Cycling | Discovery Channel team will disband

By The Associated Press

 

Rasmussen takes it all

Denmark's Michael Rasmussen strode towards a third consecutive King of the Mountains title after claiming victory on the Tour de France's eighth stage to pull on the leader's yellow jersey.

The Rabobank rider finished the 165km run from Le Grand-Bornand to the first summit finish of the race Sunday with the same classic display of climbing that has won him the race's polka dot jersey for the past two years.

On the second of three days in the Alps the race sprang into life on the day's climb to the first summit finish, on which yellow jersey favourites Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Klöden lost more time to their rivals. The Astana team pair, riding with injuries picked up on Thursday's fifth stage, could do little when French champion Christophe Moreau launched the first of a series of attacks late on the 18km climb to the summit finish.

They eventually finished over four minutes behind Rasmussen, and pre-race favourite Vinokourov lost nearly a minute and a half to a handful of his more credible rivals.

Rasmussen took over what should be temporary possession of the yellow jersey from German race debutant Linus Gerdemann, who battled hard over the day's six climbs but missed out by less than a minute. Rasmussen now leads the 24-year-old T-Mobile rider by 43secs in the general classification going into Monday's first rest day, but the skinny Dane said he has no aims of keeping it all the way to Paris.

"There's still two weeks of racing left, and 110km of time trialling - and I think I've showed in the past it's not exactly my speciality," said Rasmussen, who now has three stage wins on the race. The Dane famously crashed a number of times in the race's second time trial in 2005.

Rasmussen started his attack on the Cormet de Roselend after 81km with a small group of riders, and he left his only remaining companion, Antonio Colom of Astana, 18km from the summit of the final climb.

In the end Rasmussen came over the finish with a lead of 2min 47sec on Spaniard Iban Mayo, of Saunier Duval, with Alejandro Valverde finishing 01sec ahead of a handful of fellow yellow jersey contenders, including Christophe Moreau, Cadel Evans and Andrey Kashechkin.

Rasmussen didn't celebrate at the finish, and later admitted: "I knew it would be pretty tight for the yellow jersey, that's why I didn't celebrate today. We can do that tonight. It was just a matter of taking as much time out of my competitors as possible."

Some of the more credible yellow jersey contenders meanwhile will be nursing their wounds.

Vinokourov, who struggled in the final kilometres of the day's sixth and last climb as Moreau launched attack after attack, finally came in 19th at 4:29 behind Rasmussen. More importantly, the Kazakh lost over a minute to Alejandro Valverde, Cadel Evans and Moreau and is now 5min 23sec behind the overall leader.

A defiant Vinokourov, riding his third consecutive day with over 30 stitches in deep cuts on his knees following a crash, says his Tour is far from over. "If I had lost five minutes today, it would have been over," he said.

Evans said it had been one of the most dramatic days of racing his career. "I've never seen the GC (general classification) riders attacking each other so much. When there's no one to ride (with), trust me, it's not easy."

Evans, who finished fifth overall last year, is one of the few remaining Australians on the race. Michael Rogers, of Gerdemann's T-Mobile team, was in the virtual race lead when he crashed out of the race while travelling in excess of 60km/h on the descent of the Cormet de Roselend. He later abandoned with injuries to his right hand, shoulder and knee.

Half an hour earlier compatriot Stuart O'Grady, of the CSC team, was taken to hospital after he also crashed on the descent of the Cormet de Roselend climb.

A third Australian, Robbie McEwen of Evans' Predictor-Lotto team, failed to finish within the time limits.

© AFP 2007

Also see: stage 8 live report.

Results

1 Michael Rasmussen (Den ¦ Rabobank) 04:49:40
2 Iban Mayo (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:02:47
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:03:12
4 Christophe Moreau (Fra ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:03:13
5 Frank Schleck (Lux ¦ Team CSC) 00:03:13
6 Cadel Evans (Aus ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:03:13
7 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz ¦ Astana) 00:03:13
8 Alberto Contador (Spa ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:03:31
9 Denis Menchov (Rus ¦ Rabobank) 00:03:35
10 Carlos Sastre (Spa ¦ Team CSC) 00:03:35
11 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:03:59
12 Levi Leipheimer (USA ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:03:59
13 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:03:59
14 Manuel Beltran (Spa ¦ Liquigas) 00:04:13
15 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:04:13
16 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:04:29
17 David Arroyo (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:04:29
18 Andréas Klöden (Ger ¦ Astana) 00:04:29
19 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz ¦ Astana) 00:04:29
20 Linus Gerdemann (Ger ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:05:05
21 Tadej Valjavec (Slo ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:05:05
22 Kim Kirchen (Lux ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:05:10
23 Mikel Astarloza (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:05:41
24 Jens Voigt (Ger ¦ Team CSC) 00:05:47
25 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr ¦ Barloworld) 00:05:47
26 Michael Boogerd (Ned ¦ Rabobank) 00:06:32
27 Christopher Horner (USA ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:06:32
28 Vladimir Karpets (Rus ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:06:39
29 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:07:40
30 Amets Txurruka (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:08:23
31 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra ¦ Cofidis Credit Par Telephone) 00:08:23
32 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:08:23
33 Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez (Col ¦ Barloworld 00:08:48
34 Christian Knees (Ger ¦ Team Milram) 00:09:44
35 Vladimir Gusev (Rus ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:09:44
36 Markus Fothen (Ger ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:09:44
37 Bram Tankink (Ned ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:12:45
38 Christian Vandevelde (USA ¦ Team CSC) 00:12:45
39 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:12:45
40 Ludovic Turpin (Fra ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:12:45
41 Simon Gerrans (Aus ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:13:12
42 Kjell Carlström (Fin ¦ Liquigas) 00:14:13
43 Fabian Wegmann (Ger ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:14:13
44 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:14:13
45 Patxi Vila Errandonea (Spa ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:15:16
46 Thomas Voeckler (Fra ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:15:33
47 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita ¦ Astana) 00:17:26
48 Antonio Colom (Spa ¦ Astana) 00:17:26
49 Axel Merckx (Bel ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:17:26
50 George Hincapie (USA ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:17:26
51 Carlos Barredo (Spa ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:17:26
52 Cristian Moreni (Ita ¦ Cofidis Credit Par Telephone) 00:18:06
53 Serguei Ivanov (Rus ¦ Astana) 00:19:17
54 Mario Aerts (Bel ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:19:17
55 Thomas Dekker (Ned ¦ Rabobank) 00:19:17
56 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor ¦ Team CSC) 00:19:17
57 Erik Zabel (Ger ¦ Team Milram) 00:19:17
58 Johan Van Summeren (Bel ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:19:17
59 Cédric Vasseur (Fra ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:19:17
60 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz ¦ Astana) 00:19:17
61 Sylvain Calzati (Fra ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:19:17
62 Stephane Goubert (Fra ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:19:17
63 Jérôme Pineau (Fra ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:19:17
64 Grischa Niermann (Ger ¦ Rabobank) 00:19:17
65 Gorka Verdugo (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:19:17
66 Inigo Cuesta (Spa ¦ Team CSC) 00:19:17
67 Gregory Rast (Swi ¦ Astana) 00:19:17
68 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:19:17
69 Inigo Landaluze (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:19:17
70 Sergio Paulinho (Por ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:20:05
71 Francisco Ventoso (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:20:05
72 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:22:03
73 Dario Cioni (Ita ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:22:59
74 Bernhard Kohl (Aut ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:24:18
75 Ronny Scholz (Ger ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:24:18
76 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:29:11
77 Martin Elmiger (Swi ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:29:11
78 Matthieu Sprick (Fra ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:29:11
79 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa ¦ Agritubel) 00:29:11
80 Ruben Perez (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:29:11
81 Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:29:11
82 Patrice Halgand (Fra ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:29:11
83 John Gadret (Fra ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:29:11
84 Iker Camano (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:29:11
85 Michael Albasini (Swi ¦ Liquigas) 00:29:11
86 Daniele Bennati (Ita ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:29:11
87 Frederik Willems (Bel ¦ Liquigas) 00:29:11
88 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra ¦ Liquigas) 00:29:11
89 Freddy Bichot (Fra ¦ Agritubel) 00:29:11
90 Alessandro Ballan (Ita ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:33:45
91 Fabian Cancellara (Swi ¦ Team CSC) 00:33:45
92 Daniel Navarro (Spa ¦ Astana) 00:33:45
93 Philippe Gilbert (Bel ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:33:45
94 Stefan Schumacher (Ger ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:33:45
95 Egoi Martinez (Spa ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:33:45
96 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:33:45
97 Stef Clement (Ned ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:33:45
98 Jorge Azanza (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:33:45
99 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:33:45
100 Laurent Lefevre (Fra ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:33:45
101 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:33:45
102 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra ¦ Agritubel) 00:33:45
103 Gianpaolo Cheula (Ita ¦ Barloworld) 00:33:45
104 Daniele Righi (Ita ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:33:45
105 Félix Cardenas (Col ¦ Barloworld) 00:36:49
106 Filippo Pozzato (Ita ¦ Liquigas) 00:39:07
107 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr ¦ Liquigas) 00:39:07
108 Matteo Tosatto (Ita ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:39:07
109 Robert Hunter (RSA ¦ Barloworld) 00:39:07
110 Steven De Jongh (Ned ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:39:07
111 Manuel Quinziato (Ita ¦ Liquigas) 00:39:07
112 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:39:07
113 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita ¦ Team Milram) 00:39:07
114 Tom Boonen (Bel ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:39:07
115 Claudio Corioni (Ita ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:39:07
116 Cyril Dessel (Fra ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:39:07
117 Alberto Ongarato (Ita ¦ Team Milram) 00:39:07
118 Ralf Grabsch (Ger ¦ Team Milram) 00:39:07
119 Bert Grabsch (Ger ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:39:07
120 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:39:07
121 Andriy Grivko (Ukr ¦ Team Milram) 00:39:07
122 Marcel Sieberg (Ger ¦ Team Milram) 00:39:07
123 Wim Vansevenant (Bel ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:39:07
124 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel ¦ Cofidis Credit Par Telephone) 00:39:07
125 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:39:07
126 Anthony Geslin (Fra ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:39:07
127 Mickaël Delage (Fra ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:39:07
128 Paolo Bossoni (Ita ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:39:07
129 Leif Hoste (Bel ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:39:07
130 David Millar (GBr ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:39:07
131 David Canada (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:39:07
132 Christophe Rinero (Fra ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:39:07
133 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:39:07
134 Nicolas Portal (Fra ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:39:07
135 Benoit Salmon (Fra ¦ Agritubel) 00:39:07
136 Alexander Efimkin (Rus ¦ Barloworld) 00:39:07
137 Lilian Jegou (Fra ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:39:07
138 Sébastien Hinault (Fra ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:39:07
139 Anthony Charteau (Fra ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:39:07
140 Robert Förster (Ger ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:39:07
141 Gert Steegmans (Bel ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:39:07
142 Igor Anton (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:39:07
143 Inaki Isasi (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:39:07
144 Bradley Wiggins (GBr ¦ Cofidis Credit Par Telephone) 00:39:07
145 William Bonnet (Fra ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:39:07
146 Johann Tschopp (Swi ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:39:07
147 Enrico Poitschke (Ger ¦ Team Milram) 00:39:07
148 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita ¦ Barloworld) 00:39:07
149 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra ¦ Agritubel) 00:39:07
150 Peter Wrolich (Aut ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:39:07
151 Pieter Weening (Ned ¦ Rabobank) 00:39:07
152 Heinrich Haussler (Ger ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:39:07
153 Sven Krauss (Ger ¦ Gerolsteiner) 00:39:07
154 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa ¦ Agritubel) 00:39:07
155 David De La Fuente (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:39:07
156 Stéphane Augé (Fra ¦ Cofidis Credit Par Telephone) 00:39:07
157 Xavier Florencio (Spa ¦ Bouygues Telecom) 00:39:07
158 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel ¦ Cofidis Credit Par Telephone) 00:39:07
159 Thomas Geraint (GBr ¦ Barloworld) 00:39:07
160 Sandy Casar (Fra ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:39:07
161 Thor Hushovd (Nor ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:39:07
162 Bernhard Eisel (Aut ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:39:07
163 Julian Dean (NZl ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:39:07
164 Bram De Groot (Ned ¦ Rabobank) 00:39:07
165 Nick Nuyens (Bel ¦ Cofidis Credit Par Telephone) 00:39:07
166 David Zabriskie (USA ¦ Team CSC) 00:39:07
167 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa ¦ Rabobank) 00:39:07
168 Fred Rodriguez (USA ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:39:07
169 Marcus Burghardt (Ger ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:39:07
170 Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:39:07
171 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra ¦ Francaise Des Jeux) 00:39:07
172 Charles Wegelius (GBr ¦ Liquigas) 00:39:07

General classification after stage 8

1 Michael Rasmussen (Den ¦ Rabobank) 39:37:42
2 Linus Gerdemann (Ger ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:00:43
3 Iban Mayo (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:02:39
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:02:51
5 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz ¦ Astana) 00:02:52
6 Cadel Evans (Aus ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:02:53
7 Christophe Moreau (Fra ¦ Ag2R Prevoyance) 00:03:06
8 Alberto Contador (Spa ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:03:10
9 Frank Schleck (Lux ¦ Team CSC) 00:03:14
10 Denis Menchov (Rus ¦ Rabobank) 00:03:19
11 Carlos Sastre (Spa ¦ Team CSC) 00:03:35
12 Andréas Klöden (Ger ¦ Astana) 00:03:46
13 Levi Leipheimer (USA ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:03:53
14 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:03:54
15 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:04:00
16 Manuel Beltran (Spa ¦ Liquigas) 00:04:19
17 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa ¦ Quick Step - Innergetic) 00:04:22
18 David Arroyo (Spa ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:04:51
19 Kim Kirchen (Lux ¦ T-Mobile Team) 00:05:02
20 Tadej Valjavec (Slo ¦ Lampre-Fondital) 00:05:03
21 Mikel Astarloza (Spa ¦ Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:05:14
22 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz ¦ Astana) 00:05:23
23 Vladimir Karpets (Rus ¦ Caisse D'Epargne) 00:06:09
24 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr ¦ Barloworld) 00:06:18
25 Christopher Horner (USA ¦ Predictor - Lotto) 00:06:29
26 Michael Boogerd (Ned ¦ Rabobank) 00:06:38
27 Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez (Col ¦ Barloworld 00:07:31
28 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr ¦ Discovery Channel Team) 00:07:32
29 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus ¦ Credit Agricole) 00:08:33
30 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa ¦ Saunier Duval - Prodir) 00:08:51

The stages

Stage	Type	Date	Start and Finish	Distance	Details
P.	Individual time-trial	Saturday 7th, July	LondresLondres	7,9 km
1.	Plain	Sunday 8th, July	LondresCanterbury	203 km
2.	Plain	Monday 9th, July	DunkerqueGand	168,5 km
3.	Plain	Tuesday 10th, July	WaregemCompiègne	236,5 km
4.	Plain	Wednesday 11th, July	Villers-CotterêtsJoigny	193 km
5.	Medium mountains	Thursday 12th, July	ChablisAutun	182,5 km
6.	Plain	Friday 13th, July	Semur-en-AuxoisBourg-en-Bresse	199,5 km
7.	High mountains	Saturday 14th, July	Bourg-en-BresseLe Grand-Bornand	197,5 km
8.	High mountains	Sunday 15th, July	Le Grand-BornandTignes	165 km
	Rest day	Monday 16th, July	Tignes
9.	High mountains	Tuesday 17th, July	Val d'IsèreBriançon	159,5 km
10.	Plain	Wednesday 18th, July	TallardMarseille	229,5 km
11.	Plain	Thursday 19th, July	MarseilleMontpellier	182,5 km
12.	Medium mountains	Friday 20th, July	MontpellierCastres	178,5 km
13.	Individual time-trial	Saturday 21st, July	AlbiAlbi	54 km
14.	High mountains	Sunday 22nd, July	MazametPlateau de Beille	197 km
15.	High mountains	Monday 23rd, July	FoixLoudenvielle-Le Louron	196 km
	Rest day	Tuesday 24th, July	Pau
16.	High mountains	Wednesday 25th, July	OrthezGourette-Col d'Aubisque	218,5 km
17.	Plain	Thursday 26th, July	PauCastelsarrasin	188,5 km
18.	Plain	Friday 27th, July	CahorsAngoulême	211 km
19.	Individual time-trial	Saturday 28th, July	CognacAngoulême	55,5 km
20.	Plain	Sunday 29th, July	MarcoussisParis Champs-Élysées	146 km

Discovery Channel Cycling Team Announces Tour de France Roster
By VOA Sports 27 June 2007

The United States-based Discovery Channel cycling team has announced its nine-man roster for the 94th edition of the Tour de France, which begins July 7 in London.

Team manager Johan Bruyneel said Levi Leipheimer will spearhead the team's drive for the yellow jersey. Leipheimer has finished in the top-10 three times during his Tour de France career, and Bruyneel says he has the "form and experience" to finish on the podium.

Bruyneel also announced that the Discovery team is ready to sign the International Cycling Union's anti-doping charter before the Tour de France.

The route for the 2007 Tour de France is 3,547 kilometers. The race consists of one prologue time trial and 20 stages, including 11 flat stages, six mountain stages, one medium mountain stage and two individual time trials.

Leipheimer says the team has selected "an amazing group of riders" to support him and that he could not be happier. Backing the Californian will be fellow-American George Hincapie, Alberto Contador, Benjamin Noval and Egoi Martinez of Spain, Portugal's Sergio Paulinho, Tomas Vaitkus of Lithuania, Russian Vladimir Gusev and Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

 

Stage 7 of today's Tour De Swiss, ended with a suprise solo vicotory from Team Discovery Rider, Vladimir GUSEV (DSC) winning at theage of 24, on a fast chasing Chris Horner of Team Pridictor-Lotto trailing at 2:37. It was a surpize victory for the young pro, with a strong solo attempt, starting in the break at 10 KM mark and running till the finish. At one point was 22 Men strong, over one of the hardest and highest points in Switzerland. Passing over Grimsel Pass at 2614 Meters and the Susten Pass. It was Gustev who started a three man break away at Kilometer 10, making Gustev a for sure rider for the upcoming Tour De France Team Discover roster, per Director sportif Dirk Demol. No one is for sure on any squad running up to the Tour De France, nor is the finish of this Swiss Tour locked up.With Unibet's Matteo Carrara, early race leader Frank Schleck of Team CSC, and ALampre-Fondital's Damiano Cunego also within a minute of the leader, it apears that the final classification won't be decided till the time trail tow days from now-which probally what the race organizers hoped would happen.

 

Danielson to miss 2007 Tour

Buried in the VeloNews coverage of today's stage at the Dauphiné Libéré, there's a story:

Tom Danielson's illness will keep him out of the Tour de France this year.

“Tom is off the Tour team,” Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel told VeloNews's Andrew Hood. “He’s sick. We’re trying to find out exactly what the problem is. He’s had stomach problems throughout the year at several key moments. It’s definitely a disappointment.”

Danielson, 29, won the 2005 Tour de Georgia, and led Discovery Channel at the 2006 Vuelta, where he won Stage 17, and was 6th overall. He was expected to make his first Tour start this season.

Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso has admitted his part in the Operation Puerto blood doping scandal.

In another sad day for Team Discover, Ivan Basso of Italy admitted to be apart of the Drug scandal that rocked   the pro tour last year, is sending bad vibes again through the pelotin. According to a story today in Velo News and the Italian press, the already disgruntled Discover Team leader is out of The Tour of Italy, The Tour De France, and potentially out of cycling. Basso appearing at a committee meeting of the Italian Olympic Committee, this comes a week after Ivan Basso quit the beleaguered Discover Team. Basso is going to server a mandatory 2-year suspension, along with the German Ace Jan Ulrich, who retired last year in the face of being disqualified form starting the Tour De France in 2006. Authorities have also released blood plasma named "Birillio" Ivan's beloved dog! Ivan Basso for his guilt has offered full cooperation in the on-going investigation!

In another relation to the Puerto scandal T-Mobile suspended two of its team doctors after a story broke of former T-Mobile team masseur write a book released to German press from the book of by former T-Mobile masseur Jef D'Hont. In the book D'Hont mentions that both Bjarne Reese (1996) and Jan Ulrich (1997) of the T-Mobile squad took EPO (erythropoietin

 

Start List - 2007 Giro d'Italia

QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC
1. Paolo Bettini (I)
2. Addy Engels (Nl)
3. Mauro Facci (I)
4. Leonardo Scarselli (I)
5. Hubert Schwab (Swi)
6. Andrea Tonti (I)
7. Matteo Tosatto (I)
8. Jurgen Van De Walle (B)
9. Giovanni Visconti (I)

ASTANA
11. Paolo Savoldelli (I)
12. Maxim Gourov (Kz)
13. Benoit Joachim (Lux)
14. Assan Bazayev (Kz)
15. Serguei Yakovlev (Kz)
16. Eddy Mazzoleni (I)
17. Andrey Mizourov (Kz)
18. Steve Morabito (Swi)
19. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kz)

SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR
21. Gilberto Simoni (I)
22. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi)
23. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat)
24. David Canada Gracia (Sp)
25. Angel Gomez Gomez (Sp)
26. Manuele Mori (I)
27. Iban Mayo Diez (Sp)
28. Leonardo Piepoli (I)
29. Riccardo Ricco' (I)

LAMPRE - FONDITAL
31. Damiano Cunego (I)
32. Marzio Bruseghin (I)
33. Giampaolo Caruso (I)
34. Danilo Napolitano (I)
35. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo)
36. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol)
37. Paolo Tiralongo (I)
38. Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Sp)
39. Morris Possoni (I)

ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFE' MOKAMBO
41. Stefano Garzelli (I)
42. Alexandr Arekeev (Rus)
43. Gabriele Balducci (I)
44. Massimo Codol (I)
45. Dario Andriotto (I)
46. Andrei Kunitski (Blr)
47. Giuseppe Palumbo (I)
48. Branislau Samoilau (Blr)
49. Michele Scarponi (I)

AG2R PREVOYANCE
51. Rinaldo Nocentini (I)
52. Hubert Dupont (F)
53. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr)
54. Rene Mandri (Est)
55. Laurent Mangel (F)
56. Lloyd Mondory (F)
57. Carl Naibo (F)
58. Christophe Riblon (F)
59. Aliaksandr Usau (Blr)

BOUYGUES TELECOM
61. Olivier Bonnaire (F)
62. Nicolas Crosbie (F)
63. Pierre Drancourt (B)
64. Yohann Gene (F)
65. Arnaud Labbe (F)
66. Yoann Le Boulanger (F)
67. Alexandre Pichot (F)
68. Franck Renier (F)
69. Thomas Voeckler (F)

CAISSE D'EPARGNE
71. David Arroyo Duran (Sp)
72. Eric Berthou (F)
73. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Sp)
74. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Sp)
75. Alberto Losada Alguacil (Sp)
76. Aitor Perez Arrieta (Sp)
77. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sp)
78. Ruben Plaza Molina (Sp)
79. Constant. Zaballa Gutierrez (Sp)

CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE
81. Emanuele Sella (I)
82. Luca Mazzanti (I)
83. Paride Grillo (I)
84. Fortunato Baliani (I)
85. Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Col)
86. Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex)
87. Domenico Pozzovivo (I)
88. Matteo Priamo (I)
89. Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg)

COFIDIS
91. Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col)
92. Mickael Buffaz (F)
93. Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (F)
94. Bingen Fernandez Bustinza (Sp)
95. Mathieu Heijboer (Nl)
96. Amael Moinard (F)
97. Frédéric Bessy (F)
98. Tristan Valentin (F)
99. Steve Zampieri (Swi)

CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
101. Pietro Caucchioli (I)
102. Francesco Bellotti (I)
103. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun)
104. Julian Dean (NZ)
105. Angelo Furlan (I)
106. Patrice Halgand (F)
107. Christophe Kern (F)
108. Thor Hushovd (N)
109. Nicolas Roche (Irl)

DISCOVERY CHANNEL
111. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
112. Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr)
113. Steven Cummings (GB)
114. George Hincapie (USA)
115. Pavel Padrnos (Cz)
116. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Sp)
117. Brian Bach Vandborg (Dk)
118. Jurgen Van Goolen (B)
119. Matthew White (Aus)

EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI
121. Benat Albizuri Aransolo (Sp)
122. Koldo Fernandez (Sp)
123. Dionisio Galparsoro Martinez (Sp)
124. Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Sp)
125. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp)
126. Anton Luengo Celaya (Sp)
127. Aketza Pena Iza (Sp)
128. Ivan Velasco Murillo (Sp)
129. Joseba Zubeldia Agirre (Sp)

FRANÇAISE DES JEUX
131. Carlos Da Cruz (F)
132. Arnaud Gerard (F)
133. Timothy Gudsell (NZ)
134. Lilian Jegou (F)
135. Ian Mcleod RSA
136. Cyrille Monnerais (F)
137. Francis Mourey (F)
138. Fabien Patanchon (F)
139. Jussi Veikkanen FIN

GEROLSTEINER
141. Davide Rebellin (I)
142. Robert Förster (G)
143. Thomas Fothen (G)
144. Oscar Gatto (I)
145. Tim Klinger (G)
146. Sven Krauss (G)
147. Volker Ordowski (G)
148. Matthias Russ (G)
149. Oliver Zaugg (Swi)

LIQUIGAS
151. Danilo Di Luca (I)
152. Enrico Gasparotto (I)
153. Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro)
154. Vincenzo Nibali (I)
155. Andrea Noe' (I)
156. Franco Pellizotti (I)
157. Alessandro Spezialetti (I)
158. Alessandro Vanotti (I)
159. Charles Wegelius (GB)

PREDICTOR - LOTTO
161. Robert Mc Ewen (Aus)
162. Dario David Cioni (I)
163. Josep Jufre Pou (Sp)
164. Matthew Lloyd (Aus)
165. Mario Aerts (B)
166. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B)
167. Wim Vanhuffel (B)
168. Stefano Zanini (I)
169. Pieter Mertens (B)

RABOBANK
171. Michael Rasmussen (Dk)
172. Leon Van Bon (Nl)
173. Graeme Brown (Aus)
174. Max Van Heeswijk (Nl)
175. Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Sp)
176. Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus)
177. Koos Moerenhout (Nl)
178. Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col)
179. William Walker (Aus)

CSC
181. Fabian Cancellara (Swi)
182. Andy Schleck (Lux)
183. David Zabriskie (USA)
184. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus)
185. Juan José Haedo (Arg)
186. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (N)
187. Matti Breschel (Dk)
188. Michael Blaudzun (Dk)
189. Volodymir Gustov (Ukr)

MILRAM
191. Alessandro Petacchi (I)
192. Alessandro Cortinovis (I)
193. Sergio Ghisalberti (I)
194. Christian Knees (G)
195. Brett Lancaster (Aus)
196. Martin Müller (G)
197. Alberto Ongarato (I)
198. Fabio Sabatini (I)
199. Fabio Sacchi (I)

TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS
201. Salvatore Commesso (I)
202. Evgeni Petrov (Rus)
203. Daniele Contrini (I)
204. Ivan Rovny (Rus)
205. Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Sp)
206. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus)
207. Pavel Brutt (Rus)
208. Elio Aggiano (I)
209. Ruggero Marzoli (I)

T-MOBILE
211. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr)
212. Lorenzo Bernucci (I)
213. Adam Hansen (Aus)
214. Gregory Henderson (NZ)
215. Axel Merckx (B)
216. Aaron Olson (USA)
217. Marco Pinotti (I)
218. Frantisek Rabon (Cz)
219. Thomas Ziegler (G)

12/05	1 - CAPRERA - LA MADDALENA (cronometro a squadre) (26km)
13/05	2 - TEMPIO PAUSANIA - BOSA (205km)
14/05	3 - Barumini - Cagliari (181km)
16/05	4 - Salerno - Montevergine Di Mercogliano (153km)
17/05	5 - Teano - Frascati (173km)
18/05	6 - Tivoli - Spoleto (177km)
19/05	7 - Spoleto - Scarperia (254km)
20/05	8 - Barberino Di Mugello - Fiorano Modenese (200km)
21/05	9 - Reggio Nell'emilia - Lido Di Camaiore (177km)
22/05	10 - Lido Di Camaiore - Santuario Nostra Signora Della Guardia (250km)
23/05	11 - Serravalle Scrivia - Pinerolo (198km)
24/05	12 - Scalenghe - Briançon (Francia) (163km)
25/05	13 - Biella - Santuario Di Oropa  (13km)
26/05	14 - Cantu’ - Bergamo (192km)
27/05	15 - Trento - Tre Cime Di Lavaredo - Auronzo Di Cadore (184km)
29/05	16 - Agordo (Dolomiti Stars) - Lienz (Austria) (189km)
30/05	17 - Lienz (Austria) - Monte Zoncolan (142km)
31/05	18 - Udine - Riese Pio X (182km)
01/06	19 - Treviso - Comano Terme (179km)
02/06	20 - Bardolino - Verona  (43km)
03/06	21 - Vestone - Milano (185km)

Cruz stymied by knee injury
Tony Cruz won't be returning to Europe next month as planned after a nagging knee injury will keep him out of the Tour de Romandie (May 1-6).

Cruz gets ready for the rough road to Roubaix.

photo: Andrew Hood

The Discovery Channel rider was back in California for a short break following a solid run through the northern classics, but what he thought was a relatively minor knee injury has turned out to be more serious. Doctors say Cruz has a minor tear in the ligament that covers his left kneecap.

"I was in a big pileup at (Tour of) Flanders and someone piled into the back of me and sent me flying into a seat-post and landed square on my kneecap," Cruz told VeloNews. "I haven't been able to ride more than an hour and a half for 10 days. When you're racing, you just keep going. It was sore that night and it's gotten progressively worse."

For the time being, it doesn't appear so severe that rest and some physical therapy won't be able to heal. Doctors have told him to stay off the bike and ice and heat the knee to encourage a speedy recovery.

"I've never had an injury like this, so we have to see how aggressive we can be to get things back to normal," Cruz said. "It's very nerve-racking. I was supposed to leave Saturday for Romandie. Things are in full swing and here I am a lame duck."

Cruz, 35, is back racing in Europe after a one-year stint racing domestically with Toyota United in 2006 and is anxious to make up for lost time. The Californian said he missed the big European races and jumped at a chance to return to Discovery Channel for 2007 on a one-year contract.

"The plan was to ride Romandie and do the Giro," Cruz said. "Right now we're hoping I can get back in time for Cataluyna [May 21-27]. I just have to be patient and try not to force it. That's hard for me. I want to race."