March 8, 2007 – Patrik Sinkewitz spearheads the T-Mobile Team roster at Paris-Nice (March 11 to 18), the so-called “race to the sun””š that opens the ProTour season. “It’s very early in the cycling season, but Patrik is already in good form. He is our man for the overall,” says Rolf Aldag, the T-Mobile Team sporting director.

The eight-day stage race kicks-off this year with a 4.7 km prologue in Issy-les-Moulineaux on the southern outskirts of Paris on Sunday, and ends with its traditional finish on the ‘Promenade des Anglais’ waterfront in Nice a week later.

Aldag: “Patrik has been on the track in recent days to test his position on the bike in time trials, so he should be well prepared for the prologue opener.”

The 26-year-old Sinkewitz will have the support of seven team mates on the 1260km north-south trek across France. The in-form Roger Hammond arrives fresh off a strong performance in the ‘Le Samyn”š one-day race on Wednesday, where he was unlucky to just miss the podium. And the New Zealand sprint specialist Greg Henderson is fit again after recovering from a light cold – and he will be gunning for stage wins on the first three typical sprinters’ stages.

Race follows new route on western side of Central Massif
Chrono specialist Bert Grabsch has high ambitions for the opening prologue, while Axel Merckx, Jakob Piil, Michael Barry, Hammond and youngster Marcus Burghardt will provide the support for captain ‘Sinki’, and seek opportunities to get away in breaks. “We will have a motivated team here, and each of these riders have already shown well in their races so far this season,” says Aldag.

Paris-Nice parcours 2007
This year, the race will take a new turn as the peloton will pass France’s central mountain range, using the Central Massif on its western side instead of heading straight towards the Côte d’Azur on the eastern side. After the first three sprinters’ stages, the second part of the week will offer opportunities for breakaways and climbers.

The first decisive climb will be the climb up the airport of Mende on stage four, which has been re-named ‘Montée Laurent Jalabert’ since the Frenchman won a Tour de France stage there in 1995. The final stage, which takes the peloton through the hinterland of Nice also includes its share of tough climbs – and the GC could go all the way to the wire.

Boonen favourite for sprint stages
20 teams will start the event: all ProTour teams, except Swedish-Belgian outfit Unibet.com, as well as French Pro Continental squad Agritubel.

Among the pre-race favourites are the Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), 2005 Paris-Nice winner Bobby Julich (CSC) and Australian stage race specialist Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto). Tom Boonen (Quick Step) also starts and the big Belgian is likely to be a real force in the sprinters”š stages. (gl)

The T-Mobile roster in brief:
– Michael Barry (31/Canada),
– Marcus Burghardt (23), Bert Grabsch (31), – Roger Hammond (33/Great Britain),
– Greg Henderson (30/New Zealand),
– Axel Merckx (34/Belgium),
– Jakob Piil (33/Denmark)
– Patrik Sinkewitz (26).
Sporting directors
– Brian Holm (44/Denmark)
– Allan Peiper (46/Australia)

Paris-Nice 2007 Stages
– Prologue – Sunday, March 11: Issy-les-Moulineaux, ITT, 4.7 km
РStage 1 РMonday, March 12: Cloyes-sur-le-Loir РBuzan̤ais, 186 km
– Stage 2 – Tuesday, March 13: Vatan – Limoges, 177 km
– Stage 3 – Wednesday, March 14: Limoges – Maurs, 215.5 km
– Stage 4 – Thursday, March 15: Maurs – Mende, 169.5 km
– Stage 5 – Friday, March 16: Sorgues – Manosque, 178 km
– Stage 6 – Saturday, March 17: Brignoles – Cannes, 200 km
– Stage 7 – Sunday, March 18: Nice – Nice, 129.5 km
Total: 1,260 kms