Tour de France News for June 24, 2003 Edited by Jeff Jones & Chris Henry Quick.Step-Davitamon for the Tour Michael Rogers Photo: © AFP The Belgian Quick.Step-Davitamon team has confirmed its line up for the Tour de France. Led by top one day rider Paolo Bettini, the team also features climber Richard Virenque, time trialists Laszlo Bodrogi, Servais Knaven, all rounder Michael Rogers (currently leading the Route du Sud), David Cañada, Luca Paolini, Kurt Van de Wouwer and Piotr Wadecki. The team's reserve riders will be Davide Bramati and Andrey Kashechkin, and the directors will be Serge Parsani and Wilfried Peeters. For Michael Rogers, it will be his first Tour de France, and the 23 year old Australian who has already won two national tours this year is looking forward to it. "I really wanna see what I'm capable of doing in the prologue," he told Cyclingnews in an interview. If I have a good day, the yellow jersey might not be out of reach." "My goal since I was seven years old was the Tour de France," he added. "If I can mould myself to be competitive in medium-ranked stage races, then slowly - very slowly - I may be able to develop into someone who can do a good result in a 21 day tour." Mancebo to lead iBanesto.com Francisco Mancebo will head the Spanish iBanesto.com team for the Tour de France, hoping to improve on his seventh place finish from last year. The remaining team is a Spanish/Russian mix, with climbers Juan Miguel Mercado and Denis Menchov alongside all rounder Juan Antonio Flecha, strong man Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta, Pablo Lastras, Xavier Zandio, Vladimir Karpets and time trialist Evgeni Petrov. Aerts hopes to have done enough Mario Aerts (Telekom) finished 18th in the Volta a Catalunya, 9'46 behind winner Jose Antonio Pecharroman. The Belgian hopes that it was enough for selection in Telekom's Tour de France team, which will be built around Alexandre Vinokourov, Paolo Savoldelli, Santiago Botero and Erik Zabel. "I'll be in now, surely?" he asked himself in Het Laatste Nieuws. "I'm close to my top form. Ideal to go to the Tour...I must still grow in condition and who knows, in the last week...?" Fignon comes back to the Tour 42 year old French ex-pro and two time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon will be at the Centenary Tour this year, working for French Eurosport. Fignon will co-commentate with Patrick Chassé during the live broadcasts, and offer his insights into the race that he came within eight seconds of winning a third time. In the evenings, there will be a "Fignon Special", which will feature Fignon talking about the day's stage and looking to the next one. Team Telekom for the Tour Vino's ready Photo: © AFP German powerhouse Team Telekom has announced its roster for the Tour de France. Perennial green jersey favourite Erik Zabel will joined by a strong team, which has been reshaped following the departure of former winner Jan Ullrich. Along with the in-form Alexandre Vinokourov, Telekom will feature new recruits Santiago Botero and Paolo Savoldelli looking for success in the general classification. "We want to attack everywhere, wherever we get the chance," explained directeur sportif Mario Kummer. "We want to make life as hard as possible for Lance Armstrong." Belgian Mario Aerts has also received his ticket to France, after some early anxiety over his chances for selection. The full Team Telekom includes Mario Aerts, Rolf Aldag, Santiago Botero, Matthias Kessler, Andreas Klöden, Daniele Nardello, Paolo Savoldelli, Alexandre Vinokourov, and Erik Zabel. Lotto-Domo picks seven Seven of the nine riders for the Lotto-Domo Tour de France team have been selected. The final two slots will be filled following the Belgian national championships. The team will be headed by last year's green jersey winner Robbie McEwen, while Axel Merckx and Rik Verbrugghe will be looking for stage victories in addition to protecting McEwen. The initial team selection includes Serge Baguet, Christophe Brandt, Robbie McEwen, Axel Merckx, Koos Moerenhout, Leon Van Bon, and Rik Verbrugghe. Previous News    Next News (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)

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