border between France and Switzerland, as well as the legendary climb of the penultimate Tour stage up Mont Ventoux.  After various aerodynamic and wind tunnel tests, checking out the course is one of the most important parts of the German ProTour team's meticulous preparation for its season highlight in France.

„The inspection of the course was a very important part of our Tour preparations,“ said captain Linus Gerdemann.  „In the last few days we have trained together really well.  The inspection of Mont Ventoux was especially interesting and informative.  In the end we were treated to good weather and a fantastic view from the top of Mont Ventoux.“

„We inspected a total of three difficult mountain stages plus the course for the individual time trial,“ said coach Jochen Hahn.  „Apart from the 'top of the Tour', that is the 16th stage, and the flat 19th stage, we have  carefully looked at all of the decisive portions of the the Tour de France finale, under varying conditions.  On the first day we had barely 3° Celsius and rain, on the second day it was sunshine and about 20° Celsius.  All in all, it was very helpful and worthwhile.“

On Tuesday, May 12, Christian Knees, Fabian Wegmann, Johannes Fröhlinger, and Gerald Ciolek joined captain Linus Gerdemann and trainer Jochen Hahn in Switzerland.  On the same day, the  rode the final kilometers of the 15th Tour stage including the closing climb from Martigny up to Verbier.  The next day was planned for the „top of the Tour“, the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard (2,473 meters) plus the smaller Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard, but the weather was against them.  Both climbs were closed due to heavy snowfall., so the 17th stage route was visited instead.  Then they moved to southern France to ride Mont Ventoux (Tour stage 20) and the course of the 18th stage individual time trial in Annecy.



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