The Italian team Domina Vacance’s got a new name and a major shuffle in their ranks. Together with the remains of the former Wiesenhof team, new Team Milram was formed. Responsible for shaping this new team is teamboss Gianluigi Stanga.


Of course the first year of this team won’t be flawless. There are many things to sort out first. By the time Stanga was up to selecting his riders he managed to get one of the biggest names in cycling: Alessandro Petacchi. Since the Italian – German “milkteam” needed a big German name as well, Erik Zabel was contracted. Their flaw consists of the absence of cyclists for the three grand tours. Yes, Petacchi is actually planning to ride all three, but that doesn’t mean the team doesn’t have more ambitions.


A clear leader for the classics they do have. Mirko Celestino will be their representative in the northern classics, and later on in the season in the south. He’ll probably get some support from the likes of Becke (Illes Balears), Siedler (Wiesenhof), Ralf Grabsch and Poitschke. For the most part, Milram will have to rely on Celestino alone.


Sprintwise, of course, no problems. But how do you get the sprinters to the finish? First of all they badly needed an experienced roadcaptain. Maarten den Bakker (Rabo) fitted the description, so he was hired. He will steer the team mainly during the grand tours. Petacchi was very glad to get most of the old “Fassa-train” to Milram. Sacchi, Ongarato and Velo were the last men in that train, so he’s happy. All three are also capable to sprint in some of the smaller races, if Petacchi is not there. But they’ll have a long and hard season, for they’ll have to support Zabel as well in his quest for an 8th green jersey in Paris as well as performing in the small races.


So it’s already on the cards that Milram will show up in some races without much ambition, but they will always try to get some stage victories with Siedler, who had a strong Tour of Germany in 2005. Lorenzetto could well be one of their trumpcards. A very attacking rider with a strong finish to his name, so don’t count him out when he’s riding. Smaller stageraces and some of the classics will find Cadamuro in the sprints as well, even though he showed irratic form in 2005, so hardly consistent. He might do better this coming season.


Milram has new tactics they call “a new way of cycling”. Basically they adapted the Armstrong theory of scouting the stages before they ride them. The “new” being; no-one has really done that on the flat surfaces. Undoubtedly it will get them a lot of sprintwins, but if it will amount to much more, that’s the question. Another major shuffle is expected in 2007, but let’s see what they make of 2006 first.


Additions to the team(based on Domina Vacance):
Alberto Ongarato, Alessandro Petacchi, Fabio Sacchi, Marco Velo, Daniel Becke, Maarten den Bakker, Erik Zabel, Ralf Grabsch, Christian Knees, Martin Muller, Daniel Musiol, Enrico Poitschke, Björn Schröder, Sebastian Siedler, Volodymyr Dyudya, Fabio Sabatini, Carlo Scognamiglio


Left the team (based on Domina Vacance):
Wladimir Belli, Cristian Bonfanti, Marco Fertonani, Serhiy Honchar, Jörg Ludewig, Ruggero Borghi, Paolo Valoti, Angelo Furlan, Ivan Quaranta, Alessandro Bertolini, Enrico Grigoli, Ruslan Ivanov, Rafael Nuritdinov