2011 Tour de France

Although we are a Canadian Cycling tour operator, we have a number of staff as well as clients who hail from 'downunder'! No doubt they will be delighted to see the form of some of the upcoming Australian road cyclists.

THE Australian invasion of world cycling is gathering strength. Yesterday it was Matt Goss who claimed a stage win in the Paris-Nice.

Overnight it was a record 13 Australians lining up in the Tirreno-Adriatico, including Cadel Evans and Robbie McEwen. It looks certain Australian riders will be playing a major part when the Tour de France gets underway in July.

While the Tour is still four months away, Goss yesterday showed in the final sprint after 200km of racing on the undulating roads through Burgundy that Australians can win a major tour.

Many such as Goss boast an excellent record on the track. Others, such as Evans, were hardened by mountain biking. All are proving to be road warriors capable of matching it with the world's best.

Goss's win came just days after Canberra's Michael Matthews opened his first-class account for Dutch paymaster Rabobank with a stage win in Spain's Vuelta a Murcia.

It was Goss's seventh win of the season and it came as no surprise to Geelong's John Trevorrow, the Jayco series director, who has given so many of today's Australian European-based professionals their first start.

"Like O'Grady and others like him, Goss comes to the road with a strong track background as he showed in his bike handling following the carnage in the final metres of yesterday's stage," Trevorrow said. "Ironically the win could just as easily have gone to Heinrich Haussler, another kid from the country in northern NSW.

"When you look around at the make-up of the first division UCI World Tour squads, it is mind-boggling to see the ever-growing number of Australians.

"The proposed Australian GreenEdge team entry next year couldn't be better timed and much of the credit must go to Shayne Bannan's vision at the AIS.

"Bannan has worked wonders with Canberra's Michael Matthews, who has come off winning the world under-23 road race in Geelong last October to win his first race in Europe."

Matthews took out the opening stage win at the Tour of Murcia in Spain, relegating three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador to 16th place.

Goss, 23, returned to Europe last month after an outstanding domestic summer which included beating Matthews for the yellow jersey at the Jayco International series in Geelong and wearing the ochre jersey for a day at the Santos Tour Down Under in January.

The win in Burgundy yesterday saw him take the race leader's yellow jersey off the Belgian Thomas De Gendt in a field that also includes fellow Tasmanian Richie Porte.

The racing season in Italy stepped up a notch overnight with the opening stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico which saw a record 13 Australians on the start line.

The Australians are: Cadel Evans (BMC), Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad), Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma Lotto), Allan Davis, Simon Clarke (Astana), Baden Cooke, David Tanner (Saxo Bank-Sunguard), Mathew Hayman, Chris Sutton (Team Sky), Brett Lancaster, Matt Wilson (Garmin-Cervelo), Stuart O'Grady (Leopard-Trek), and Robbie McEwen (RadioShack).

Why not join a Spyns Tour de France 6 or 7 day cycling tour and watch your favorite Australian cyclist in action in July! Or, if already in Europe, join one of our shorter 3 day Paris Finish - Premiere or Deluxe Tours, or even, just purchas one of our 'Deluxe Day at the Races' Triomphe Grandstand seats, now available for the 24the July 2011.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Tours: Ivan Basso takes first win of 2011 at GP Lugano

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Spyns Tour de france clients will be happy that the Tour de France looks like it will be a great race again in 2011! It looks like Contador is in? Basso has form, Evans is focused on the Tour de France and don't forget the favorite - Schleck!

Italian Tour de France hope takes the win over Duarte and Visconti

2010 Giro d'Italia winner, Ivan Basso, notched up his first win of the 2011 season today in Lugano. The Liquigas rider topped Colombia's 2008 U23 World Champion, Fabio Duarte, and yesterday's GP Insubrica winner, Giovanni Visconti. Visconti wasn't the only rider who put in two consecutive days of solid results though: Team Type 1's Jure Kocjan managed a 4th place in Lugano following his runner-up spot to the Italian champion on Saturday. For Basso, it's a stellar start to his 2011 campaign, for which he has set his sights entirely on July's Tour de France.

Duarte and Basso separated themselves from a select group of four as the crowning move of a long series of attacks.

The decisive moment of the day came in the race's final climb. Cofidis's talented Estonian climber, Rein Taaramae initiated the proceedings with a powerful attack. Italy's two-time Giro d'Italia winner followed the Cofidis rider immediately and with ease, while behind, it was Italy's National Champion, Visconti, who understood the critical nature of the move and leapt across as well. Geox-TMC super young rider, Fabio Duarte, was the last to jump across to make it four at the front - the winner would come from this quartet.

For Taaramae, it was a little too much too early though, and shortly after starting the move, he had to retreat back to the field, leaving only Basso, Visconti, and Duarte.

While Visconti got most of the attention from his win on Saturday, both Basso and Duarte had shown themselves at the head of the field in the waning moments of the GP Insubrica. Duarte led a late move that survived into the final half kilometer, while it was Basso who countered that move, but couldn't quite get free in the fast finish.

On Sunday, there would be no large group to ruin Basso's chances though. As the final climb continued, Visconti began to struggle. He did everything he could to hold on, but eventually succumbed to the pace being set by the former Tour de France podium finisher and the 2008 Espoir World Champion.

With the original move of four down to two, there was only the final descent to negotiate, which Basso managed with aplomb. In the finishing sprint, the not known for his sprinting prowess Basso, was able to just nose his front wheel ahead of his much younger rival to take a big win to start the season.

Unsurprisingly, Basso had only words for his recently passed mentor and coach, Aldo Sassi.

"This victory is for him," said Basso to La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I know he wants another win…"

It's not too hard to guess, which race he's talking about.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Contador's lawyer explains ban U-turn

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With just over 4 months to go until the start of the 2011 Tour de France, Spyns Clients may now get to see the always interesting and exciting Schleck/Contacor Duel! I guess only time will tell.

Alberto Contador's lawyer has told The Independent how his client's suspension has been lifted despite him being found with the banned substance clenbuterol in his system when he won last year's Tour de France after eating contaminated steak.

Andy Ramos said the defence team's default position in the case was that Contador had strayed across the boundaries of anti-doping law without being aware he was doing so. "The [anti-doping] legislation states that a rider is responsible for any banned substance in his body," Ramos says. "But there's a clause that frees him of that responsibility if he can demonstrate there was no intentional negligence. We proved that, and that was the key to his defence. From day one his defence was based around that clause."

The other confusion surrounding Contador's proposed ban was the length, which was just a year, but Ramos explains this "was no more than a prosecutor's proposal". "It was wrongly thought that a year's ban was an actual sentence, and that the Spanish cycling federation was then influenced by political pressure in Spain [to reduce it]. But that proposal was not legally binding."

As for those who believe that a banned substance in an athlete's body is a positive under Wada regulations come what may, Ramos argued "they should read the whole rulebook, not just the article [that states that] and they would find there are exceptions to that rule."

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Evans rules local team 'a bit late for me'

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Although we are a Canadian based Tour Operator that organises tours to the Tour de France, I am an Australian and a self confessed supporter of Cadel Evans! Will this be his last year, or at least his last chance at yellow in Paris? We know that Spyns Tour de France clients will get to see Cadel in 2011? But for how many more years we are not sure. I do however believe that there is a big future in Australian Road cycling.

THERE is little to no prospect of Australia's most iconic modern-day cyclist, Cadel Evans, ever racing for the GreenEDGE outfit that plans to be the country's first Pro team and compete at next year's Tour de France.

While confident that the GreenEDGE project will succeed where plenty of Australian cycling movements have failed before it, Evans has said he certainly will not be a foundation member and can only envisage himself joining in retirement.

There are many in cycling circles who believe GreenEDGE should make a point of luring the 2009 world road race champion, and two-time Tour de France runner-up, from the BMC Racing team he is contracted to until the end of 2012, but GreenEDGE's boss Shayne Bannan specifically ruled out the prospect of buying contracted riders at the official unveiling of the project in Adelaide on Monday.
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''At this point in my career, the Aussie team project comes a bit late for me,'' Evans, who is 34 next month, said from Europe.

''While my national pride says one thing, at BMC we have all committed a lot to get this project going. And I have to say, I'm very pleased with the outcome, and the future here.

''Both Andy Rids [BMC director] and I have committed a lot for me to be here at BMC today. So a team that is building for 2012, might be too late for a rider like me who will be 34 next month. In a coaching or mentoring position, that would be something else. At this point, I might be the right kind of person to fill a role like that, but we will see in the years to come. Certainly, after racing, I want to be involved in cycling. In what sort of capacity, will depend on the opportunities that come my way when the time comes to stop racing.''

Evans signed a three-year deal with BMC before last season that technically - though not necessarily - ties him to that stable until the end of 2012 as a minimum. He joined after spending the bulk of his career riding for Belgian outfit Silence Lotto.

One of world cycling's most recent examples of a big name buy-out was when British-owned Team Sky managed to snare Bradley Wiggins from American-owned Garmin-Cervelo last year. Having Wiggins, an Englishman and cycling superstar, headline the roster of the new team in its debut season was an enormous coup in terms of morale, exposure and sponsorship.

Matt Hayman, an Australian veteran of the professional peloton who will be a target for GreenEDGE given he comes out of contract with heavyweight team Sky at the end of this year, is one who has told The Age at Tour Down Under this week that Evans would top his wish list if he were directing the new Australian team.

A factor in Evans' inclination to stay put is the sense of risk involved in joining a new team that will inevitably experience teething problems. Australian Tour de France stage winner Simon Gerrans, who is out of contract with Sky at the end of this season and an ideal rider for GreenEDGE to build a squad around, expressed similar apprehension this week.

''As an athlete, you do not have a lot of time in your career. A year or two lost for the sake of a team collapse, is very difficult to recuperate,'' Evans said.

''So a rider who only has one, two or three years left to race is better to go with a conservative but surer option and stay in an established team rather than risking losing the last years of their career.''

Still, Evans said GreenEDGE should make a point of recruiting a veteran ''who can be relied on to get results immediately. Robbie [McEwen] fills this role well, Gerrans and [Michael] Rogers would be good alternative candidates,'' he said, subsequently adding Hayman to the list.

Matt Goss, Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad), Cameron and Travis Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo), Michael Matthews (Rabobank) and Tim Roe (BMC) were the young riders Evans nominated as ideal recruits.

While the flawed Australian Pegasus Sports project managed to sign a champion rider like McEwen, only to fall over when its principal financial backer pulled out, Evans is positive GreenEDGE will succeed, chiefly because of Bannan's involvement. But his first-hand experience of BMC's fight to win a top-division racing licence taught him it is not a fait accompli for GreenEDGE, even if the team does have adequate financial backing and assembles a strong team.

''It is surprisingly difficult getting a start in the Tour de France for sporting, political, financial and cultural reasons,'' he said.

''It's not a sure bet, but … personally, I'll surprised if this GreenEDGE project does not reach the higher levels. Shayne Bannan is a doer, not a talker.''
Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Ricco admits blood transfusion caused hospitalisation

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It looks like there is another cyclist that Spyns Tour de France clients will not see in at the Tour de France 2011 - Riccardo Riccò.

Italian cyclist Ricardo Ricco admitted today that a blood transfusion led to his hospitalisation. It counts for the second doping incident with the 2008 Tour de France and will likely lead to at least a five-year ban.

The 27-year-old told doctors; "I did an autologous blood transfusion." According to Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The public prosecutor of Modena, where Riccò has been hospitalised since Sunday, said that he will open an investigation.

It is the second doping investigation for Riccardo Riccò in three years. He tested positive for blood booster EPO-CERA at the Tour de France in 2008. The test results were revealed on July 17, after he had won two stages (Super-Besse and Bagnères-de-Bigorre).

Riccò served a 20-month suspension and lost his two stages wins as a result.

Last year, he returned with Italian second division team Ceramica Flaminia as if nothing ever happened, winning five stages in various races and the Tour of Austria overall classification.

He left Ceramica Flaminia at the end of the season when he annulled his contract for a fee of €75,000. He joined Vacansoleil in August and helped the team gain a first division, WorldTour licence with his UCI points.

He began his season a week ago at the GP Marseillaise one-day in France. He was due to start the Tour Méditerranéen stage race tomorrow.

Riccò now faces another Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and a possible five-year to lifetime ban. The Italian anti-doping tribunal (TNA) issued Italian cyclist Lorenzo Bernucci a five-year year ban yesterday on the recommendation of CONI. Bernucci was caught with drugs in his house, his second offence in three years.

"Riccò's condition, initially critical, is improving," read a medical bulletin last night. "The prognosis, being cautious, remains confidential."

He had felt ill on Saturday after training and told his dad Rubino Riccò that he had a fever of 38°C. It rose to 40°C overnight and was accompanied by abdominal pain. Rubino took his son to the local hospital in Pavullo Sunday morning. Doctors saw Riccò's condition was critical and transferred him to the hospital in Modena.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Riccardo Ricco hospitalised with fever, apparent kidney failure:

While Spyns Tour de France clients are keeping fit and healthy whilst preparing for their Tour de France 2011 hioliday of a lifetime, cyclist Riccardo Ricco is in hospital and remains in a critical condition.

He was yesterday hospitalised with fever and apparent kidney failure

Riccardo Riccò was hospitalized overnight in an Italian hospital with high fever and apparent kidney failure.

Details were sketchy on exactly what happened or what caused his illness. Doctors at the hospital of Riccò’s hometown of Modena said Monday in an official communique that the Italian rider entered the hospital Sunday evening with high fever and symptoms of kidney failure.

Officials said Monday his condition was “critical, but improving,” with a “reserved” prognosis.

According to reports in the Italian media, Riccò returned Sunday from a five-hour training ride complaining of high fever, as high as 104 degrees. His father transported him to a local hospital, where doctors immediately transferred Riccò to a larger, better-equipped hospital in Modena.

Vancansoleil team manager Daan Luijkx reported in a team statement that Riccò’s condition is improving: “Riccardo had a fever of more than 40C (104F) yesterday, but today he feels much better. The doctors wanted to keep him there for at least one day to have him under observation.”

Later Monday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported that Riccò’s “state of health, critical to start off with, according to the Nuovo Ospedale Civile Sant’Agostino Estense di Baggiovara clinic, has improved.”

Rubinho Ricco, the racer’s father, said he had suffered a “kidney failure” after a Sunday training session amid reports he could be suffering from kidney stones.

He added his son was conscious and talking while the hospital said it would update the racer’s news Tuesday afternoon.

Riccò, 27, was set to start the Tour Mediterranean this week and race the Volta ao Algarve later this month in Portugal as part of his comeback from a racing ban after testing positive for CERA/EPO during the 2008 Tour de France.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: What Alberto Contador had to say on Friday 28 Jan 2011

While Spyns Tour de France clients are preparing for thier holiday of a lifetime, to watch the last week of the 2011 Tour de France, Alberto Contador has vowed to clear his name inspite of his 1 year ban. See what Contador had to say.

Today is a sad day, truly sad for me. It’s a day in which I feel greatly disappointed and greatly deceived. As you know, two days ago I received a draft resolution for a one-year sanction from the Competition Committee.

“The way things have been until now has been shameful, the way things that should’ve been communicated officially have been leaked to the press. All this has shown me how down-and-out and how full deficiencies this sport that I love is, the sport that I’ve given my life to and in which I’ve suffered so much to get where I am. And everything so that now, based on an obsolete rule, they want to throw it all in the dirt, so that I lose everything I’ve achieved.

Throughout my life I’ve undergone more than 500 controls, many of them by surprise, at home, during family meals, birthdays… I’ve had to leave in the middle of movies, I’ve had to leave my friends in restaurants, but it was all because I believed in the anti-doping system. Not anymore. I do not believe in the system now.

I know my responsibility, I know that I’m a point of reference for a lot of people, and I know what I expose myself to, that’s why I’ve never doped. I can say this loud and clear, with my head held high. I consider myself an example of what it is to be clean, and so I find it hard to watch the way I’m slandered every day, the way terrible things are said about me, when the only mistake I made was to eat meat without stopping to analyze it first to see if it had clenbuterol in it. Every time I go to a restaurant, will I have to take a piece of meat with me in order to check for clenbuterol?

The people in charge of the anti-doping organizations have to reconsider this case. We’re facing a completely outdated rule, which all scientists know is not up-to-date with the current anti-doping system, which was made years ago when they couldn’t detect minimum quantities which in no way affect your performance, which are physically impossible to take voluntarily, and which in my case have in no way helped me achieve victory.

As long as this rule remains out of date with the advances of 2011, cases of false positives will continue to occur. This rule will have to be changed; I don’t know when—whether it will be months or years from now. But meanwhile, what about me, and the people who are in a situation similar to mine? As long as this change remains unaccomplished, honest and fair sport will never be practiced, as I have always practiced it.

When I received the one-year proposed sanction, I immediately told Bjarne Riis, and told him that I wanted to go home to be with my family and friends. But I couldn’t allow myself to forget that it’s only a draft resolution and that in these 10 days that I’ve got, I’m going to work as hard as I can with my lawyers so that justice is done. I’m enormously grateful to Bjarne and to my sponsors for their confidence and their unconditional support—it’s unimaginable. As leader of the team, I think that making the decision to leave is best, so that all the riders keep working as normal.

I’m tremendously unhappy with the Competition Committee’s proposal. What’s happened during these last few months is beyond belief, and a disgrace. It’s become a soap opera and a political lawsuit with all the leaks, the baseless and malicious comments of WADA and the UCI, which I believe have played a key role in this proposed resolution. In the meantime, I’ve wanted to keep working, focusing on my own business, but I’ve also been on the point of exploding many times because of things that were being said. I could hardly endure it, but out of respect for the process I’ve preferred to keep some distance so that the Competition Committee can work without pressure from me, even though all that has come to nothing. I disagree with this proposal and I’m going to work to change it, but if that’s not how it works out, I’ll appeal wherever necessary in order to defend my innocence until the end.”

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Schleck, without Contador, fears Basso at Tour de France

Andy Schleck is definitely a favorite amongst our Spyns Tour de France clients.

No Lance, No Contador? Will Schleck take out the 2012 Tour de France? We will have to wait until July to see.

Luxembourger Andy Schleck fears Italian Ivan Basso the most for the Tour de France this July.

"The most difficult opponent will be Basso," Schleck told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. "He has the head, the legs, the experience. And this time, he's decided only to race the Tour."

Basso of team Liquigas-Cannondale won the Giro d'Italia last year. This year, instead of racing for a third Giro d'Italia title, he decided to focus solely on the Tour de France. He finished second and third at the Tour de France prior to serving a doping suspension in 2007.

Schleck's former top rival, Spaniard Alberto Contador will likely serve a doping suspension that will force him to miss this year's race. Contador won the Tour de France the last two years ahead of Schleck, last year by 39 seconds. Due to a doping positive for Clenbuterol at last year's race, Schleck may be awarded the 2010 title.

"On the road, Contador was stronger than me, the strongest of all. If you can show clearly that he has not respected the rules, I can consider myself the winner. Otherwise, I remain second," added Schleck.

The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) indicated on Wednesday afternoon that Contador will serve a one-year ban and lose his title. However, with the appeals process, a final ruling could take some time.

"Often," said Schleck, "the speed at which the sporting courts move is unbearable."

Schleck will lead new team Leopard-Trek at the Tour de France with his brother Fränk Schleck. Ahead of the Tour, his goals are the Ardennes Classics, the one-day races Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. To prepare for the races and to face Basso at the Tour, Schleck has been training in the gym this off-season.

"Less bike, more gym," he said. "More power does not mean more weight, but because the weight is identical, it means more watts uphill. Stretching and mobility exercises for the back should help in the time trial. I have room for improvement. The results will be seen only during the season. It's a long process."

The Tour de France will be Schleck's first three-week race of the season. Basso raced both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France last year. Though he won the Giro, he suffered at the French Grand Tour.

"It's hard. Not just for the proximity. It also depends on the routes and the weather. If the Giro is cold and rainy, you'll pay," added Schleck. "The Giro is typically harder because of the route, the Tour for the pressure and competition. But I will return to the Giro, sooner or later."

Schleck last raced the Giro d'Italia in 2007, when he finished second and won the young riders competition.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Contador 'banned for one year'

It has just been announced that Contador has been banned from Cycling for 1 year! There remains many questions, one of which is: why only 1 year and not the usual 2 years?

Does this mean 2011 is Andy Schleck's year? Who knows? Looks like Spyns Tour de France clients will not see the Schleck/Contador rivallry in 2011 as they did in the 2010 Tour de France.

The Spanish cycling federation has decided to suspend Tour de France champion Alberto Contador for one year over his failed doping test in the 2010 race, according to respected Spanish paper El Pais.

The preliminary decision by the competition committee was communicated to Contador at midday local time and the Spaniard has 10 days to appeal before a final decision is made, said the newspaper without identifying the source of its information.

The committee also decided to strip Contador of the 2010 Tour title, added El Pais.

Contador's spokesman and the RFEC could not immediately be reached for comment.

A spokesman for cycling's world governing body was unable to confirm the RFEC decision and said his organisation would be in touch with the Spanish federation on Thursday.

Contador, who has been provisionally suspended since August, won the Tour last year for a third time but it later emerged he had tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol during the race.

He has denied deliberate wrongdoing, saying the failed test was due to contaminated meat.

Contador may also be able to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Tour de France 2011 teams revealed

Whilst Spyns Tour de France Tours cyclists are gearing up for their trip later this year, we now all know the teams for the race.

Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov miss out. Tour de France 2008 winner Carlos Sastre and team mate Denis Menchov, who is currently missing victory in that race to complete the Tour-Giro-Vuelta Grand Tour treble, which only Alberto Contador among current riders has completed, will be missing from July’s race after their Geox-TMC team failed to receive an invite from race organisers ASO.

The team somewhat controversially missed out on securing a ProTeam licence last November, which would have guaranteed it a place in cycling’s biggest race. Instead, Geox-TMC is racing under a Professional Continental licence, meaning that it needs to rely on invitations from organisers to events such as the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.

The news confirms fears voiced last month that the team would miss out on the chance to compete in the sport’s flagship events, which led to rumours that Italian footwear firm Geox was reconsidering its sponsorship of the outfit, which last season raced as Footon-Servetto, and that Menchov – who sat in the front row at the presentation in Paris last October of the 2011 Tour – and Sastre may end up back on the market.

With the 2011 racing season now under way, however, it seems as though the pair might be caught between a rock and a hard place and that they will need to focus their efforts on other races instead, although with Mechov a past Giro d'Italia winner and Italian sponsors, the team would be hopeful of a Giro invite as well as one for the Vuelta given the fact that Menchov has won that race twice and Sastre is a popular figure in his native Spain.

Nevertheless, missing out on the exposure generated by the Tour de France is certain to be a big disappointment to the team's sponsors.

With only one French team, AG2R La Mondiale, automatically invited to the race as a result of having ProTeam status, ASO has used the four invitations left to its discretion to beef up the domestic presence, with no teams from outside France getting a look-in.

As a result, it’s Cofidis, FDJ, Saur-Sojasun and Europcar that get the chance to build on French success seen in last year’s race, when four Frenchmen riding for teams based in their home country – Sandy Casar, Christophe Riblon, Thomas Voeckler and Pierrick Fédrigo – picked up stage wins, with Sylvain Chavanel, riding for the Belgian outfit Quickstep, also winning a brace of stages and spending two stints in the maillot jaune.

Another Frenchman, Anthony Charteau of Bbox Bouygues Telecom, won the mountains classification, with compatriot Christophe Moreau taking the runners-up spot.

The full list of teams that will contest the race, which gets under way in the Vendée on 2 July, is as follows:

ProTeam automatic invitees:

Omega Pharma-Lotto (Belgium)
Quickstep Cycling Team (Belgium)
Saxo Bank Sungard (Denmark)
Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain)
Movistar Team (Spain)
AG2R La Mondiale (France)
Sky Procycling (Great Britain)
Lampre-ISD (Italy)
Liquigas-Cannondale (Italy)
Pro Team Astana (Kazakhstan)
Leopard Trek (Luxembourg)
Rabobank Cycling Team (Netherlands)
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team (Netherlands)
Katusha Team (Russia)

BMC Racing Team (USA)
HTC-Highroad (USA)
Team Garmin-Cervelo (USA)
Team Radioshack (USA)

Invited by ASO:

Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne (France)
FDJ (France)
Saur-Sojasun (France)
Team Europcar (France)

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Contador still positive!

It looks like Spyns Tour de France clients will have to wait at least another month to see if the 2011 Tour de France will see another monumental battle between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador!

The three-time Tour de France winner's positive test for clenbuterol at last year's Tour has still not been resolved. He is listed as riding for Saxo Bank this season, but whether he will ever pin a number on and race is uncertain.

The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) is still chewing over the bones of Contador's defence that he ate tainted beef and could choose leniency.

If that happened, though, the World Anti-Doping Agency and world cycling's governing body the UCI would want to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, looking for a two-year ban.

Like his compatriot Alejandro Valverde - who rode on for nearly three years before having his ban ratified in May 2010 - Contador could continue to ride on as the wheels of justice slowly turn.

Alberto Contador remains fully motivated despite his concerns over his provisional suspension and the threat of him missing the Tour de France, Saxo Bank team boss Bjarne Riis said on Wednesday.

"He (Contador) is scared but he is still extremely motivated by his job," Riis told Reuters in an interview at the season-opening Tour Down Under.

"During the pre-season camp, he was already way ahead of his team mates in the climbs. I know his lawyers built him the best possible defence."

Contador, who switched from Astana to Saxo Bank after winning the Tour last July, has been suspended since August pending a Spanish federation's (RFEC) ruling on his failed test. He has repeatedly said he is innocent.

"We are worried and we have been doing our best to protect him. We did all we could to sign the best rider in the world and I cannot imagine that he is not going to wear the Saxo Bank jersey," said Riis, who won the Tour in 1996 before admitting years later that he had used performance enhancing drugs.

A ruling by the RFEC is not expected before next month and the procedure could drag on as either the Spaniard or the UCI or the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are likely to appeal the decision -- either because it will be seen as too harsh or too soft.

McQuaid told Reuters last week Contador was likely to miss the 2011 Tour because of the ongoing process.

"It's pure speculation," said Riis. "Of course, they found clenbuterol in his system but the concentration was infinitesimal.

"He did not win the Tour de France thanks to this. It's even surprising that it appeared only one day (in his system)."

Riis refuses to consider the 2011 season with Contador out of the picture.

"I don't want to think about it. For the moment we work normally, as if his season was about to start," he explained.

Riis's outfit was subject to many changes during the off-season, with the Schleck brothers and Swiss Fabian Cancellara having left to be part of the Luxembourg riders' new team, Leopard-Trek.

"Some 17 to 20 people left Saxo Bank," said Riis.

"I now have a team that is less strong but it is still a nice team. (Australian) Richie Porte is a huge talent and will be a Tour de France protagonist in one or two years."

Until then, Riis has to rely on Contador -- if he can make it to the Tour de France.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Lance Armstrong combines with Aussie Robbie McEwen to help with flood relief

No doubt, all our Spyns Tour de France clients are keeping their eye on Lance last professional race, The Tour Down Under, and have heard all about the tragic floods in Queensland, Australia, last week. Queensland is the hometown of Robbie Mc Ewen, Lance's new Australian team mate.

Lance Armstrong's Twitter ride, auctioned jerseys and prizemoney will be part of efforts at the Tour Down Under to raise funds for Queensland flood victims.

The race has announced a series of measures to support the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal.

Australian cycling stars Robbie McEwen, Allan Davis, Simon Gerrans and Michael Rogers have been prominent in helping organise and publicise the initiatives.

McEwen and Davis were forced to change their pre-season schedules and shift their training from Queensland to Victoria in the last few weeks because of the incessant rain.

“We cannot sit back and do nothing, it is not the Aussie spirit, this is our way of helping,” Davis said.

McEwen and his new RadioShack team-mate Armstrong will raise funds through the Texan's famous Twitter ride, which he announces through his hugely-popular feed on the social network.

McEwen, Armstrong and thousands of local cyclists will gather at Glenelg's Wrigley Reserve at 10am on Saturday for the ride, the second time it has happened in Adelaide.

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“People have been hard hit by this crisis and whatever small role we can play to help we will but we urge everyone to make a donation to the official Premier's Flood Relief Appeal,” McEwen said.

The Tour starts on Sunday evening with the one-day Cancer Council Classic race at Rymill Park, just outside the Adelaide CBD.

The 12,000 Euro prizemoney from the Classic will be donated to the appeal.

All 19 teams will donate a signed team jersey by every competing rider for auction on eBay.

The six-day Tour then opens next Tuesday and the start of stage two on Wednesday will have a minute's silence to remember the flood victims.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

This years Tours de France looks like it is wide open and up for grabs! We, at Spyns Tours, are sure that is will be one to remember for out Tour de France Tours clients.

With no Lance in 2011 and Contador, likely to miss this year's Tour de France due to the continuing investigation into his positive doping test, it could be anyones race. Could it be Ivan Basso of Liquigas-Cannondale in the 2011 Tour de France?

The jersey design for the 2011 Liquigas-Cannondale team was unveiled today at the team presentation in Milan, with team leaders Ivan Basso, winner of the 2006 and 2010 Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a Espana winner Vincenzo Nibali sporting the white, green and blue design.

Basso may give up the chance to defend his Tour of Italy title in order to focus on his dream of gaining his first ever Tour de France victory, while Nibali will be the team's designated leader for the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana.

"If I participate [in the Giro], it will be to help Nibali," Basso said according to AFP. "I will calmly decide in the coming months. " Basso remembered his trainer, Aldo Sassi, who died Dec. 13 at age 51. "He told me to wear the yellow jersey," said Basso. "His death was a blow. He will be missed."

The team's manager Roberto Amadio said his aim is to have the Liquigas-Cannondale team as a main protagonist in every race. "We will be competitive, I have no doubt," Amadio said. "We will try to be an example of a team which achieves the best sporting results with sacrifice and hard work. What matters to us, first of all, is the way in which you achieve the victories."

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Spyns Tour de France package tours: Jakob Fuglsang: ‘I don’t want pressure of Tour yet’