Contador heads strong Saxo Bank team on Tour
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Shanghai Daily, June 23, 2011
Triple champion Alberto Contador will be surrounded by his traditional Spanish guard when he starts the Tour de France next month.
Contador, who won the Tour in 2007, 2009 and 2010, will be helped by climbers Jesus Hernandez and Dani Navarro, as well as friend Benjamin Noval as he leads the Team Saxo Bank-SunGard on the three-week race starting on July 2.
Contador failed a dope test in last year's Tour but he was cleared by the Spanish federation and is allowed to race until the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules on an appeal by the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency in August.
"We've obviously tried to pick the team that fits best to our overall strategy," team manager Bjarne Riis said in a statement yesterday.
"It is no secret that we are in the race to win it, so our job has been to identify the rider group that will be able to give Alberto the best possible support through the three weeks.
"We have come up with a team that can both protect and be aggressive and defend, and we are strong both on the flat roads and in the mountains. I think it's a very strong team."
Danes Brian Vandborg, Chris Anker Sorensen and Nicki Sorensen, Australian Richie Porte and Italian Matteo Tosatto complete the line-up.
Meanwhile, Colombian Juan Mauricio Soler is out of danger after suffering severe head injuries in a crash in the Tour of Switzerland last week, his Movistar team said on Tuesday.
"His condition is no longer life-threatening. He has begun to make light movements and tests seem to rule out spinal injury," team doctor Alfredo Zuniga said, adding that Soler will remain in intensive care for several more days.
Top level cycling was hit by two tragedies last month.
Belgium's Wouter Weylandt died after a crash in the Giro d'Italia while Movistar's Catalan rider Xavier Tondo was killed after an accident with a garage door.
