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Riis opts out of Tour

CSC director Bjarne Riis announced on Thursday he will not be present to follow his riders during this year's Tour. In May the 43-year-old Dane admitted to doping during his career, notably during his 1996 Tour de France victory. He was subsequently stripped of the title last month by Tour officials. Riis took the decision to sit out the Tour following criticism by former German CSC rider Jorg Jaksche during an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel. Jaksche told Der Spiegel he used performance enhancing drugs during his spell with the CSC team in 2004 and that the Danish

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Road Racing

Mechanics race the clock: T-Minus two days

While the days leading up to Saturday’s prologue and start of the Tour de France is a time for the racers to go for easy spins and top off their stores of energy with nice meals and daily naps, its truly crunch time for their staff — especially those responsible for the bikes. We caught up with Gerolsteiner mechanic Rajen Murugayan, while he was loading one of the team’s sprinter vans with time-trial bikes for a pre-prologue reconnaissance session, and got a special tour of the team’s gear. MORE IMAGES BELOW The Tour de France is cycling’s biggest show so naturally it’s a perfect time to

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Rabobank brings talent-laden roster to Tour

Perhaps no team enters the Tour de France with as much potential in the race’s four jersey competitions as the Netherlands’ Rabobank squad. With defending two-time King of the Mountains Michael Rasmussen, Russian GC contender Denis Menchov, Spanish sprint star Óscar Freire Gómez and the emerging 22-year-old Thomas Dekker, the team brings riders capable of winning each of the race’s esteemed competitions. Winning more than one jersey is unlikely for Rabobank, however. Menchov, who finished sixth last year, doesn’t top anyone’s list of GC favorites, and at the team’s pre-race medical check

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Moreau aims for Tour podium

In his 13th year as a professional, Ag2r-Prevoyance rider Christophe Moreau said Thursday he thinks he can do something he’s never done at the Tour de France — finish on the podium. Though he’s no stranger to the Tour’s top 10 (he was fourth in 2000, and has twice finished eighth), Moreau has never reached the final podium in Paris. But after dominating the Dauphiné Libéré in June, and more recently winning the French national championship, the 36-year-old Moreau has reason to think this year might be different. In the 12 times he has arrived to the start of the Tour, it’s the most serene

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Petacchi hearing set for July 24

Alessandro Petacchi, charged with doping by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), will learn his fate on July 24. The 33-year-old sprinter will be handed his punishment by the disciplinary commission of the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI). CONI's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri, who charged Petacchi with doping on Wednesday, has requested the FCI ban him from cycling for a year. Petacchi, who had been provisionally suspended by his Milram team last week, has been replaced by Ukrainian Andriy Grivko for the Tour de France, which gets underway in London on Saturday. Petacchi tested

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Road Racing

SRAM Force set to make Tour debut, but Red gets all of the attention

It’s easy for forget that SRAM’s Force group has never been used in the Tour de France. The company had such a strong entry into the road market, and ProTour competition, it’s easy to assume that it’s old hat for the brand. But come Saturday, even if it’s overlooked, SRAM will achieve the final milestone in its coming-of-age party on the road — starting the sports biggest event, the Tour de France. “SRAM Force is in its first Tour,” said Michael Zellmann, SRAM’s road PR manager. “This is a big deal for the Force [group]. I just want to remind people that Force did well in the Giro and we

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Vino’ draws fire for Ferrari ties

If Alexandre Vinokourov expected an easy ride during Thursday’s press conference, he was in for something of a shock. The Tour’s red-hot favorite bristled under repeated questions from testy journalists who queried him about his relationship with Dr. Michele Ferrari, the infamous prepatori who helped Lance Armstrong win seven straight Tour de France victories. “I started to work with (Ferrari) in 2005. He’s my physical trainer. I have worked hard. I have done nothing banned,” a defensive Vinokourov said. “I only work with him in training programs. I work with the team doctors with questions

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Confident Leipheimer ready to rumble

A determined and confident Levi Leipheimer confronts the start of the 2007 Tour de France with new motivation after rejoining the American team Discovery Channel following a five-year run with foreign teams. Leipheimer, 33, lines up Saturday in London as the top American hope for the final podium when the Tour ends July 29 in Paris. “I think I am coming into this Tour a little fresher and a little off my best form. Last year, I was too good too early,” Leipheimer told the assembled media Thursday evening. “This year, I’ve tried to push that back because the end of the Tour this year is so

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Boonen looking for stage wins, redemption

A year ago, Quick Step-Innergetic’s Tom Boonen came to the Tour de France with both the rainbow jersey and heavy expectations on his shoulders. The two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders and reigning world champion came to the Tour with four stage wins to his name and was expected to add to his tally while contesting for the green points jersey. Instead, Boonen did neither, leaving the Tour after stage 15, having worn the yellow jersey for four days. Asked about his main objective for this year’s Tour at a pre-race press conference on Thursday, Boonen played it coy, initially saying, “My

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Mountain

A beautiful day in British Columbia and leader’s still maintain grip on overall

Trek-Volkswagen’s Jeff Schalk summed up the feelings of nearly every rider who took the start line for stage 5 of the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse with this simple assessment of the 58-kilometer fun ride from Sechelt to the Langdale Ferry Terminal on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. “It was honestly one of the first times I’ve totally forgotten about the race and just enjoyed the ride,” said Schalk, who along with teammate Chris Eatough won their fifth straight stage and maintained a commanding lead in the overall standings ahead of the Rocky Mountain duo of Andreas Hestler and

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