Denis Menchov not yet in is top condition

Denis Menchov moved up to 8th overall but confirmed that he’s not yet in top condition.

“I’m satisfied with my performance”, the Russian told Cyclingnews after completing the 49km long course in 1.02.46. “The time trial is always something important for me. I wanted to try the new equipment as well. I did it full gas. In one hour of solo effort, you can see where you are. I came to the Dauphiné to get the rhythm of the competition. I’ll use the coming stages in the mountains to improve my condition. The Tour is in three weeks. I’ll be OK by then.”

Menchov’s form was unknown since he pulled out of the Tour of Belgium after only 40 kilometres on stage 1. He also came down with bronchitis in May after finishing third at the Tour of Romandy, and eventually second behind Simon Spilak of Lampre following the disqualification of race winner Alejandro Valverde.

Rabobank didn’t allow Menchov to defend his title at the Giro d’Italia in May but he has been officially announced as Rabobank's co-captain for the Tour de France with Dutch up-and-coming climber Robert Gesink. “The start in Rotterdam is a big event for Dutch cycling and obviously Rabobank”, directeur sportif Frans Maassen told L’Equipe. “Denis is part of our image, we count on him.”

However it’s debatable how much longer Rabobank will count on Menchov as there is a new generation of Dutch climber coming up, with not only Gesink but also Lars Boom, Bauke Mollema and Steven Kruisjwijk. Menchov’s contract expires at the end of this year and Russian team Katusha is desperately looking for a Grand Tour contender.

“We’re definitely interested in hiring Menchov, shall he be willing to ride for us”, Katusha’s boss Andreï Tchmil told De Telegraaf. “He was approached two years ago but turned the offer down as we were a young new team.”

Menchov’s agent Raimondo Scimone confirmed to Cyclingnews that Menchov is on the market but not only Rabobank and Katusha are interested in his services for next year. “It’s up to Menchov himself to decide whether or not he wants to wait till the end of the Tour to decide which team to opt for.”

Vuelta list press release

Spanish press have released details of what is largely considered the definitive list of teams to participate in this year's Vuelta a España.

Spanish sports daily Marca reports that the decision over teams has been finalised and of the 22 teams, 16 have earned automatic places on the startline in Sevilla on August 29 due to the agreement signed with race organiser Unipublic in 2008.

These squads are Caisse d'Epargne, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Footon-Servetto, HTC-Columbia, Liquigas-Doimo, Astana, Rabobank, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Cofidis, Lampre-Farnese Vini, Quick Step, Team Milram, Saxo Bank, AG2R-La Mondiale, Française des Jeux and Bbox Bouygues Telecom.

Spanish Professional Continental teams Xacobeo-Galicia and Andalucia-Cajasur have reportedly gained invitations, as has Team RadioShack, although it's highly unlikely that Lance Armstrong will be riding the Spanish Grand Tour due to his focus on the Tour de France next month.

That leaves three places on offer, one of which will likely be allocated to Cervélo TestTeam, subject to whether its Spanish Grand Tour veteran, Carlos Sastre, will be taking part. He rode last month's Giro d'Italia and his participation in the Tour de France is currently in doubt. If he doesn't start in Rotterdam on July 8 it's likely he'll compete on home turf.

Marca speculates that BMC Racing won't be invited as current road world champion Cadel Evans will ride the Tour de France and not the Vuelta, the race in which he finished third overall last year.

Meanwhile, ProTour squads Team Katusha and Garmin-Transitions, plus Professional Continental teams Vacansoleil, Skil-Shimano and Acqua e Sapone appear to have missed out on invitations; the absence of the American outfit unusual due to it boasting two stage winners in last year's edition - David Millar and Ryder Hesjedal.

One rider definitely missing will be defending champion Alejandro Valverde, the Spaniard having been banned from competition recently. He won't be eligible to participate in the race until 2012, when the sanction ends.

HTC-Columbia preparation for the tour de france

The HTC-Columbia team has released its long list for the Tour de France, featuring former World time trial champions Michael Rogers and Bert Grabsch, and both sprinters Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel.

The US-based team told Cyclingnews Monday afternoon that it has 15 riders on the list: Michael Albasini, Lars Ytting Bak, Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Maxime Monfort, Mark Renshaw, Andre Greipel, Haydon Roulston, Adam Hansen, Michael Rogers, Bert Grabsch, Tony Martin, Peter Velits, Kanstansin Sivtsov and Frantisek Rabon.

The final decision as to which nine will ride in France will be made after the Tour de Suisse. “We will probably announce after the Tour de Suisse and Dauphine are finished, like we did last year,” Kristy Scymgeour told Cyclingnews.

The team's biggest decision will be selecting which of its two sprinters to take to the Tour. Cavendish won six stages at the Tour last year, but got off to a slow start in 2010. He has since found some form, recently winning a stage in the Amgen Tour of California. Griepel currently leads the peloton with 12 wins so far this season.

Christophe Le Mevel seeking his third victory

The Frenchman Christophe Le Mevel will be seeking his third victory of the season,even if he should have been given one win on a technicality but was denied.

The 2010 Criterium of the Dauphiné will start on Sunday with a 6.8km prologue in Evian-les-Bains, but only three of the riders who occupied the top 10 last year are on the start list this time around. The third man behind Spaniards Alberto Contador and Haimar Zubeldia is Christophe Le Mével, who claimed 10th last year.

The Frenchman Mével overlooked will be seeking his third victory of the season,even if he should have been given one win on a technicality but was denied.

The result in question comes from stage one of the Volta al Pais Vasco, where the Française des Jeux rider finished third in Zierbena behind Oscar Freire and Alejandro Valverde. Freire got disqualified for irregular sprinting and the stage was given to Valverde. After his losing his arbitration, Valverde has been suspended effective January 1 and is now written off all the results of the races he took part in this year.

"Strangely, the judges re-classified Freire in second place behind Valverde instead of the last position of our group, as rules state," Le Mével said.

"Now Freire is the winner again, I suppose, but not me. However, I won't go to court to be given the stage win. I don't really deserve to win a race I finished in third place but I guess it would have been valuable in terms of world ranking points for my team."

Marc Madiot told Cyclingnews that Française des Jeux is now going to question the UCI in a written letter over the unusual interpretation of the race regulations by the judges at the Volta al Pais Vasco. They hoped for Le Mével to be declared the winner.

The Frenchman heads into this weekend seeking to fine-tune his form for the Tour de France, where he also finished 10th place overall last year, duplicating his performance in the Dauphiné.

"My approach of the Dauphiné is very different this time compared with last year," said Le Mével. "The Volta Catalunya was in May and I was 12th there, so I knew I was going well but now I'm coming from training camps. On purpose, with my coach Frédéric Grappe, we have done everything on purpose for me to be fresh at the beginning of the Dauphiné. Maybe I'll suffer in the first few stages but later, the time trial will be an interesting test. Most of all, I want to fight in the mountains with the best climbers in this race."

"I'm motivated," said the Breton rider. "I'll target the top 10 again, maybe even better, but I'll race without any pressure. Even if I don't get a good position overall, my priority is to come out of the Dauphiné with great confidence for the Tour de France."

He held his personal training camps in the Alps with his teammate Wesley Sulzberger who won the GP Plumelec on Saturday. "That's a good sign," said Le Mével who claimed a stage and the overall win at the Tour du Haut-Var in February.

Oscar Freire with Rabobank until 2011

The former World champion's Oscar Freire has extended his contract with Rabobank through the end of 2011, saying he would probably end his career with the Dutch team.

“Just one year more, then I would prefer it to be at Rabobank. Chances are that it is my last year,” Freire said.

“For us, the choice was not difficult when Oscar said he would go another year,” said technical director Erik Breukink. "You would be crazy to let a rider of such calibre go.”

The Spaniard thinks that 2011 will see the end of his career. “I'm still physically able. Mentally, too. But whether I can muster the mental strength for another year after 2011? I doubt it. “

Freire, 34, joined the Dutch team in 2003. He won the last of his three World road titles while with the team, as well as winning Milan-San Remo three times, the green jersey in the Tour de France, and stages in both the Tour and the Vuelta a Espana, amongst many other wins.

His season he has six wins, including Milan-San Remo. He missed the Giro d'Italia due to a sinus infection, but is scheduled to ride the Tour de Suisse, as well as the Tour de France.

Spaniard feels “at home” with Dutch team

Freire will be happy to be with Rabobank until the end of his career. “This is my team,” he said. “I am very happy. The people know me well and vice versa is also true. I have felt at home at Rabobank from day one in 2003 and that's still true. The loyalty of the team to me has always been great. And there is a very stable sponsor. Should you go? No, not really. "

"It always felt good with Rabobank and it still feels good. I know the team, the team leaders, the riders and coaches. It would make no sense to start over new again, and perhaps for only one year,” Freire said. “

“I think cycling is still great fun. My main objective for 2011 is that I really want to do well. Going for one hundred percent and not a farewell tour.”

Fränk Schleck in the Tour of Luxembourg

Fränk Schleck,the last year luxembourg tour champion was satisfied with his 25th place finish in the opening prologue on Wednesday night. He hopes to repeating his victory from 2009, although Team Saxo Bank is riding two men short this year to due injury problems.

“I am satisfied with my time. I'm not a prologue specialist and I'm especially happy that I have survived this first race day and didn't lose too much time against my rivals,” he told the Luxembourg website wort.lu.

Schleck's last race was Liege-Bastogne-Liege at the end of April. Since then he has mainly trained at home, spending time with his wife and new-born daughter, although last week he spent time in the Pyrenees. “Everything went well. I felt good in the mountains and my form is right,” he said.

“I will try to defend my Luxembourg win. It's a disadvantage only having six rider at the start, but I have to respect the decision. There just aren't any more riders available to race.”

Schleck got special support from younger brother Andy, who is not riding the race but who was at the race. “I was in the team car behind him,” Andy Schleck said. “Actually I didn't want to, because I was afraid he might crash. But in the end I was happy to be able to cheer my brother on.”

Other Luxembourg riders with mixed results

Kim Kirchen of Katusha was also making his race return on home roads after a six-week pause. He finished 49th, 21 seconds down on Jimmy Engoulvent on the 2.6 km course. “I went into the race fairly cautiously, I wanted to see first how I felt. On the climb I then noticed that more was possible, and went for it.”

Laurent Didier of Saxo Bank was coming off only a three-day racing pause, having recently completed the Giro d'Italia. “The prologue was difficult. These intense efforts are not my thing and never will be. But my motivation was great,” he said. “My legs were still heavy, but I will first see in the coming days where I stand.” He finished 74th in the prologue.

Bad luck for Sebastien Rosseler

The belgium cyclist Sebastien Rosseler of Team RadioShack has joined the list of those hit by a car while training the last few days. It is not yet known if his participation in the Tour de France will be jeopardised.

The accident occurred while he was riding between Liège and Tongeren in Belgium. "There is a small fracture in the left wrist. He also has some serious bruises on the right shoulder,” team spokesman Philippe Maertens told the Belgian news agency Belga. The rider must sit out training for at least two weeks, as he cannot put any pressure on the broken wrist for 14 days.

Rosseler is just one of a series of riders hit by cars whilst training this week. Luis Leon Sanchez was training with Caisse d'Epargne teammates Alejandro Valverde and Francisco Perez when he was hit. The Spaniard came away with a shock but was not seriously injured.

The most serious incident involved Marina Romoli of team Safi-Pasta Zara Manhattan. She suffered severe facial injuries and fractured vertebrae when a car turned in front of her. The 21-year-old was placed in an induced coma and underwent nine hours of surgery.