Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/5/08

It's the start of this year's French version of the Tour de France. French version? Isn't in France? Well, this year, the three week race is not being run by any international standards or international doping agencies. Instead of the International Cycling Union (UCI) or WADA, it's the French agencies handling the rules and the testing. The main issue between the French owners of the race and the UCI rested with which teams were invited, since the UCI wanted to make the Tour an all-ProTour event, in which the 20 registered UCI Professional Teams were automatically invited to race. The results mattered for rankings and invitations to the World Championship events at the end of the season. This was usually why, in addition to the 20 Pro teams, the one, or two, wild-card selection was usually a very political choice. But since the Tour de France separated from the UCI, they got to choose whichever teams they wanted, which led to the famous disinvitation of the team for which last year's winner, Alberto Contador, rides: Team Astana. Under UCI rules, Astana would have been forced on the Tour organizers, which they did not want, because of the doping scandals involving former team members. So, this year, instead of the usual 21 or 22 teams, totaling 189 or 198 riders, there are only 20 teams, or 180 riders.