June 22, 2007 – Marco Pinotti leads the T-Mobile formation at the third edition of the ProTour International Team Time Trial in Eindhoven on Sunday. Pinotti, the wearer of the maglia rosa for four days at the recent Giro d’Italia is also a former Italian time trial champion who knows a thing or two about following a wheel and pulling hard turns in a team chrono.

Teaming up with Pinotti are Lorenzo Bernucci, Servais Knaven, Scott Davis, Frantisek Rabon, Stephan Schreck and Thomas Ziegler and Canada’s Michael Barry who placed second at the event last year in the colours of Discovery Channel.

Each team will start the “˜contre la montre’ with a maximum of eight riders, with the clock stopping when the team’s fifth rider crosses the line. The 48.6 km route – where average times of up to 55 km/h are expected — leaves Eindhoven on the A270 highway, a fast and flat stretch of road, and proceeds to Helmondbefore looping back to Eindhoven.

“The most crucial section are the last ten kilometres, as the wind is huge factor there,” says sporting director Tristan Hoffman.

As well as the 20 ProTour teams, wildcard entries Wiesenhof-Felt, Skil-Shimano and Tinkoff will also race in Eindhoven. Wiesenhof-Felt are first off the ramps at 11:55, with the other teams following at four minute intervals. The T-Mobile express roll off the ramps at 12:51. Defending champions CSC are last off the ramps.

With no team time trial at the Tour de France this year and the Giro teams test already run and won, the race will not play one of its originally intended rolls of allowing squads to fine tune their technique prior to July. (gl)

The T-Mobile Team in brief:
Michael Barry (31/Canada), Lorenzo Bernucci (27/Italy), Scott Davis (28/Australia), Servais Knaven (36/Netherlands), Marco Pinotti (31/Italy), Frantisek Rabon (24/Czech), Stephan Schreck (28), Thomas Ziegler (26).
Sporting director: Tristan Hoffman (37/Netherlands)

Previous winners:
2006 – CSC
2005 – Team Gerolsteiner