Notable Performances

2005 Bayern-Rundfahrt - 3rd GC
2005 Tour de Suisse - 51st GC (1st in stage 7)
2005 4 Days of Dunkirk - 4th GC (Held leaders jersey after stage 3)
2006 Volta a Catalunya - 6th GC
2006 GP Kanton Aargau - 7th GC
2006 Sachsen Tour - 46th (2nd in stage 5)
2006 Tour de Suisse - 7th GC (2nd in stage 3)
2007 Ruta del Sol - 9th GC
2007 Milano - Torino - 9th GC
2007 Tour de France - 36th GC (1st in stage 7 - Held leaders jersey for 1 stage)
2007 Deutschland Tour - 14th GC (5th in Young Rider Class.) 

About Linus

Linus Gerdemann hit most people's radars on Stage 7 of the 2007 Tour de France somewhere between Bourg-en-Bresse and Le Grand Bornand. It was on this stage that he attacked a break away group of 15 riders and then rode solo over the summit of the Col de la Colombière before diving down to his most memorable finish with a coveted yellow jersey, a white (Young Riders) jersey and combativity awards all waiting for him.

But others could see the potential in him long before this day. In fact, it was CSC rider Jens Voigt who tipped team manager Bjarne Riis off about the young 22 year old from Munster. Back then he had ridden for Team Winfix and Team AKUD Arnols Sicherheit before being invited by Riis to a Team CSC training camp and was quickly signed to a 2 year deal.

He began his career strongly with good finishes in the Bayern-Rundfaht and the 4 Days of Dunkirk in which he wore the leaders jersey for a stage. A stage win in the Tour de Suisse also signalled his ability.

Towards the end of the 2005 season he took the opportunity of signing with the T-Mobile Team and has had a number of top 10 finishes. He does his best work when the course goes into the mountains, as illustrated by his most famous win to date in the 2007 Tour de France. He can also Time Trial strongly when he has to which gives him the credentials to challenge in the bigger races on the calendar.

With these attributes I thought it would be an opportune time to throw a little spotlight on the young German rider who was dubbed the "next Jan Ullrich" by Bjarne Riis, a tag I'm sure he'd like to shake off and just concentrate on being the current Linus Gerdemann.

Performances

2007 Amgen Tour of California - 20th (1st Young Rider Class.)
2007 Clasica de Ameria - 9th
2007 Vuelta a Murcia - 20th
2007 Vuelta a Castilla y Leon - 10th
2007 Hel Van Het Mergelland - 10th
2007 Rund um Koln - 55th
2007 Tour de Belgique - 44th
2007 Tour du Nord des Pays-Bas - 5th
2007 Tour de Romandie - 13th
2007 Flèche Wallonne - 9th
2007 Classic d'Alméria - 9th
2007 Clasica San Sebastian - 13th
2007 Deutschland Tour - 5th (1st Young Rider Class.)
2007 Druivenkoers - Overijse - 12th

I don't think anyone will be surprised that I have chosen to spotlight Robert Gesink as a likely star of the future. He was signed up to the Rabobank team at the end of the 2006 season from the Rabobank (Continental) team. At the time, team manager Theo de Rooij explained his promotion by saying, "Robert is an extraordinary talent. We have to be very careful with him. A Dutch climber, who can be as fast as the best: we have to cherish him. His development is going so fast, time has come for him to steadily learn the trade."

At the time of writing this he is eight months into his Pro Tour career and he has already had 5 Top 10 finishes under his belt. His build is very similar to Michael Rasmussen, long and lean and a natural climber he is suited to the big mountain stages.

In the Amgen Tour of California he made his presence felt in the 3rd stage over the high Sierra Mountains when he finished 4th behind the likes of Jens Voigt, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner. But he had already announced his audacity in the 1st stage of the race when he attempted a break away with 4 other riders. Although it was a short lived escape it announced that he is a rider who won't just sit back and let things happen. His 20th placing and Young Rider Classification win would have been an enormous boost to the young man.

He followed that up with his first Top 10 finish, a 9th place in the Clasica de Ameria where he picked up points in a couple of the Mountain passes.

Fast forward a couple of months to June and he was riding the Tour of Belgium. The 4th stage of the Tour was the 199.7km queen stage from Herzele to Aywaille and Robert, fresh from celebrating his 21st birthday, attacked on the final climb of the day. Guys like Vladimir Gusev, Leif Hoste and Jelle Vanendert tried to react but couldn't match him and he won the day by 13 seconds over the chasers. 

Right through his short career so far, it has been the mountain stages that has allowed him to display his wares. The latest highlight has been in the recent Deutschland Tour on the queen stage which took the riders over the highest climb on the 2007 calendar, the Rettenbachferner. Robert went over in third place behind stage winner David Lopez Garcia and eventual Tour winner Jens Voigt. Big names who dropped away from his back wheel included Levi Leipheimer, Damiano Cunego and Davide Rebellin.

So far, the tally for Robert Gesink is impressive.

1 stage win (Tour of Belgium)
2 Young Rider Classifications (Tour of California & Deutschland Tour)
5 Top 10 GC finishes

...I suspect there will be more to come.

For a full bio, his planned programme, news and other "must know" stuff about him, visit Robert Gesink's website. (In Dutch)

Name : Rigoberto Uran
Country : Colombia
Date of Birth : 26 January, 1987
Weight : 54 kg
Height : 162 cm
Turned Pro : 2006

Performances

2007 Tour de Romandie - 59th
2007 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - 40th
2007 Euskal Bizikleta - 24th (1 stage win)
2007 Tour of Switzerland - 9th (1 stage win)
2007 Brixia Tour - DNF
2007 Classica San Sebastien - 27th
2007 Deutschland Tour - DNF (Hospitalised after smashing his elbows)

About Rigoberto

One can only hope that Rigoberto is a quick healer after suffering shocking arm injuries when he crashed while descending a mountain pass during the Tour of Germany. I would expect that he will be out of action for the rest of the season and, with the demise of the Unibet.com team will be looking for a new team. Since signing on with Unibet in November 2006 he has put in some impressive performances and was right in the thick of things when he had his accident.

In 2005 Uran was the Colombian Junior Road Race Champion and the National Track Champion, he then became Pro in 2006.

In his first race, the Tour de Romandie, he gave a glimpse of what he is capable of with a first up 9th placing in the Time Trial Prologue.

He managed to pick up a stage win on June 23 at Schwartzsee in the 8th stage of the Tour de Suisse. He ended the Tour in 9th place overall, an outstanding effort for the 20 year old. He also had a stage win, although it was in an abbreviated Time Trial, during the Euskal Bizikleta at the start of June.

His Stage 3 accident occurred in the first kilometre of the descent while in the lead group after a strong showing climbing the Category 1 Riedbergpass at Zufluct. He failed to take a left hand turn and was airborne into a ditch putting both arms out instinctively to break his fall. He ended up with multiple fractures to both elbows and an extended stay in hospital. (I've included the footage of the accident for you to flinch over).

Uran certainly looks to have a bright future with good Time Trial and mountain climbing ability. At only 20 years of age he looks to have plenty to offer any team who wants to take part in the feeding frenzy of the Unibet.com demise.