Tour Rosters set for some of the biggies

Some of the latest from VeloNews. What some of the major teams look like.

Discovery Channel for the Tour De France

Lance Armstrong (USA)
Jose Azevedo (P)
Manuel Beltran (Sp)
George Hincapie (USA)
Benjamin Noval (Sp)
Pavel Padrnos (Cz)
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
Jose Luis Rubiera (Sp)
Paolo Savoldelli (I)

Phonak
Phonak will approach the 2005 Tour de France covering its bets with three team leaders, playing its cards behind the collective strength of Santiago Botero, Oscar Pereiro and Floyd Landis. Fabian Cancellara will also be trying to repeat his prologue win.

Euskatel-Eusakadi

Everyone in Spain is asking why Aitor González - fresh off his dramatic Tour de Suisse victory - isn't going to the Tour de France. Well, the answer is he was never planned to go. Instead, the reborn TerminAitor will reload for the Vuelta a España, just as he planned back in February.

"Our idea is to have Iban Mayo as our team leader and give everyone something to talk about, whether it's the GC or stages."

Lampre
Damiano Cunego won't be taking on Lance Armstrong in this year's Tour de France after all.
His Lampre-Caffita team confirmed Tuesday what many observers had already guessed: the Epstein Barr virus that sapped young Cunego's strength is still nagging the Italian.

Biggest surprise here is No Zabel, after 11 Tours.

T-Mobile for the Tour de France
Jan Ullrich (G), 31
Professional since 1995
Tour de France: 7 Tours - 1st in 1997, 2nd (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001,2003)
Giuseppe Guerini (I), 35
Professional since 1993
Tour de France: Nine Tours, 22nd in 1999
Stage win 1999: l'Alpe d'Huez (after getting past Erik the photographer)
Matthias Kessler (G), 26
Professional since 2000
Tour de France: Three Tours - 49th in 2003
Andreas Klöden (G), 30
Professional since 1998
Tour de France: Four Tours - 2nd in 2004
Danielle Nardello (I), 32
Professional since 1994
Tour de France: Eight Tours - 7th in 1999
Stefan Schreck (G), 26
Professional since 2000
Tour de France: Tour debut
Oscar Sevilla (Sp), 28
Professional since 1998
Tour de France: Four Tours - 7th in 2001
Tobias Steinhauser (G), 33
Professionnel since 1996
Tour de France: Three Tours - 113th in 1996
Alexandre Vinokourov (Kz), 31
Professionnel since 1998
Tour de France: 3rd in 2003

Time Trial Results

Not to sound like too much of a sore loser, but Kyle and I suspect there was some drafting taking place.  The stagger for the start is not controlled and everyone is on the honor system about drafting. 

Four riders in the top 11 (all from the same team) started within 5 seconds of one another, and one of them improved his time 90 seconds from the previous month to break the course record and finish second.  Pretty impressive improvement, especially when you look at the PRO, James Bonney, that previously held the record.  His time was consistent this time around with his last month time.

Richard Freer, the overall winner is the real deal.  He's a local pro and finished top 50 in the last ITU long-course WORLD Championships.

Main page: http://run-far.com/Depts/RFBikeTT.htm

2005 June results: http://www.doitsports.com/results/page.tcl?id=61442

Look out Jack Alexander

I am starting to feel strong again and really enjoyed hurting myself on the bike. He's in deep shit at the next Heart of Texas!

Cap Tex Tri pictures

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EegMmrJi4buHIw&open=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=1

These are the pics from the Cap Tex Tri Memorial Day weekend. Nipped for second place by just five seconds.

Hincapie wins final stage of Dauphine Libere

I raced with George Hincapie at the Tour of the Future in 1990...

Another co-racer hits big

Chris Wherry won the USPRO Cycling Championship last weekend in Philadelphia. I raced with Chris at Tour of the Future in 1992...

Ah, Hincapie, I knew him when...

Armstrong fifth in Dauphine Libere prologue

By JEROME PUGMIRE, AP Sports Writer

June 5, 2005

AIX-LES-BAINS, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong finished fifth Sunday in the prologue of the Dauphine Libere, a tuneup race leading to his bid next month for a seventh straight Tour de France title.

George Hincapie, a U.S. cyclist who rides for Armstrong's Discovery Channel team, won the stage in 9 minutes, 55 seconds. Americans took four of the top five spots in the 4.9-mile sprint, with Levi Leipheimer second, followed by Andrey Kashechkin of Kazakhstan, Floyd Landis and Armstrong.

``I'm not really specialized in prologue any more,'' said Armstrong, who is planning to retire from cycling after the Tour de France. ``Today I was conservative in the climb, and then there was a lot of headwind in the finish. But that's OK.''

Hincapie was a second ahead of Leipheimer and three ahead of Kashechkin. Landis was timed in 10 minutes and Armstrong in 10:01.

``That's the first time I've beaten Lance in a time trial,'' Hincapie said. ``It's very special for me.''

Armstrong might have had a faster time but his foot slipped from the pedal straps during a 1.2-mile climb. The 33-year-old Texan, second in last year's prologue at the Tour de France, feels he can no longer match quicker riders over limited distances.

``It's a short explosive effort and when you get old, you know what happens,'' he said. ``In the last few years I didn't do good prologues. The prologue of the last Tour was an exception. I had a super day that day.''

He praised Hincapie as a versatile rider.

``It was a good course for him with a hard climb, tricky downhill,'' Armstrong said. ``He's very good in the bike, very fast on the downhill.''

Two riders -- Isidro Nozal of the Liberty Seguros and Michele Scotto d'Abusco of Lampre-Caffita -- were banned from the race after failing blood tests. Nozal finished in seventh place at the Spanish Vuelta last September and 73rd at the Tour de France.

Monday's first stage is a mostly flat 139-mile route from Aix-les-Bains to Givors. Later in the week, there will be testing mountain ascents, including the revered Mont Ventoux on Thursday.

Climbing is traditionally one of Armstrong's strong points. His rivals most likely will have a good indication of his form after Mont Ventoux.

``I have a lot of respect and fear for that mountain,'' Armstrong said. ``I better keep it like that.''

Updated on Sunday, Jun 5, 2005 2:21 pm EDT