LE SOCIETE DU TOUR DE FRANCE MAKES THE FINAL SELECTION: The organization of the Tour de France has made the final selection for the 2001 edition. The race organization chose 5 teams, instead of the 4 teams that they had announced they would select. Following find the list of teams, the ones with asterisk were selected today. SPAIN Kelme: Santiago Botero (COL) iBanesto.com: Francisco Mancebo & Jos� Mar�a Jim�nez ONCE: Joseba Beloki & Abraham Olano. * Euskaltel: David Etxebarr�a FRANCE AG2R: Jaan Kirsipuu (EST) * BigMat: Heulot (FRA) Bonjour: Didier Rous (FRA) Cofidis: David Millar (GBR) Cr�dit Agricole: Bobby Julich (USA) Festina: Angel Casero (SPA) * Francaise des Jeux: Casper (FRA) Jean Delatour: Laurent Brochard (FRA) ITALY Fassa Bortolo: Vladimir Belli (ITA) Lampre: Frank Vandenbroucke (BEL) Mapei: Tom Steels (BEL) HOLLAND Rabobank: Eric Dekker (HOL) GERMANY Telekom: Jan Ulrich (GER) & Erik Zabel (GER) BELGIUM Domo: Axel Merckx (BEL) * Lotto: Rik Verbrugghe (BEL) DENMARK * CSC: Laurent Jalabert (FRA) UNITED STATES US Postal: Lance Armstrong (USA) & Roberto Heras (SPA) THE GREAT ABSENTEES: Team Coast (GER): Alex Z�lle (SWI) & Fernando Escart�n (SPA) Alexia (ITA): Massimo Quaranta (ITA) Liquigas (ITA): Davide Rebellin (ITA) Mercatone Uno (ITA): Marco Pantani (ITA) Saeco (ITA): Mario Cipollini (ITA) Tacconi (ITA): Jean Lucca Bortolami (ITA) Team Mercury (US): Pavel Tonkov (RUS) JEAN MARIE LEBLANC: The director of the Tour de France, Jean-Marie Leblanc, said today that the reason that Team Mercatone Uno of Marco Pantani was not invited to the Tour was because �there is no guarantee that he will be in form. We haven�t seen Pantani the riders since the Olympic Games. How can we judge his current form?�, asked Leblanc. He added: �Mercatone is the last ranked team in Division 1 and Pantani didn�t finish the Tour last year, or has finished any race this season. We have no guarantee of Pantani�s current or future form�. �I would have liked to have seen Pantani, the way he can ride, brilliantly, when he is in form during the Tour. But the selection is the definite one�. Some question the inclusion of Jalabert in the selection: If we compare Pantani and Jalabert, Jaja finished last year�s Tour, rode the World Championsips and this year he has cometed, even with the accident he suffered. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ------ To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web/mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb/Newsletter ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiDo.aVHtMM Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01 ==^================================================================
