The End of a Dynasty

I got some bad news today. It has just been announced that the Discovery Cycling Team will cease its operations. After following a search for a new sponsor, since Discovery decided to not continue its sponsorship, the team has decided to stop searching and to end all talks. This is quite a surprise due to the success the team has shown. Tailwinds Sports, the parent company of the Discovery Cycling Team, has taken the 8 of the last 9 victories of the world renowned Tour de France. One of the main reasons it has been difficult for the team to find a new sponsor is that companies don't want to be linked with a rider who is guilty of doping. This is following the release of Ivan Basso due to his connections. This should not alarm the riders from this team. They all are very talented and should be able get contracts with other teams. Some already have for example George Hincapie has signed with T-Mobile. Others will definitely land on their feet. There is interest in this years Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and his teammate Levi Leipheimer. This is a sad day in cycling for every. This will be a great loss to the sport.

Start of the Tour de France And a Outstanding Proformance

Today the Tour de France has finally started. The prologue took place in London, England. Fabian Cancellara has taken the win with an outstanding showing today. He was the only rider to crack the 9 minute mark. Andreas Kloden showed up as well today coming in second place. George Hincapie tied for third. Team Discovery had a very good day overall with two riders, George Hincapie and Vladimir Gusev, placing within the top five spots. Tomorrows stage 1 is gonna be a sprint to the finish so plan on seeing an awesome finish. Poor Stuart O'Grady has fallen again for the second time in two years. Costing him a large amount of time. Here is Cancellara's game face that dominated the prologue provided by Velonews. I'm heading away for some short time but I will return for more coverage at a later date.

The Discovery Team Announces Tour De France Squad

Well today Johan Bruyneel announced the team which he will bring with him the Tour de France. It will include the notables of Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie. Also Valdimir Gusev did guarantee his spot among the nine riders thanks to his win in a stage of the Tour de Suisse. Here is the complete list of all nine riders attending.

1. Levi Leipheimer
2. George Hincapie
3. Alberto Contador
4. Benjamin Noval
5. Egoi Martinez
6. Sergio Paulinho
7. Tomas Vaitkus
8. Valdimir Gusev
9. Yaroslav Popovych

Dauphine Report

The second stage of the Dauphine Libere has concluded today with a win from Christophe Moreau. He also snatched the lead away from Bradley Wiggins. Moreau now has a lead of seven seconds over second place. Other notable names in the overall standings would be Levi Leipheimer at 25 seconds out, his teammate George Hincapie is 26 seconds out, and David Zabriskie is 27 seconds out. All three are in the top eight overall. Tomorrow is a shorter stage, 40.7 kilometer time trial, is expected to be exciting.

Prologue

Dauphine Libere prologue ended today. The 4.5 kilometer time trail was won by the Briton Bradley Wiggins. He edged out Levi Leipheimer by one second and Levi's teammate George Hincapie was out by another two seconds. Also fellow American David Zabriskie of CSC rounded out the top six. Tomorrow the first stage will start. It will be a 219 kilometer stage. Tom Boonen also finished just out of the top five in seventh position just to let you know. Lets go all American riders and Team CSC I'm behind you.