the team soon became an important presence on the international cycling stage. however the team was not invited to the 1995 tour de france. eventually the organisers of the tour agreed that six telekom members, namely rolf aldag, udo bölts, jens heppner, vladimir pulnikov, erik zabel and olaf ludwig, would be joined with three members of the zg mobili to form a composite team. zabel went on to win two stages in the race.