Tour de France News for June 17, 2003 Edited by Chris Henry & Jeff Jones Tour teams emerge The final races in the weeks before the Tour are being used not only as preparation for the Grande Boucle, but also to make difficult choices concerning who will ride in France and who will stay at home. Many team directors will wait until the end of the month for their final decisions, based on performances at the various national championships. Some details have emerged in the past few weeks, and decision time is rapidly approaching. US Postal Service After announcing the short list of candidates for the Tour, directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel has narrowed his selection and confirmed the presence of seven riders in addition to team leader Lance Armstrong: Beltran, Ekimov, Heras, Hincapie, Padrnos, Peña, and Rubiera. With one spot remaining, the choice will likely be between Floyd Landis, Guennadi Mikhailov, and Benoît Joachim. Cofidis The French Cofidis team has also announced that just one place remains in its roster, to be led by David Millar and David Moncoutié. Also in the team are Clain, Cuesta, Lelli, Perez, and Vasseur. Candidates for the remaining berth could be Philippe Gaumont, Frédéric Bessy, or Dimitriy Fofonov. iBanesto.com After a solid showing in the Dauphiné Libéré, iBanesto.com is looking to race an aggressive Tour. In the absence of a big stage race leader, the team will likely be looking for stage wins and some battles in the mountains. Three spots remain open in the Spanish formation, with Flecha, Garcia-Acosta, Lastras, Mancebo, Mercado, Menchov already chosen. Euskaltel-Euskadi The Basque formation of Iban Mayo is essentially complete, but a question mark remains with Alberto Martinez, who is currently suffering from a saddle sore. Mayo will be joined by Artetxe, Laiseka, Landaluze, Sanchez, David and Unai Etxebarria, and Zubeldia. If Martinez does not make the team, his likely replacement would be Lopez de Munain. Rasmussen out of Tour According to Danish newspaper Politiken, Michael Rasmussen will not make the Tour team, losing out to Remmert Wielinga, who had a good showing in the Dauphiné. Wielinga finished the Dauphiné in 12th overall, 9'28" behind winner Lance Armstrong, and finished the face with a good performance in the final mountain climbs, confirming his place in the upcoming Tour.   Tour images on display An exhibit showcasing images of the Tour de France has opened at the Tour of Flanders Centre in Oudenaarde, Belgium. To celebrate the Tour's centenary this year, 100 images from the race have been put on display, including works from photographers Cor Vos, Graham Watson, Bruno Bade, and the Photonews Agency. The images are accompanied by text from journalist Rik Vanwalleghem. The Tour of Flanders Centre, closed Mondays, will host the exhibit through August 31. A similar exhibit is also open to the public across the France/Belgium border in Roubaix. "Tour de France, 100 years of legend" will display 100 photographs from French sports paper l'Equipe at the Centre des Archives du Monde du Travail (CAMT) in Roubaix. This exhibit will be open Monday through Friday from 1pm to 6:30pm, as well as the first Saturday of each month during the same hours, until November 15. Previous News    Next News (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)

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