Illes Balears - Caisse d'Epargne News

Linus Gerdemann Team Milram at s.t. 11. Yaroslav Popovych Astana at s.t. 12. Thierry Hupond Skil-Shimano at s.t. 13.

Caisse d'Epargne riders started first in the fourth stage of the Tour, while Armstrong's Astana team is scheduled to start last.

He was the 19th man out. Join the debate on 606 1526: The fastest man to the 7.5km split at Cote de Beausoleil so far is Luis Pasamontes of Caisse d'Epargne with a time of 12 minutes, 11 seconds.

Here is a look at the top contenders for the 2009 Tour de France with quick takes from two retired American cyclists, Versus analyst Frankie Andreu and Saxo Bank technical director Bobby Julich, who each raced in the Tour de France nine times.

Liberty Seguros's Manuel Cardoso soloed to a great victory in the Elite Men's RR at Portugal's Road National Championship; the race was held over thirteen laps of a challenging circuit of 12.7 kilometres around Santa Maria da Feira this past Sunday, with 2008 champion Joao Cabreira not in the saddle to defend his title.

Contador topped a strong field of Spanish stars. Europe is the middle of national championship week, with most nations holding their respective time trial races Thursday and Friday ahead of road racing action this weekend.

Spanish National Championships - Individual Time Trial Astana's Alberto Contador Wins Spanish Title - Two man battle with Luis Leon Sanchez.

Top-ranked cyclist Alejandro Valverde's team says the Spanish rider will not compete in the Tour de France because of a doping ban in Italy.

Caisse d'Epargne name 10 cyclists from which they will select nine for the Tour de France.

Caisse d'Epargne's Alejandro Valverde remains on top of the UCI's latest world rankings, released yesterday.

Stage 7: Bad Zurzach - Vallorbe Juraparc 204 km Kim Krichen collected the 5th victory for the Columbia team attacking in the final 400 meters and catching and passing Roman Kreuziger like a rocket at 100 meters on the category 2 climb of Juraparc to take a definitive win by two seconds over the Liquigas rider in the 7th stage.

Stage 1: Time Trial Swiss ace Fabian Cancellara blitzes opening time trial to show he's back in peak condition.

Since early May, when rumors first surfaced in the press that the Astana team was on shaky financial ground, the team has been whipsawed one way and another as its imminent demise is staved off time and again.

Photo: AFP Spaniard Alejandro Valverde on Sunday won his second successive Dauphine Libere cycling race as Dutchman Stef Clement won the final stage, a 146km hump from Faverges to Grenoble.

Alejandro Valverde held off another day of repeated attacks from chief rival Cadel Evans to retain his Dauphine Libere title for a second successive year.

Mountain man … Cadel Evans takes a corner on the seventh stage of the Dauphine Libere race in France at the weekend.

David Moncoutie of France won the next-to-last stage of the Dauphine Libere with a late breakaway on Saturday, and Alejandro Valverde of Spain retained the overall lead in the Tour de France warmup.

The Spaniard Alejandro Valverde of the Caisse d'Epargne team retained his slim 16-second lead over Australia's Cadel Evans after the sixth stage of the Dauphine Libere race on Friday.

Other Sports Valverde ... takes in the picturesque scenery mid ride. AFP Alejandro Valverde nabs yellow jersey from Cadel Evans in Dauphine Libere From correspondents in Mont-Ventoux, France Alejandro Valverde of the Caisse d'Epargne team took control of the Dauphine Libere race after leaving Australia's Cadel Evans behind on the gruelling Mont ...

Evans, in the familiar black and red colours of Belgium team Silence Lotto was the second-last rider to hit the streets of Nancy in a 12km time trial.