News Flash for January 30, 2003

Edited by Jeff Joones

Four more wild cards selected for Tour

Tour de France race director Jean-Marie Leblanc has invited four more teams to compete in the centenary edition of the Tour, bringing the total to 18 teams so far. Two French teams, Credit Agricole and FDJeux.com, along with Belgian team Quick Step-Davitamon and the Italian Saeco squad have been given wild cards. The other teams vying for selection will have to wait until May 19, when Leblanc decides the remaining four spots.

Credit Agricole, which contains Stuart O'Grady, Jens Voigt, Christophe Moreau and 2002 stage winner Thor Hushovd, is a proven performer at the Tour, generally managing to win a stage each year. FDJeux.com, with the likes of Brad McGee, Baden Cooke, French champion Nicolas Vogondy, and the promising Sandy Casar, is also a Tour de France regular, and should produce the goods in July.

Jean-Marie Leblanc seems to have forgiven Richard Virenque for his sins, and has invited him back as part of the Quick Step-Davitamon team. Virenque's victory in last year's Mont Ventoux stage was a popular one, and we can surely expect some fireworks from him again this year.

Finally, Saeco will be back in the Tour de France again, after several years of knocking on the door. Last year the team was invited, but the untimely suspension of Gilberto Simoni during the Giro d'Italia after testing positive for cocaine led to its exclusion. By the time Simoni was cleared, it was too late and Saeco was forced to sit on the sidelines for another year.

With those four teams now finalised, it remains to be seen how the other teams perform in the first part of the season. World Champion Mario Cipollini's Domina Vacanze squad is one of those, and this year it looks more likely that Cipo will be back at the Tour.

"We are favourably prejudiced towards Cipollini", Leblanc told AFP. "But it is necessary to see how his team, which has not raced yet, performs. If this is the Cipollini of past season, he has a good chance to be invited back."

The remaining teams hoping for selection on May 19 include Domina Vacanze, Ag2r, Brioches La Boulangère, Jean Delatour, Lampre, Phonak, Milaneza and Euskaltel-Euskadi.

The 18 teams selected so far are as follows: Team Coast, Telekom, Gerolsteiner, Lotto-Domo, Quick-Step-Davitamon, CSC, ibanesto.com, Kelme, ONCE-Eroski, US Postal Service, Cofidis, Crédit Agricole, FDJeux.com, Alessio, Fassa Bortolo, Saeco, Sidermec and Rabobank.

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