Columbia-Highroad leaves Greipel home for Tour

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad)

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Winning sprinter passed over in Tour de France selection

Team Columbia-Highroad will head to the Tour de France with a balanced team, but while the squad is clearly focused around proven stage winner Mark Cavendish, there is one fast man who will not be a part of his lead-out train: André Greipel.

The German has won 10 races for the team so far this year, accomplishing this impressive feat even after taking several months off from racing after being injured in a crash at January's Tour Down Under. More recently, he took three stages of the Ster Elektrotoer after claiming the win at the Philadelphia International Championship.

Team Columbia-Highroad is expected to announce its full roster for the Tour de France on Monday. Greipel is the second surprise absentee for this year's event revealed this week, after the Cervelo TestTeam announced last year's stage winner Simon Gerrans wouldn't feature in its squad, built around defending champion Carlos Sastre.

The 2009 Tour de France gets underway on July four with a 15.5 kilometre individual time trial in Monaco, held on the streets made famous by the historic Formula One event held in the city annually.

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