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Names of 20 teams and their nine starting riders for the July 4-26 Tour de France:
AG2R:
Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP), Cyril Dessel (FRA), Hubert Dupont (FRA), Vladimir Efimkin (RUS), Stephane Goubert (FRA), Lloyd Mondory (FRA), Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA), Christophe Riblon (FRA), Nicolas Roche (IRL)
Agritubel:
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by Justin Davis
MONACO, July 3, 2009 (AFP) - The Cervelo Test team declared their intention to help defending champion Carlos Sastre win the Tour de France for the second consecutive year here on Friday.
But the Tour debutants, who have also built their team around Thor Hushovd’s [...]

MONACO, July 3, 2009 (AFP) - Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu is aiming to become the first cyclist from the land of the rising sun to reach Paris and finish the race which starts here on Saturday.
The 26-year-old former national road race champion, who turned professional with Discovery Channel in [...]

by Ryland James
MONACO, July 3, 2009 (AFP) - British sprinter Mark Cavendish said Friday his Tour de France objective is solely to reach Paris with any thoughts of winning the green jersey far from his mind when the race begins here on Saturday.
The 24-year-old exploded onto [...]

MONACO, July 3, 2009 (AFP) - Belgian cycling star Tom Boonen has been granted a shock eleventh hour reprieve to compete in the Tour de France which starts here Saturday, his team confirmed.
Quick Step’s former world road race champion had been barred from the Tour by organizers following a [...]

by Justin Davis
MONACO, July 2, 2009 (AFP) - Penpix of Tour de France yellow jersey contenders at this year’s race, held on July 4-26 over a total approximate distance of 3459.5km:
Alberto Contador (ESP/Astana)
Described as the “best stage racer on the planet” by seven-time [...]

ROME, July 2, 2009 (AFP) - Former Tour of Italy winner Ivan Basso on Thursday tipped his great rival Lance Armstrong to challenge for an eighth Tour de France title.
Armstrong won the last of his seven yellow jerseys in a row in 2005 but this year at the age [...]

Tom Boonen will find out on Friday whether he has been granted a last minute reprieve to compete in the Tour de France which starts in Monaco on Saturday.
The former world road race champion from Belgium was barred from the Tour following a positive test for cocaine in [...]

by Justin Davis
MONACO, July 2, 2009 (AFP) - Former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis has thrown the gauntlet down to his team’s rivals for the race’s yellow jersey, declaring that his Saxo Bank outfit will be hard to beat.
Riis, the 1996 Tour winner who two [...]

Injured Dan Martin Will Be Replaced by Martijn Maaskant
July 2, 2009 – Monaco – Dutchman Martijn Maaskant, the first reserve for Team Garmin-Slipstream’s Tour de France Squad, will replace former Irish national champion Dan Martin on the start line on Saturday. Martin is suffering from knee tendonitis. Multiple team medical staff members have been working [...]