Kessler suspended by Astana

Tombak won Halle - Ingooiem 

Janek Tombak (Jartazi - Promo Fashion) has won Halle - Ingooigem yesterday. Tombak was the fastest of a five-men breakaway group and out-sprinted Christian Murro (Tenax) and Maarten Wynants (Quickstep-Innergetic).

Den Bakker won Profronde van Friesland

Maarten Den Bakker (Skil-Shimano) won the Profronde van Friesland in the Netherlands. Den Bakker outspinted his 4 companions of a breakaway group. Roy Curvers (Time-Van Hemert) came in second and Arne Hassink (Ubbink-Syntec) came in third.  Rabobank wasn't able to finish the job although they had three riders in an earlier breakaway group of 8 riders.  After an attack of Aart Vierhouten (Skil-Shimano) and Roy Curvers, Den Bakker went over them and won the race. It was the first win since 2005 for 38 year old Den Bakker.

Den Bakker said: "This kind of races are made for me." Den Bakker continued by saying: "It was windy from the beginning und it became a real dropping course. Then the real strong men survive and I am glad that I was able to win a race again. It was about time."

Den Bakker saw the race as a good test for the Dutch national championships on Sunday: "Wit our team we are going for the title and I think that's realistic with the results of the past weeks. Maybe i will achieve a third pro title but surely a rider like Tjallingii also has a chance." 

Cancellara for the 4th year in a row Swiss national ITT champion

For the fourth year in a row and the fifth time in all Fabian Cancellara Wednesday won the national time trial championship in Switzerland. The Team CSC-rider beat the nearest competition by two minutes on a 37.2km parcours in Stettlen.

Simon Zahner took second place after dropping exactly two minutes and the same exact two minutes could be found between number two and number nine in the final standings. 

Discovery Channel for Tour de France

The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team (DCPCT) announced today its roster of riders who will compete in the 94th edition of the Tour de France, beginning in London, England on July 7th and finishing in Paris on July 29th. DCPCT Sports Director Johan Bruyneel made the announcement today by phone to the media and listed the nine-rider team as follows: Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador, Vladimir Gusev, George Hincapie, Egoi Martinez, Benjamin Noval, Sergio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych and Tomas Vaitkus.

The nine-man DCPCT squad will be led by 2007 Amgen Tour of California Winner Levi Leipheimer and backed by a mix of seasoned Tour de France veterans and rising talent. In 2007, Team Discovery Channel will focus on a high overall placing for Leipheimer, as they did with seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong, however, the DCPCT does have other goals.

“I am going into this Tour de France with three goals in mind. First, and most important, I want to have Levi on the podium in Paris. He has been three times in the top-10 and I think he has the form and experience to be there,” said Sport Director Johan Bruyneel. “Beyond that, I would like to win at least one stage and also have Alberto Contador win the Best Young Rider competition. That is of course a lot to ask of one team but I think it is possible given the amount of talent we have on our roster. I would even say that a fourth goal is to wear the leaders jersey too, but for me that is not a major focus unless it is because we are wearing it into Paris.”

The 2007 Tour de France route is 3,547 km in length (2,204 miles) and consists of one prologue time trial and 20 stages broken down as: eleven flat stages, six mountain stages (three mountain-top finishes), one medium mountain stage and two individual time trials.

“This is my year to make that next step and be a true contender at the Tour de France. I feel like the past five years have been an education in how to race and prepare for the Tour and now I am 100% ready. Johan has selected an amazing group of riders to support me and I could not be happier,” stated Levi Leipheimer. “There is no race out there like the Tour de France and until you have been through it you cannot know how hard it is and how best to prepare. There are more guys ‘peaking’ for the Tour than in any other race, and if you are not on top of your game you will be left behind. I have had a great season so far and done a lot of work on my time-trialing, both in the wind tunnel and in my workouts. I will be ready to go in London.”

Experience and youth will play a vital role in the team’s success in 2007. Team Discovery Channel’s Tour de France roster has 44 “grand tours” under their belt, 25 of those coming from Tour de France participation. George Hincapie leads the team having competed in 11 Tours. To date, in 2007, the 29-man Discovery Channel Team has compiled five overall (stage race) victories, 14 stage wins and 44 total podiums.