Grand Trophée 2008: La Marmotte on 5 July

The most prestigious French cyclosportive series, Grand Trophée, will feature 11 events next season, with the traditional highlight, La Marmotte, scheduled for Saturday, 5 July.

Other popular international events as La Ventoux and Les 3 Ballons will be held on 7 and 14 June, respectively.


Full 2008 schedule:

11/05: La Cezanne, Aix-en-Provence
18/05: La LOOK, Nevers
01/06: L'Epervier, Cogolin
07/06: La Ventoux, Beaumes-de-Venise
14/06: Les 3 Ballons, Champagney/Planche-des-Belles-Filles
22/06: La Morzine Vallée d'Aulps, Morzine
29/06: La Vaujany, Vaujany
05/07: La Marmotte, Bourg d'Oisans/Alpe D'Huez
23/08: L'Auvergnate, La Bourboule
13/09: La Ronde Picarde, Abbeville
23/11: La Cyclo Guadeloupe, Guadeloupe

The online registration opens on Tuesday afternoon, 14 December. Usually there is no maximum participation limit imposed.

More info on the website of Sportcommunication.

Team Agapedia-Münsterland announces 2008 line-up

Münster - Team Agapedia-Münsterland, one of the big jedermann teams in the German cyclo circuit, has announced its team line-up for the upcoming 2008 season. The team will consist of 23 fixed riders and sees a number of newcomers including Elin Amundsen and myself, but also former pro Jürgen Lücke and granfondo specialist Jens Volkmann, who is also world champion individual time trial in the Senior category. Volkmann won a.o. the Tour Transalp in 2006 and has featured in the top five of big mountains events like the 3 Ballons and the Ötztaler Radmarathon.

The team will be co-sponsored by Rose Versand, Snickers, Gebiomized and of course the Münsterland region. The riders will mount Red Bull frames for the season.

More info on Challenge Magazin.

Fate of T-Mobile Cycling Tour still unclear

After Deutsche Telekom decided to stop all sponsorship with immediate effect last week, the fate of the beloved T-Mobile Cycling Tour is very much unclear. An official statement on the website doesn't tell the fans anything.

Sponsors (also e.g. Adidas) seem to be pulling out everywhere in Germany following the media hysteria triggered by various doping cases involving riders of the professional T-Mobile team. This will push several German race organisers in a bad spot as of next season. Neverthless, the organisers of the Deutschland Tour, Rund um Köln and Henninger Turm have all confirmed their events will go ahead as scheduled in 2008. Therefore, it can be expected that the cyclo or jedermann races will also happen - but probably not under the umbrella of T-Mobile any longer.