Crisis Averted

Well, for everyone that matters anyway.

In an emergency meeting called by the riders, the organisers of the three grand tours and the UCI met to hammer out a tentative agreement to get through this season. The ASO, RCS, and Unipublic have agreed to allow all but Unibet and Astana into their races for the year. Meanwhile, it has been agreed that these two recent additions to the pro tour will be looked upon "favorably" when considering wild card slots.
So after all the name calling and posturing, we basically end up in the same place we started. Philippe Gilbert from Française des Jeux, spoke with Vers l'Avenir before this resolution was made. "They are not even concerned to know the thoughts of the cyclists; no one has asked us and our voice is lost." The clever irony over this statement is that the issue that has arisen with Unibet is based on French law regulating against advertisements for gambling. VeloNews added, "Oddly enough, the French law in question is a 19th century regulation that bans the promotion of gambling, including "lotteries," which could conceivably ban participation by two long-time pro teams, Française des Jeux and Predictor-Lotto."
So what does Philippe Gilbert care about Unibet.com now that he can ride. I would guess not much. Obviously, Unibet's management was not at all pleased with the outcome, arguing again that after paying the necessary funds to acquire a pro tour license they are still not guaranteed the full schedule of races. Speaking with the Dutch news agency ANP, Jacques Hanegraaff, the team's manager responded, "This is unacceptable. We are now going to start judicial proceedings against the organizers and the UCI to make the most of our rights."
Maybe Astana and Unibet should have saved a little money to pay the grand tour organizers. It might have gotten them a little further toward a secure season.

Tour de Georgia Posts Route

Organizers of the Tour de Georgia have announced the route and host cities for the 2007 ride to begin April 16th. In an effort to continue to build the T de G as the premier American professional racing event and the great American warm up for the European Grand Tours, they have added a mountain top time-trial at Lookout Mountain to the venerable climbing stage to the top of Brasstown Bald. The tour also grows by a day to begin on Monday and run for seven days now.
One point to note is the change in sponsorship again this year. With difficult times falling on American automakers and cycling still holding just a niche market in the sports landscape, the tour has lost the original sponsor Dodge as well as last year's sponsor Ford. Now, owned and sponsored by the state of Georgia, we hope for a more a little more consistency.
Other than that, teams and riders will be announced around January to join Discovery Channel and Predictor-Lotto who have already given their intention to ride.