Toad
06-23-2006, 12:19 PM
Thursday's EuroFile: Eight Americans likely at Tour; Millar on SD roster; Cofidis ready for a fight
While all 21 teams have yet to announce their official Tour de France rosters, it appears that eight Americans will be lining up July 1 in Strasbourg for the start of the 93rd Tour.
Reflecting a growing depth and diversity among the American contingent in Europe, the eight riders are represented by five teams while three of them will be racing with legitimate chances for the final podium when the Tour ends July 23 in Paris.
Ninth last year, Floyd Landis (Phonak) is getting the most hype among the European press as the American most likely to succeed Lance Armstrong in the Tour hierarchy. Landis roared through the spring with victories in the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and Tour de Georgia and will be starting his second Tour as outright leader.
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) gained new converts with his impressive victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, where he demonstrated new confidence and fortitude to win a very difficult Tour warmup. Leipheimer has never finished out of the top 10 in four Tour starts and will begin his fifth Tour with ambitions of reaching the podium.
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) is upgrading his role as super domestique into team leader after being the only rider to be part of all seven of Armstrong's Tour victories. Hincapie finished a solid 10th at the Dauphiné Libéré in his return to racing after crashing hard at Paris-Roubaix. Improvements in both time trialing and climbing could push Hincapie into the top five overall.
Bobby Julich, Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie will all be working to help Team CSC captain Ivan Basso become the first race since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour in the same season. Zabiskie will likely shine in the time trials after winning two tests against the clock at the recent Dauphiné while Vande Velde and Julich will save their strength to help Basso in the mountains.
Chris Horner and Fred Rodriguez will have opposing roles at Davitamon-Lotto. Rodriguez will be the lead-out man for sprint ace Robbie McEwen, but will be hoping to have a chance to go for a win along the way. Horner, back for his second Tour start, will be watching out for Cadel Evans in the mountains as well as riding for himself when the opportunity arises.
Americans likely to start the 93rd Tour de France
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel)
Bobby Julich, Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie (Team CSC)
Chris Horner and Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto)
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner)
Floyd Landis (Phonak)
Millar back to Tour with Saunier Duval
David Millar - fresh off serving a two-year racing ban after admitting he took EPO en route to some of his biggest victories - will line up as part of Saunier Duval-Prodir's Tour de France team.
Millar hasn't raced since June, 2004, when he admitted to French police that he used the banned blood booster. He was later handed down a two-year racing ban, set to end just days before the July 1 start of the 93rd Tour.
It's hard to measure Millar's condition since he hasn't been racing, but team officials say the Scot has been training hard and is intent on leaving a positive impression in his Tour return. He'll line up as one of the outsiders to win the 7.1km opening prologue, which he won in 2000.
Also lining up for Saunier Duval will be Spanish sensation José Angel Gómez Marchante, winner of the Tour of the Basque Country in April, and Gilberto Simoni, third overall at the 2006 Giro d'Italia.
Gómez Marchante will aim for the top 10 overall in what will be his second Tour start while Simoni, 34, has stated he wants to win at Alpe d'Huez.
Saunier Duval-Prodir for Tour de France (July 1-23)
José Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp)
David Cañada (Sp)
David de la Fuente (Sp)
Ruben Lobato (Sp)
Francisco Ventoso (Sp)
David Millar (GB)
Riccardo Ricco (I)
Gilberto Simoni (I)
Christophe Rinero (F)
Cofidis selects ‘fighters'
Well aware that it doesn't have a rider capable of fighting for overall victory, French team Cofidis has instead selected a Tour de France team consisting of "fighters" intent on livening up the bunch.
"It's a team of fighters and escapees who've already won at the highest level," Cofidis team manager Eric Boyer said.
The team will be hunting for stage victories with Frenchman David Moncoutie, a winner of two Tour stages in his career, Belgian bomber Rik Verbrugghe, French flier Sylvain Chavanel, Italian Cristian Moreni and Colombian climber Ivan Parra, who won two stages in last year's Giro d'Italia.
Olympic pursuit champion Brad Wiggins will also be making his Tour debut and will be one of the favorites for the yellow jersey in the 7.1km opening prologue in Strasbourg.
Cofidis for Tour
Stephane Auge (F)
Jimmy Casper (F)
Sylvain Chavanel (F)
Arnaud Coyot (F)
David Moncoutie (F)
Critsian Moreni (I)
Ivan Parra (Col)
Rik Verbrugghe (B)
Bradley Wiggins (GB)
Liquigas goes with Di Luca, Garzelli
Liquigas will rally its Tour de France hopes around Danilo Di Luca and Stefano Garzelli for the July 1 start in Strasbourg.
Di Luca is hoping to make up for a disappointing Giro d'Italia, when he finished well out of contention when he was expecting to make a run for the final poduim. Garzelli, meanwhile, skipped the Giro to focus his preparation solely on the Tour.
Both riders have said they're not necessarily interested in contending for the overall, but rather aiming for a stage victory.
"We'll start with a team that may be at ease both in the flat stages and in the mountain ones," said team manager Roberto Amadio in a team release. "We decidedly aim at performing well, but we are perfectly aware that each day here at the Tour is like a world championship. Our goal is one stage win. We also want to be among the key players in the decisive moments of the race."
The team will also count on Magnus Backstedt, the 2004 Paris-Roubaix champion and winner of a Tour stage in 1998.
Liquigas for Tour
Danilo Di Luca (I)
Stefano Garzelli (I)
Magnus Bäckstedt (S)
Luca Paolini (I)
Manuel Quinziato (I)
Michael Albasini (Swi)
Patrick Calcagni (Swi)
Kjell Carlström (Fin)
Matej Mugerli (Slo)
While all 21 teams have yet to announce their official Tour de France rosters, it appears that eight Americans will be lining up July 1 in Strasbourg for the start of the 93rd Tour.
Reflecting a growing depth and diversity among the American contingent in Europe, the eight riders are represented by five teams while three of them will be racing with legitimate chances for the final podium when the Tour ends July 23 in Paris.
Ninth last year, Floyd Landis (Phonak) is getting the most hype among the European press as the American most likely to succeed Lance Armstrong in the Tour hierarchy. Landis roared through the spring with victories in the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and Tour de Georgia and will be starting his second Tour as outright leader.
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) gained new converts with his impressive victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, where he demonstrated new confidence and fortitude to win a very difficult Tour warmup. Leipheimer has never finished out of the top 10 in four Tour starts and will begin his fifth Tour with ambitions of reaching the podium.
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) is upgrading his role as super domestique into team leader after being the only rider to be part of all seven of Armstrong's Tour victories. Hincapie finished a solid 10th at the Dauphiné Libéré in his return to racing after crashing hard at Paris-Roubaix. Improvements in both time trialing and climbing could push Hincapie into the top five overall.
Bobby Julich, Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie will all be working to help Team CSC captain Ivan Basso become the first race since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour in the same season. Zabiskie will likely shine in the time trials after winning two tests against the clock at the recent Dauphiné while Vande Velde and Julich will save their strength to help Basso in the mountains.
Chris Horner and Fred Rodriguez will have opposing roles at Davitamon-Lotto. Rodriguez will be the lead-out man for sprint ace Robbie McEwen, but will be hoping to have a chance to go for a win along the way. Horner, back for his second Tour start, will be watching out for Cadel Evans in the mountains as well as riding for himself when the opportunity arises.
Americans likely to start the 93rd Tour de France
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel)
Bobby Julich, Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie (Team CSC)
Chris Horner and Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto)
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner)
Floyd Landis (Phonak)
Millar back to Tour with Saunier Duval
David Millar - fresh off serving a two-year racing ban after admitting he took EPO en route to some of his biggest victories - will line up as part of Saunier Duval-Prodir's Tour de France team.
Millar hasn't raced since June, 2004, when he admitted to French police that he used the banned blood booster. He was later handed down a two-year racing ban, set to end just days before the July 1 start of the 93rd Tour.
It's hard to measure Millar's condition since he hasn't been racing, but team officials say the Scot has been training hard and is intent on leaving a positive impression in his Tour return. He'll line up as one of the outsiders to win the 7.1km opening prologue, which he won in 2000.
Also lining up for Saunier Duval will be Spanish sensation José Angel Gómez Marchante, winner of the Tour of the Basque Country in April, and Gilberto Simoni, third overall at the 2006 Giro d'Italia.
Gómez Marchante will aim for the top 10 overall in what will be his second Tour start while Simoni, 34, has stated he wants to win at Alpe d'Huez.
Saunier Duval-Prodir for Tour de France (July 1-23)
José Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp)
David Cañada (Sp)
David de la Fuente (Sp)
Ruben Lobato (Sp)
Francisco Ventoso (Sp)
David Millar (GB)
Riccardo Ricco (I)
Gilberto Simoni (I)
Christophe Rinero (F)
Cofidis selects ‘fighters'
Well aware that it doesn't have a rider capable of fighting for overall victory, French team Cofidis has instead selected a Tour de France team consisting of "fighters" intent on livening up the bunch.
"It's a team of fighters and escapees who've already won at the highest level," Cofidis team manager Eric Boyer said.
The team will be hunting for stage victories with Frenchman David Moncoutie, a winner of two Tour stages in his career, Belgian bomber Rik Verbrugghe, French flier Sylvain Chavanel, Italian Cristian Moreni and Colombian climber Ivan Parra, who won two stages in last year's Giro d'Italia.
Olympic pursuit champion Brad Wiggins will also be making his Tour debut and will be one of the favorites for the yellow jersey in the 7.1km opening prologue in Strasbourg.
Cofidis for Tour
Stephane Auge (F)
Jimmy Casper (F)
Sylvain Chavanel (F)
Arnaud Coyot (F)
David Moncoutie (F)
Critsian Moreni (I)
Ivan Parra (Col)
Rik Verbrugghe (B)
Bradley Wiggins (GB)
Liquigas goes with Di Luca, Garzelli
Liquigas will rally its Tour de France hopes around Danilo Di Luca and Stefano Garzelli for the July 1 start in Strasbourg.
Di Luca is hoping to make up for a disappointing Giro d'Italia, when he finished well out of contention when he was expecting to make a run for the final poduim. Garzelli, meanwhile, skipped the Giro to focus his preparation solely on the Tour.
Both riders have said they're not necessarily interested in contending for the overall, but rather aiming for a stage victory.
"We'll start with a team that may be at ease both in the flat stages and in the mountain ones," said team manager Roberto Amadio in a team release. "We decidedly aim at performing well, but we are perfectly aware that each day here at the Tour is like a world championship. Our goal is one stage win. We also want to be among the key players in the decisive moments of the race."
The team will also count on Magnus Backstedt, the 2004 Paris-Roubaix champion and winner of a Tour stage in 1998.
Liquigas for Tour
Danilo Di Luca (I)
Stefano Garzelli (I)
Magnus Bäckstedt (S)
Luca Paolini (I)
Manuel Quinziato (I)
Michael Albasini (Swi)
Patrick Calcagni (Swi)
Kjell Carlström (Fin)
Matej Mugerli (Slo)