Alberto Contador to lead Astana Tour team
Alberto Contador will be Astana’s team leader in this year’s Tour de France, which begins on 4 July.
The announcement means seven-times Tour winner Lance Armstrong, who returned to racing in January, will be one of the Spaniard’s support riders.
“It’s hard to find a better stage race rider than Alberto,” said team manager Johan Bruyneel of the 2007 Tour winner.
“He has worked very hard, earning the right to represent our team as the leader in July.”
Contador, 26, is expected to start strongly in the opening 15.5km time trial which opens the 2009 race in Monaco.
American Armstrong, 37, whose comeback ended a four-year retirement, will be one of seven Astana riders whose job is to maximise Contador’s chances of victory through team strategy.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/8119316.stm
Emma Pooley takes women’s Tour victory with victory in the Grande Boucle Feminine
Cervelo Test Team’s Emma Pooley emulated Great Britain team-mate Nicole Cooke with victory in the Grande Boucle Feminine – the women’s Tour de France.
Pooley, who won Olympic time-trial silver in Beijing, clinched overall victory by 22 seconds.
The Londoner, 27, won the individual time-trial on day one and triumphed in stage three by 20 seconds on Saturday.
She consolidated her lead with a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s final stage to follow up Cooke’s 2006 and 2007 wins.
Pooley’s Cervelo Test Team team-mate Christiane Soeder of Austria was second, with Marianne Vos of Holland third in the four-stage race.
Welsh star Cooke (Vision 1 Racing), who is the world and Olympic road race champion, won the Giro del Trentino in Italy last Friday.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/8112528.stm
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Mark Cavendish – Giro d’Italia 2009 video
Video of Mark Cavendish in Giro d’italia 2009: three stage wins (stages 9,11,13 and TTT) and two days in Maglia Rosa: