In <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /?>
Germany, in-form young Australian rider Michael Rogers (Quick-Step) won his second major European race in two months with success in the Tour of Germany.  "Races like this are really suited to my style".  Rogers will be experiencing his first Grand Boucle this July where he will be lining up alongside the rider he beat into 5th place in Germany, Jan Ullrich, who commented he was "very satisfied" with his race and added that "I'll be a lot better than that in the Tour" .

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

Following the news that ONCE will no longer be at the end of this season, it's been revealed that we'll no longer be seeing the blue and white jerseys of iBanesto past the end of this year.  Banesto have been involved in cycling for twenty years now and has been seen on the backs of Spanish greats such as Pedro Delgado and Miguel Indurain.

In memory of his fellow countryman and good friend, Team Telekom's Alexandre Vinokourov has established the Alexandre Kivilev Foundation.  The AKF will promote cycling and help talented young Kazakh's find places in the European Professional Peloton.

Two men missing from the Tour de France this year will be Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) and Frank Vandenbroucke (Quick-Step).  The baby-faced, Spaniard Sevilla has been struggling to train properly all spring following an operation to remove a cyst from his groin whilst Vandenbroucke has opted to miss both the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France to enable him to focus on the second half of the season.

In
Italy all the talk at present is of Mario Cipollini and will he or won't he?  Following last year's short-lived retirement from the sport, it is widely expected that following his teams exclusion from this years Tour he may well retire for the second time - and this time mean it.  "For the moment it's up in the air.  We'll have to talk to Mario and see what his intentions are" commented his Director Sportif Antonio Salutini.

Meanwhile the career of Italy's other favourite, Marco Pantani, has never so well been summed up as in a recent article in Italian Sports paper La Gazzeta dello Sport: First he was an angel, then he was a demon and now he's just an ordinary man.  Quite sad really isn't it?

Lithuanian rider Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre) has tested non-negative for, it is suspected, EPO after the sixth stage of this year's Giro d'Italia, a race in which he finished 6th.  At the time of writing the counter analysis was still to be determined.  His team immediately suspended him from all competition and manager Giuseppe 'Beppe' Saronni angrily said, "We feel betrayed in the trust we had in him.  He is suspended for now but if the second sample confirms the findings, he will no longer be riding for us" .  The wife of Rumsas, Edita, was arrested by customs officials on the French border after she was found to be driving a car loaded with numerous banned substances following the finish of last years Tour de France.  Neither Raimondas