After five seasons of not winning very much (well apart from multiple stages of the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt) very few will bat an eyelid, never mind shed a tear, at the passing of the Milram team. However for one cycling fan (that fan being me) the demise of the Dortmund based team signifies the end of an era and leaves me at a bit of a loss as to what to do next when it comes to trying to follow a sport which I enjoy so much.

Having only really discovered and fallen in love with road racing in 2005/06 at the same time as Team Milram formed with Alessandro Pettachi and Erik Zabel leading the charge, I admit that I became a bit enamoured with the promise of following a new and succesful team who would clean up at every sprint. For me it was a means to learning more about the sport. However a serious injury to Pettachi and an ageing Zabel meant that success was very limited (a common theme throughout the last 5 years when it came to Milram)

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Xavier Tondo Volpini (Andalucia Caja Sur) edged out Joost Posthuma (Rabobank) by one second to take the first leader's jersey at the 55th Vuelta a Andalucia. The 7km prolouge took place in the city of Jaen.

Tomorrow's stage starts at La Guardia de Jaen at finishes in Humilladero 162 kms later. The profile can be viewed here

The race continues up until Thursday 19th February with a very strong field, riders participating include Pablo Lastras, Linus Gerdemann, Thomas Dekker and Fillipo Pozzato. There is a link to tv stations showing the race on the official site, haven't checked if any are showing it online.

www.vueltaandalucia.com