In spite of an early prohibition, Giro d'Italia organizers are allowing the Astana pro cycling team into the three-week race that begins Saturday in Palermo.
That means US cyclist Levi Leipheimer will race in the Italian classic, along with teammate Alberto Contador, who won the Tour de France last year. (No word on whether the Tour de France chiefs may change their position on Astana.)
Only three of the 22 teams are sending US cyclists to the Giro this year; most of the US riders are members of the Slipstream team. In addition to Leipheimer, other US competitors are Jason McCartney of Team CSC and Jonathan Patrick McCarty, Danny Pate, Christian VandeVelde and David Zabriskie, all of Slipstream.
Re-invited
Even though George Hincapie's Team High Road has been invited, Hincapie is sitting this one out.
Astana and High Road both learned earlier this year that they were being omitted because of past transgressions by team members. The Giro reinstated High Road in mid-February, however, and Astana earned its way back in this week.
Other teams
Naturally, Italian cyclists are heavily represented throughout the peloton for this race.
Defending last year's championship is Danilo DiLuca on the LPR Brakes teams. He's joined by another former Giro winner, Paolo Savoldelli. Their long-time rival, Gilberto Simoni, is riding with Venezuela's Androni G-Diquigiovanni this year.
On Astana, Leipheimer is wearing the team leader's jersey, No. 21. Joining he and Contador is Andreas Kloden, who just won the Tour de Romandie. High Road is bringing their recent champion who surprised everyone at the Tour de Georgia, Kanstantin Sivtsov.
Among the sprinters, Paolo Bettini is making a return engagement to the Giro with Quickstep, Robbie McEwen is riding with Silence Lotto, Stuart O'Grady with Team CSC, and Erik Zabel with Milram. Alessandro Petacchi has been banned from pro cycling for one year, to end Aug. 31, because he didn't have a medical certificate to use his inhaler for asthma.
The full list of teams:
Ag2r-La Mondiale
Astana
Barloworld
Caisse d'Epargne
Cofidis
CSF Group Navigare
Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Française des Jeux
Gerolsteiner
High Road
Lampre
Liquigas
LPR Brakes
Quick Step
Rabobank
Saunier Duval-Scott
Silence-Lotto
Slipstream Chipotle – H30
Team CSC
Team Milram
Tinkoff Credit
See the roster at VeloNews.
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