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Slipstream and High Road cycling teams in 2008 Tour de France

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:11:00 -0700

Slipstream/Chipotle's distinctive argyle jerseys will be seen at the 2008 Tour de France as organizers announced the 20 teams that will compete July 5 to 27.

Team High Road, the former T-Mobile team that relocated to the US this year, will also compete in the three-week long race through France.

Those choices mean that Slipstream's David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde (both formerly of CSC) and High Road's George Hincapie (formerly of Discovery) will likely compete in the race this year.

Unwilling to back down in a long-simmering feud with the UCI, ASO did not invite the Astana cycling team, which means no Tour de France for last year's champion, Alberto Contador, or No. 3, US's Levi Leipheimer ...

Slam! Astana shut out of 2008 Tour de France

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:45:00 -0800

It looks like two of the top 3 finishers in last year's Tour de France will have three weeks of vacation come July. The owners of the Tour de France announced that the Astana pro cycling team cannot compete in that race, or any other that it hosts in 2008.

That means Spain's Alberto Contador can't defend his titles in the 2007 Paris-Nice or Tour de France. No. 3 Tour de France finisher Levi Leipheimer won't be able to compete in the race either

Banning cycling teams from races, in spite of team-management and internal doping-control overhauls, seems to be the fashion this year; the Giro d'Italia already banned Astana and Team High Road (formerly T-Mobile).

2008 Tour de France bike race starts in Brittany

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:27:00 -0700

Riding in the yellow jersey at the 2008 Tour de France might require a little less individual effort than in previous years.

The route and daily details released by bike race officials on Thursday shows there will be no starting prologue, and one of the two individual time trials will be shorter than usual.

The 2008 Tour de France rolls counter-clockwise around France from Saturday, July 5 to Sunday July 27, 2008. Along the way it will pass 2,170 miles of French countryside, except for a brief one day stop in the Italian Alps ...

2007 Tour de France winners

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:26:00 -0700

Here are all the winners at the 2007 Tour de France.

Alberto Contador (Spain) won the General Classification, aka, the Yellow Jersey. At age 24, he also won the best young rider classification, known as the White Jersey.

Discovery Channel put two cyclists on the podium, Contador and US cyclist Levi Leipheimer. As Discovery and its predecessor, US Postal Service, they've won the Tour eight out of the past nine years. Might want to give a big dose of credit to Johan Bruyneel for that. Discovery won the team competition...

This Is the Tour de France That Was

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 05:00:00 -0700

Seeing replays of this year's rogue's gallery -- Sinkewitz, Vino, Moreni and Rasmussen -- reminded me of the strangeness of the 2007 Tour de France.

One day's hero was the next day's heel. It will certainly go down as one of the most bizarre Tours in history. I hope there's never another one like it.

It seems like ages ago that the Tour started in London for the first time in history. Everything was good. Trouble began about a week later...

Leipheimer wins time trial; Contador barely hangs onto yellow jersey

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:09:00 -0700

US cyclist Levi Leipheimer celebrated his first stage win ever at the Tour de France on Saturday, pulling himself within 8 seconds of Cadel Evans, who sits in second place with just one stage left in the bike race.

Leipheimer's Discovery Channel teammate, Alberto Contador, survived in the yellow jersey as just 31 seconds separates the top three cyclists in the race that began nearly three weeks ago.

Leipheimer led in every time check in the 34-mile individual time trial from Cognac to Angoulême. His speed, 53.1k per hour (32.9 mph) is the fourth fastest ever recorded at the Tour...

Casar wins 4-man sprint; Contador retains yellow in Tour de France

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:32:00 -0700

French cyclist Sandy Casar won his first Tour de France stage on Friday with his shorts ripped and hip bruised from a crash when he hit a dog earlier in the Stage 18 breakaway.

Challenging him to the end were Axel Merckx (T-Mobile) and Michael Boogerd (Rabobank), both of whom have announced this was their last Tour de France, and Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom).

Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador, riding for Discovery Channel, remained in the yellow jersey, retaining his lead over Australian Cadel Evans and teammate Levi Leipheimer of the US...

Bennati wins Stage 17; Contador pulls on yellow jersey

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:34:00 -0700

Four survivors of a breakaway that led most of the day played a game of cat and mouse at the approach to the finish line in Castelsarrasin on Thursday, but all the tactics couldn't stop sprinter Daniele Bennati from winning Stage 17.

Meanwhile, the Discovery Channel team drove the rest of the peloton about 10 minutes back to protect race leader Alberto Contador, who did not wear the yellow jersey during the stage but pulled it on at ceremonies at the finish.

Tour de France organizers decided that no one would wear the yellow jersey on Thursday's stage, the day after the Rabobank team removed and fired overall leader Michael Rasmussen for lying about his whereabouts in June

How the Tour de France stands Thursday morning

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 05:00:00 -0700

Good morning, and welcome to Stage 17 of the 2007 Tour de France.

In case you're just tuning in for the first time since Monday, there have been some major changes:

-- Overall Tour leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked off the Rabobank team on Wednesday, just four stages from a sure championship in Paris.

It was unknown Wednesday night whether his Rabobank teammates would continue. What is known is that teammates Denis Menchov and Michael Boogerd gave up any chance of stage wins or podium finishes by unselfishly helping Rasmussen, who is accused of lying to his team about his whereabouts during training. I wonder what they think about The Chicken now?...

What's next? Rasmussen booted from Tour de France by his own team

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:19:00 -0700

Just four days from a sure victory in Paris, Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen has been kicked out of the Tour de France by his own Rabobank team.

The 33-year-old cyclist violated team rules for lying about his whereabouts before the Tour, causing him to miss drug tests on May 8 and June 28.

With Rasmussen gone, the new leaders in the Tour de France are Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel), Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto), and Levi Leipheimer (Discovery). It's unclear whether Contador would actually start Thursday in the yellow jersey, the brightness of which seems terribly faded now .....