HAMMOND AT SAN SEBASTIAN

Britain's Roger Hammond is part of T-Mobile's line-up for Saturday's Classica San Sebastian. This is Hammond's first race since the Tour of Switzerland at the end of June.

Hammond had been on T-Mobile's shortlist for the Tour de France in July, but was left out of the final selection.

"It feels great to be racing again on the Pro Tour," Hammond said. "I am starting to turn my attention towards the Tour of Britain on home soil in September and make sure I am in the best shape going into that event. San Sebastian will be a tough race but hopefully I can help T-Mobile perform well, while also building up my form."

The 33 year-old will be joined in the Basque country by a number of T-Mobile?s mountain specialists including Giuseppe Guerini from Italy as well as two Australians, Scott Davis and Adam Hansen. The one German on the magenta roster will be the winner of Gent-Wevelgem Marcus Burghardt. The highly experienced seven-strong squad will be completed by Canadian Michael Barry alongside team-leader Kirchen.

The Classica San Sebastian course is a classic layout, 225km long, selective, with six climbs to be tackled along the way. The heat in Spain in August is expected to play a major role along with the attacking style of the home teams. Last year's edition was won by Xavier Florencio.