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Reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, who has signed for the once-disgraced Astana team, will not be a guaranteed a starting place in the 2008 race, race organizers said on Friday. Patrice Clerc, the president of Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) which oversees the epic competition, said that selection for the Tour de France was based on teams rather than an individual pedigree. "When we make our selection, we don't pick individual riders but rather the teams," said Clerc. "Let us have the time to calmly make our decision."

High Road, Astana, two French ProTour teams and the squad of former winner Stefano Garzelli won't be going to the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the organizers of the season's first grand tour announced Friday. In a surprise move that could foreshadow possible selections to July's Tour de France, officials from Giro organizer RCS announced 21 teams that will be at the May 10 start of the 2008 Giro. As VeloNews reported earlier, Slipstream-Chipotle is among the select teams.

(Carson City, NV and Valkenswaard, the Netherlands) Veltec, the company that markets some of the world’s finest cycling brands has signed an agreement with Descente, Ltd. to become the licensee of the Descente brand for the cycling, triathlon, running and fitness markets, in North America and Europe beginning February 1.

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Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from your friends at VeloNews.com.

Tom Boonen might be known as Mr. Classics, but the road to glory in April goes through the wind-blasted deserts of Qatar. Ever since trekking to this Arabic nation overflowing with petro-dollars for the first time in 2004, Boonen has used the weeklong sprint-fest as a trampoline for spring-classic success. “The last few years we’ve been good here, so it’s become somewhat of a habit,” said Boonen, who relegated Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff) to second with Luciano Pagliarini (Sauner Duval-Scott) third in Friday’s finale. “If we weren’t going good, then I’d be worried.”

Training in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his Astana teammates, Levi Leipheimer is looking forward to another season as America’s best active stage racer. Albuquerque police have been giving Astana rolling enclosures during training rides. When the team comes to stop signs or red lights, it doesn’t stop. At 34, Leipheimer doesn’t intend to stop, either.

Bob,

British cycling star Bradley Wiggins said on Thursday he was shocked by news that his father had been found dead in suspicious circumstances in Australia. According to media reports here, 55-year-old Gary Wiggins was found to have died from a head injury after he was discovered unconscious in the street in the town of Aberdeen, north of Sydney, last Friday. "I am sad and in shock at this time," said his son in a statement. "We still don't know the full details of what happened, however I have every confidence that the authorities will get to the bottom of this out in Australia.

The Kona professional mountain-bike team will send its six factory riders to a diverse group of races in 2008, from World Cup-level downhill and cross-country events to multi-day stage races and local events.

Danilo Napolitano (Lampre) received a nice birthday present Thursday as he steered clear of a nasty crash that KO’d classics candidate Magnus Backstedt (Slipstream-Chipotle) and won stage 5 of the Tour of Qatar ahead of race leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step). While Backstedt wound up with a broken right clavicle, barrel-chested Napolitano bolted ahead of Boonen’s derailed train to snag his first win over Boonen, who retained the overall lead over teammate Steven De Jongh with just one day to go.

The Astana team gets ready for a chilly training ride.

The Astana team is in Albuquerque for camp. Photographer Casey Gibson is, too.

While USA Cycling hosts a variety of clinics and conferences, these haven’t included leadership conferences aimed specifically at women – until last weekend. Apparently the time is ripe, as USA Cycling’s Enhancing Leadership in Women’s Cycling Conference held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs was sold out, and declared a rousing success by all those involved. “People are really excited,” Lynda Ransdell said. “They think this is the start of something … getting more women involved in USA Cycling in both racing and coaching.”

Magnus Bäckstedt (Slipstream-Chipotle) promises he will be racing the northern classics despite snapping his right collarbone in a high-speed crash late in Thursday’s fifth stage at the 7th Tour of Qatar. Bäckstedt , who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Wednesday, hit the deck hard after a QuickStep rider swept into his front wheel with 500m to go. Despite the setback, Bäckstedt vows to lead the Slipstream-Chipotle team into Paris-Roubaix and other spring classics.

The Astana team camp isn’t Johan Bruyneel’s only project going on this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The recently retitled Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy is also hosting 16 young riders in the same hotel as the ProTour squad. Bernard Moerman has run the operation for years under the banner of the Cycling Center with headquarters in his home of Oostkamp, Belgium, and more recently with the Albuquerque satellite program.

When Amgen Tour of California organizer AEG announced a series of strict anti-doping measures for the 2008 event last week, the initiative was hailed as a collaborative effort of riders, teams, sponsors, drug-testing agencies and national and international governing bodies. The move came after a tough year for cycling and the revelation that controls at the 2007 edition of the race had been relatively narrow, not even involving tests for EPO. Organizers insisted 2008 would be different.

Twice up this hill, James Watson, just a little farther to, to complete the 36 mile Wichita Cyclefest RR.

Kansas State Crit 04 10-12 age

Before your thoughts turn to experimentation with new sports nutrition products and carbo-loading strategies that support your training and racing efforts, let’s take a look at some predicted food and nutrition trends for 2008. In the coming months you can expect to see in a somewhat contradictory fashion both the promotion of simple unprocessed whole foods and nutrient touting functional foods, both valued for their roles in maintaining good health, as well as a few other nutrition twists. Earth friendly and ethical eating

Electromuscle Stimulation Specialist Contour Technology Joins Sponsor Lineup of Health and Wellness Leaders Minneapolis, Minn., January 29, 2008 – Jonas Carney's sophomore squad, Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast adds a major new partner this week, continuing to build what is perhaps the most impressive roster of leading health and wellness sponsors on the North American Circuit. Minneapolis based electromuscle stimulation (eStim) leader Contour Technology joins the line up effective immediately.

Maybe Tom Boonen is mortal after all. After winning the opening two stages of the 7th edition of the Tour of Qatar (three if you count Sunday’s opening’s time trial), Boonen was relegated to second in Wednesday’s 131.5km fourth stage when a brisk wind and a surprisingly strong Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff) took him down a notch.