A lieutenant and two foot soldiers join the Schleck's Luxembourg team

The Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project has announced the signing of three
more young riders.

The German professionals Linus Gerdemann and Fabian Wegmann will be joined by the Dane Jakob Fuglsang.

At 28-years-old, Gerdemann should be reaching the peak of his abilities. “I have already worked with Linus earlier in his career and I always wanted to work with him again, so I am pleased to have the chance to get him on this team,” team manager Kim Andersen said.

For his part Gerdemann did not have to hesitate long before deciding on where to move for his 2011 season. “I know a lot of the people who will be riding and working for the team, so it was not that hard of a decision to make,” he said. “I am very excited to be racing with so many familiar faces once again.”

Gerdemann has already made his mark as a potential stage race winner. Though he
has a couple of quiet seasons behind him, the team sees opportunities opening
up for the all-rounder.

“We have big expectations for Linus,” Andersen said. “It has been good for him to have had a chance to grow as a person and as a rider in the last years and I think he has some amazing seasons ahead of him.”

Gerdemann himself is unequivocal about what he expects from his time on the Luxembourg team: “I want to win stage races and win the Tour de France with the team.”

As for Fabian Wegmann, Andersen said: “Fabian is a rider I have always wanted on my team. I have always liked him; he is a winner - pure and simple. Though he is not a pure climber or a pure sprinter, you can always count on him for several wins a year.”

Wegmann believes he can be an asset to the team from day one. “I searched out this team because I want to be a member of what I believe will be the most exciting team in cycling for the coming season,” he said. “I want to give my best to the team and be in top form for the Wallonian Classics, the Tour, Worlds and races like the Tour of Lombardy.”

Wegmann’s ambitions to be at his best for such a diverse list of races will fit well
with what the management hopes to see from him. “He will mix nicely into the
group and we surely can count on him to bring home some Classics and semi-
Classics, or even the odd Grand Tour stage,” Andersen declared.

The Luxembourg team is also enthusiastic about the addition of Jakob Fuglsang to its ranks.

“Obviously we have big expectations for Jakob. For me, he is one of the biggest talents in the sport,” Andersen said.

Fuglsang has found a good deal of success the past several years by proving himself to be an able climber and time triallist, so he is expected to form one of the cornerstones of the new team.

“I wanted to join this team because I knew it would be a good fit for me and my personal goals,” Fuglsang revealed. “It is also exciting to start something new and help build it up along with my friends.”

Fuglsang recognizes the important role that Kim Andersen has played thus far in his development and looks forward to continuing their association.

“Jakob had a fantastic first year racing at the ProTour level in 2009, and this year he gave the Schlecks good support in the Tour,” Andersen explained. “He is a very complete rider and we now know how to tweak his off-season preparation so that he can arrive in the best possible shape for the coming season.”

Though Fuglsang will perform the important role of being a top lieutenant to the Schleck brothers in their bid to win the Tour de France, he also has a notion of what he would like to achieve for himself in the coming years.

“I will aim for higher personal goals like going for the general classification at the Giro or Vuelta, while taking great care to help Andy and Frank at the Tour," he said. "They are such great athletes, why shouldn’t we try to win it?”