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

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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.  

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

 

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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.  

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

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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.   

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Contador still positive!

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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.  

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

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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.  

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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. 

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

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While Spyn's Tours, Tour de France clients await this years' race with great anticipation and excitement, eager to holiday in France, cycling the countryside and, of course, to see how this years race will unfold.  

 

There are some cyclists not so keen on the spotlight.

Jakob Fuglsang is latest young rider to be get billing as a “future Tour de France winner,” a burden the ex-mountain biker is not especially keen to bear.
 

Fuglsang, 25, has been making plenty of headlines in his native Denmark, both for his steady progress among the pro ranks since winning three consecutive titles at the Tour of Denmark as well as for the potential that many believe he has to excel in grand tours.

Both ex-boss Bjarne Riis at Saxo Bank and current sport director Kim Andersen at the new Leopard-Trek team are optimistic about his development, so much so that both were wrangling to sign his services for the 2011 season.

Fuglsang remains wary of the media glare and the expectations that come with it, so much so that he decided it was better for him to ride in the shadow of the Schleck brothers at Leopard-Trek than to take a larger role at Saxo Bank.

VeloNews caught up with Fuglsang at last week’s team presentation in Luxembourg to discuss his decision to follow the Schlecks to Leopard-Trek.

Q. Why did you decide to leave Saxo Bank and join the new Leopard-Trek team?

A. I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself. That’s one of the reasons I chose this team. If I had stayed at Saxo Bank, maybe I would be the guy for the Tour de France. I didn’t want that pressure yet. Even before the uncertainty with the Contador situation, I would have had a bigger role at Saxo Bank. And now with the problems with Contador, if I had stayed there, maybe I would have been the team leader at the Tour. That might happen now to Richie (Porte). I will get a little bit more of a leadership role here, but not with all the pressure to carry the team. Frank and Andy can do that. I want to do it slow.

Q. There’s been a lot of people who say you can win the Tour de France someday, what do you think about that?

A. People can say I can finish top-10, maybe podium some day. I would like to believe first myself. Of course, it’s a dream for me to win the Tour de France, but I don’t know if it’s possible. There have been a lot of big new stars that everyone says, ‘oh, he will win the Tour someday.’ Tom Danielson is a perfect example, he never made it. I would like to see if I can come close, then we can talk about top-10.

Q. Will you perhaps ride the Giro or Vuelta and make a GC run there first before the Tour?

A. No, everything will be focused on the Tour this year. My first priority will be to help Andy. Behind that, maybe there’s some space for me to try myself. If they drop me with 2km to go on a climb, why not continue? Instead of sitting up entirely and losing 10 minutes, why not keep riding and maybe lose one and a half minutes, or two? Then we can see where I can end up.

Q. How is your race schedule shaping up?

A. I will do Mallorca Challenge, followed by a trip to Oman. Then I do Paris-Nice, Vuelta al País Vasco, followed by the Ardennes classics. I will take a break, then the Tour of Luxembourg and the Tour de Suisse. Then the Tour. After that, who knows? Maybe the Vuelta and the worlds.

Q. What did you learn most from your Tour experience last year?

A. I learned some things from Andy, the way he’s so relaxed, the way he does things. The Tour is such a stressful race, I’ve never seen anyone who is able to take it so easy. That really helps you get through a race as hard as the Tour. If you’re stressed the entire time, you won’t be able to race your bike when it counts.

Q. Did you take anything out of the Tour experience that might help you in the future?

A. He has a lot of confidence. I remember we were at the Tour of California this year and we both had come back from a break. I could tell neither one of us were feeling that great. I said, ‘we better do some work ahead of the Tour.’ He just laughed and said, ‘no, we’ll be fine, I am better now than I was this time last year.’ I learned from him to enjoy racing our bikes. And not to take ourselves so seriously, to stay concentrated and work hard, but to enjoy it and have fun, too. He would rather just go hunting and fishing. He’s shown me that you shouldn’t let it take over your life.

Q. If Andy is so calm, how did he react when Contador attacked over the Pryénées ?

A. You could feel that anger was there. When it happened, he was pretty angry. You could feel it was burning inside him. He got over it pretty fast, but he doesn’t forget it.

Q. Were you content to get the Tour bid last year? Did you feel like you were ready for it?

A. They wanted to take me the year before (2009). Bjarne (Riis) wanted to take me but Kim (Andersen) said I wasn’t experienced enough yet. It was smart to leave me home, it would have been too much. I was happy to be there this year. Andy told me, ‘you’ve never seen anything like the Tour,’ and it was true, there are so many fans, so many journalists, so many people every day. The racing is harder, faster, it’s the best race. I remember one night in our hotel after a stage, there was a ringing in our ears from all the noise of the fans. It was like as if we had been to a rock concert.

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 package tours: War, floods and cancer: Armstrong's new perspective

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Although Lance is not racing in the 2011 Tour de France, I am sure our Spyns Tour de France clients, most of them keen supporters of Armstrong, are interested to hear what he is up to....

In his first newspaper interview since July, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong reminds Rupert Guinness that life’s about more than just the bike.

Lance Armstrong has just got on the phone from his Hawaiian training base before the last international bike race of his career, the Tour Down Under. He barely pauses after a quick hello before inquiring about the floods in Queensland. There is urgency in his voice.

"First of all, how is the flooding down there?" he asks. Told of the devastation, tragedy and massive challenges that await the survivors of the floods, Armstrong sighs. "Unbelievable … "

You sense the Tour Down Under, which he first raced in 2009 to kick-start his return from three years in retirement, is the last thing on the 39-year-old Texan's mind. In his three trips to Australia's only World Tour event, Armstrong has learnt much about the country and its people. He has been called a lot of things - good and bad - but ignorant is not one of them. He never goes anywhere without researching where he visits, especially when founding cancer-research initiatives, as has been the case in South Australia.
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Armstrong also knows that wherever he goes, words will be written about him in newspapers, magazines and across cyberspace. No longer are they solely words of adulation from fans. In recent months, some reports and statements have been vitriolic.

Many of the attacks on Armstrong have come in the aftermath of an ongoing investigation into him by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. That stemmed from doping allegations made by his former American teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win after he failed a drugs test.

Armstrong, who has never failed a dope test and has undergone hundreds - possibly thousands - of controls, declared his innocence to Landis's claims in May. And ever since last year's Tour de France, in which he placed a disappointing 23rd, he has remained tight-lipped about them and the investigation.

Armstrong was not in a position to elaborate on the FDA investigation yesterday, but nonetheless broke his silence on the matter to say the probe had not impacted his day-to-day life.

"I don't let it affect me," Armstrong told the Herald. "I have five kids to raise. I have a foundation to help run and lead. I still have, theoretically, a job - I ride my bike and train every day. It has no effect in what I do on a daily basis."

As the FDA has hovered and his new-found and often anonymous enemies have zeroed in on him, Armstrong has devoted himself to action more than words. But he has not been impervious to what has gone on around him, and is excited about his second attempt at retirement from international cycling.

A visit by Armstrong to the Coalition Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan last month helped to put things into perspective - as had the testicular cancer that nearly killed him in 1996. War, cancer and natural disasters such as the Queensland floods might affect people in different ways, but Armstrong says they can often bring the best out of people and force them to reassess their values.

"They are all wildly different," Armstrong says. "You can compare the flood in Queensland. You could compare war, or you could compare cancer. They are all very different. But ultimately the toll that they take on human life and the disruption to people's sense of normalcy is all the same. The thing is - we talk about this at the [Lance Armstrong] Foundation - teamwork and community.

''The same goes for the armed forces. A big thing for them is commitment to each other, a commitment to their country. Then you see something that comes along - whether it's [Hurricane] Katrina, a tsunami in South-East Asia or floods in north-east Australia or Queensland … People have to try to work together to cope with these sudden changes in their lives."

So is Armstrong's sporting career as important to him as before, now that he has visited Iraq and Afghanistan?

"It's different now," Armstrong says. "Compare it to our recent trip. You are there for support, to give a quick hello or entertain some troops who have given up 12 months of their lives. They earn $30,000 a year. They risk their lives every day. They live in absolute misery in terms of the barracks and the conditions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

''They are in countries [where] young men and women - to be frank, they are like all of us - would like to go out and have a few beers at night and chase around and have some fun. And they are not allowed to.

''Cyclists are often the first to start whingeing about the conditions. I've been at the top of that list for many, many years. But I tell you what - seeing what these guys and gals go through … "

Looking ahead to his retirement, Armstrong has plotted a new sporting path that will include some US cycling races such as the Tour of California, a few triathlons - his main goal is October's Hawaii Ironman - mountain-bike races and charity bike rides.

Some believe Armstrong's zest for cycling has waned due to age and the heightened scrutiny of his integrity by the FDA, media and internet bloggers following Landis's allegations.

He is clearly tiring of other issues that drag the sport down - issues that blow up into scandals that could have otherwise been settled with more unity among the various stakeholders who come under the auspices of the Union Cycliste Internationale. As examples he cites race licensing, entries and radio protocols.

"It's a long, long conversation that would take many, many beers to try and scratch the surface on," Armstrong says when asked about the state of the sport. "But it's at a sensitive state right now. Other sports have a done a good job ignoring whatever issue they may or may not have; or dealing with it internally, or dealing with it through a players' union or teams' union or governing body.

''Our [issues] most of the time play out in the public eye, [with] people popping off in the press. As long as that kind of anarchy exists we'll never move forward. It's easy for people to use the UCI as a sort of whipping boy … To me there is total lack of solidarity or unity when it comes to the athlete and the team. Whether it's entry to races, or race radios, there will still be issues.

"You can never come to a consensus, which is fine. But some of it should be dealt with behind closed doors - among the teams, among the riders who [must] come to a solution that should be the approach they move forward with. But it's not. People walk out of these meetings and immediately … start popping off [to the media]."

Armstrong knows cycling's future is no longer in his hands. "Being close to 40, those days are done," he admits. "Cycling has been great to me. [But] from now on, I ride for fun. I ride for pleasure. I ride for fitness.

''I plan on keeping the ties I have, whether it's the local bike shop, [my] development team or multisport stuff that include bikes - triathlon or mountain bike - or charity rides I enjoy. That will be my connection."

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 Cycling Package Tours: Florence hoping to host 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart

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It looks like Spyns Tour de France cycling enthusiasts may have the opportunity to combine a holiday in Italy with the start or ' Grand Départ' of the 2014 Tour de France in Florence, Tuscany.  Or of course combine a holiday in France with the finish of the Tour de France, as always, in the ever so chic Paris!

The Italian city of Florence, which is hosting the UCI Road World Championships in 2014, is reportedly looking to follow that up by staging the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2014.

That year will mark the centenary of the birth of perhaps Tuscany’s greatest ever cyclist, Gino Bartali, twice winner of the Tour de France, whose son Andrea has been pushing for the Florence to host the 2014 Grand Départ.

Last Thursday, he was invited to meet with Florence’s deputy mayor, Dario Nardella, who told him that a formal request to stage the start of the 2014 race had been sent to race director Christian Prudhomme at organisers ASO.

“Finally, the go-ahead from the council,” said Bartali, quoted in today’s La Gazzetta Sportiva (the Sunday edition of the Gazzetta dello Sport). “It’s five years since I’ve been following this project,” he added, “it would be a beautiful gift.”

Bartali, who died ten years ago, won the Tour de France twice, in 1938 and 1948, which remains the biggest gap between victories in the race by an individual cyclist. His widow, Adriana, referring to the prospect of his being commemorated by the 2014 race, said “Gino would have been proud of this too.”

While the Tour de France nowadays tends to start abroad every two or three years, and has done so 18 times, mainly in the Low Countries, since the first foreign Grand Départ in Amsterdam in 1954, it has never begun in Italy, which of course has its own Grand Tour in the shape of the Giro d’Italia.

This year's Tour starts in the Vendée region of France, with the 2012 race scheduled to begin in the Belgian city of Liège. The 2013 race, the 100th edition of the event, is rumoured to be starting on Corsica, the first time that the Mediterranean island, birthplace of the Emperor Napoleon, will have hosted the race.

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.