Lisa Winchester

This REALLY surprised me when I read it this morning. It seems like he's always been a good support man for the TdF for many previous years. I wonder if Contador has issues with him? I don't want to speculate though.

~Lisa Winchester

__o "It never gets easier,
_ \<_ you just go faster."
(_)/(_) -- Greg LeMond

> From: cmurray@obra.org
> To: obra@list.obra.org
> Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:44:33 -0700
> Subject: [OBRA Chat] Horner left off of Astana roster for the TdF
>
>
> Horner left off Astana Tour roster
> By Andrew Hood
> Published: Jun. 25, 2009
> Chris Horner won’t be starting the Tour de France after he was overlooked as
> part of the nine-man squad revealed Wednesday by Astana.
>
> The veteran Horner crashed out of the Giro d’Italia in May and was hoping to
> be back in top shape to earn a Tour slot, but he was not awarded one of the
> nine spots on the loaded Astana team.
>
> Another surprise name missing from roster was reliable Spanish workhorse
> Benjamin Noval, a veteran of Tour-winning campaigns of Lance Armstrong and
> Alberto Contador.
>
> The team revealed last week that six of the nine spots were already secured,
> with Armstrong and Contador being joined by Andreas Klöden, Levi Leipheimer,
> Haimar Zubeldia and Yaroslav Popovych.
>
> That left six riders fighting for three remaining spots on the heavily
> favored Astana.
>
> Filling out the final three spots are Sergio Paulinho, Gregory Rast and
> Kazakh rider Dmitriy Muravyev, three riders who will bear the brunt of the
> work on the flats and transition stages before the big guns take over.
>
> Two other riders who were on Astana’s shortlist but didn’t make the cut were
> Jani Brajkovic and Tomas Vaitkus.
>
> The rest of the team doesn’t need much of an introduction.
>
> All eyes will be on a possible duel between Armstrong and Contador as the
> pair wrangles for control of the race and perhaps the team, though everyone
> insists that the squad will rally around the strongest rider in the race.
>
> Armstrong, 37, is returning to the Tour for the first time since winning the
> last of his seven consecutive yellow jerseys in 2005.
>
> Riding to a solid 12th at the Giro d’Italia in his first grand tour in
> nearly four years, Armstrong is expected to be a major factor in the race,
> but even he admits he’s not sure how far he will be able to go.
>
> Contador is back at the Tour for the first time since winning in 2007.
> Astana was kept out of last year’s Tour, opening the door for the Spanish
> climber to win both the Giro and the Vuelta a España last year to complete
> cycling’s grand tour triple crown.
>
> Just behind them will be Leipheimer and Kloden, two former podium finishers
> who be waiting in the wings if the top two leaders tumble and who will
> likely get their own chances in the time trials and perhaps a shot in the
> mountains to force other teams to chase.
>
> Zubeldia and Popovych will play similar roles, with the expectation they
> will step up in the key mountain
> Candi
>
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