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26 July 2006

27 July News ...

Discovery Adds Leipheimer, Paulinho and Vaitkus

Discovery Channel confirmed their signing of Levi Leipheimer. The American (33), previously with US Postal in 2000 and 2001, will leave Gerolsteiner and join Discovery Channel starting 1 January 2007.

Leipheimer made his mark on the international scene when in 2001 he finished third at the Vuelta a España while riding for the previous incarnation of Disco, US Postal. After his Vuelta result, he signed for Rabobank and two uneventful years followed. Since joining German Gerolsteiner in 2005, the American has flourished, highlighted by his Deucthland Tour win in 2005.

It is unclear the role of LL in the Disco formation. Will he lead the team at the 2007 Tour de France? And what about Tom Danielson?

In addition to Leipheimer, Discovery Channel announced the signings of Portuguese Sergio Paulinho (26, from Astaná-Würth) and Lithuanian Tomas Vaitkus (24, from Ag2R Prévoyance). You might remember Vaitkus from his win in Termoli during the Giro d'Italia. The youngster put one over on the likes of Paolo Bettini and Robbie McEwen... Good Stuff.

Moreni to Renew with Cofidis

Cristian Moreni is ready to renew for two years with French formation Cofidis. The Italian, who crashed-out of the Giro d'Italia but then bounced back for the Tour de France with a second place result behind Tosatto in stage 18 to Mâcon, wants to continue his contract through 2008. In the next week a confirmation is expected from Cofidis team managers.

Lancaster to ProTour with Milram

Aussie Brett Lancaster will make the leap to ProTour level, signing with Milram. The 26 year-old, who has spent the last seasons with Panaria-Navigare, will become one of Alessandro Petacchi's lead-out men.

The move to the German formation is perfect for Lancaster, who excels in leading-out sprinters. In 2005 the Aussie won the prologue of the Giro d'Italia, taking the Maglia Rosa in the process, but prides himself on his work for the team's sprinters, like Paride Grillo.

Operación Puerto: National Federations Receive Names

The 58 cyclists named in the Operación Puerto Spanish investigation will be given to riders' national federations by the end of this week. Over the following month, the federations will review the evidence and decide on disciplinary action.

Last May, the Operación Puerto investigation revealed 200 frozen bags of blood and plasma along with a list of riders names written in code. Spanish officials released the list of names to the UCI prior to the start of the Tour de France, which was followed by the disqualification of Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, Francisco Mancebo, Oscar Sevilla and others.

In the next week Basso will meet CONI (Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano), who will have to decide if the Italian's case should be deferred to disciplinary officials. Meanwhile, Basso will meet with CSC Team Manager Bjarne Riis, who is now located in Sorengo (near Lugano). The relationship between the two deteriorated after the ousting of Basso from the Tour. If the differences are not patched up it is likely that Basso will be forced to end his contract with CSC and search for a new squadra. Perhaps we might see Discovery Channel woo il Varesino.

Ullrich's lawyers had a meeting yesterday with T-Mobile officials. The team sacked the 1997 Tour winner after his connection to Operación Puerto was revealed. The German would like to be reinstated with T-Mobile.

"This year I was tested in 11 controls and passed them all," said the German during an interview with a Swiss newspaper. "I have always said that I want to end my career by winning the Tour. I would like to say that I will race the next [Tour]."

Finally, officials from Astaná-Würth have invited UCI officials to review the position of the Spanish formation (now Kazakh). The squadra, previously named Liberty Seguros-Würth, was rocked the hardest by the Operación Puerto investigation. After the team's primary sponsor, Liberty Seguros, left and Manolo Saiz (Team Manager) and Pablo Antón (Team DS) passed the team direction over to former T-Mobile man, Walter Godefroot, Astaná-Würth believes it has a right to continue in the UCI ProTour. A decision is expected soon.

93rd Tour de France - presented by , 1 - 23 July
Main, Startlist, Classifications, Tour Favorites, Team CSC versus T-Mobile
Stages and Maps, Key Stages, Overall Map
Photos, The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Simoni and Saunier Duval-Prodir Updates
2005 Results

25 July News ...