Tour de France News for June 26, 2003 Edited by John Stevenson & Chris Henry Cipo's last chance Denied entry to the 2003 Tour de France, Mario Cipollini's Domina Vacanze team has been unwilling the let the issue settle quietly. Having put the issue before the UCI and an arbitration panel, the world champion and his team may now expect one more verdict on the Tour selections, when the UCI makes its judgment on the case Friday, June 27 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Cipollini has the support of the Italian Cycling Federation, but his last ditch bid for a Tour invitation seems unlikely to prove successful. Nevertheless, Domina Vacanze is making confident noises. In the latest statement on the issue, the team says that lawyer Gerald Villanacci expects a positive outcome on the basis that Domina Vacanze's exclusion from the Tour was "unjustified" and did not take into account UCI rules on applying "sporting logic" in the selection of Tour teams. "On this criterion they clearly cannot penalize the team of the world champion," said the team statement. Rabobank for the Tour The Rabobank team has been finalised for the Tour de France, with Marc Lotz taking the final spot. The team leaders will be American Levi Leipheimer, Dutchman Michael Boogerd, and Spaniard Oscar Freire. The rest of the team is comprised of Marc Lotz, Bram de Groot and Remmert Wielinga (Ned), Marc Wauters (Bel), Grischa Niermann (Ger) and Robert Hunter (RSA). Galvez could miss Tour Isaac Galvez, one of Spain's rare sprinting talents, could miss his chance to race this year's Tour de France due to tendonitis, according to Todociclismo. Galvez has been selected as part of the Kelme-Costa Blanca line up, but is as yet uncertain for the Tour prologue on July 5. Previous News    Next News (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)

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