Rabobank News

Thor Hushovd broke Mark Cavendish's stranglehold on the bunch sprints, winning on the uphill drag into Barcelona ahead of another rider who specializes in these tougher finishes, Oscar Freire .

Dutchman Robert Gesink has pulled out of the Tour de France with a wrist fracture after crashing during the fifth stage from Cap d'Agde to Perpignan, organisers said.

God of thunder . . . Thor Hushovd of Norway wins stage six of the Tour de France.

Spaniards Juan Antonio Flecha and Oscar Freire look to boost Rabobank's flagging morale when the Tour de France sixth stage, tailor-made for one-day specialists, takes the bunch from Girona to Barcelona on Thursday.

THE teams of Tour de France contenders Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov suffered further setbacks during the race's fifth stage on Wednesday.

Thomas Voeckler handed the hosts their first reason to celebrate on this year's Tour de France when he claimed his maiden victory from the race's fifth stage here on Wednesday.

Menchov was behind a Rabobank teammate when he misjudged a left turn and skidded into the barriers shortly after the start of the 24.2-mile team time-trial in and around Montpellier.

The 2009 Tour de France is upon us already. The battle for the maillot jaune is going to be intense.

CADEL Evans' frustrations must be boiling over after seeing his latest Tour de France campaign jeopardised by a second drugs scandal before the race even starts.

Denis Menchov has already won the Giro d'Italia and will now attempt to capture the Tour de France to become the first man to win both races in the same year since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.

Dutch cyclist Thomas Dekker has been ruled out of the Tour de France three days before the start after testing positive for the banned blood-booster EPO, his Silence team have announced.

The team is aiming for a good showing and stage wins... but where and when in the 21 days of racing will they find the opportunity and magic? It's easy to make light of the chances of Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi in the Tour de France.

The orange and blue clad team of Rabobank will be represented by a talented team of young and veteran riders at the tour.

After a three day hiatus, the Cyclingnews podcast is back by popular demand with an action packed Episode 17 .

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

The eighth and final stage of the 2009 Dauphine-Libere took riders over the very steep Saint-Bernard-de-Touvet, which made for a spectacular showing from several riders in the peloton... by James Thompson Game Recap The eighth and final stage of the 2009 Dauphine-Libere took riders over the very steep Saint-Bernard-de-Touvet, which made for a ...

Menchov has two of the three grand tours to his credit. Now he wants the other one.

Tour de Suisse - Stage 6: Cav' makes it two. Mark Cavendish earned his second stage win at the Tour of Switzerland on Thursday, the 178 kilometer sixth stage from Oberriet to Bad Zurzach.

Russia's Tour of Italy champion Denis Menchov will lead the Rabobank team in next month's Tour de France, the Dutch based team's manager said on Thursday.

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.