George Hincapie will lead the US-based Team Columbia (formerly Team High Road) at the 2008 Tour de France, which rolls out July 5-27.
Hincapie, whose wife gave birth to a son last week, is a veteran of 12 Tours. He's the only American racing on the 9-man Team Columbia squad, and one of only four to be announced so far (the other three are on Team Garmin-Chipotle).
The team's hopes for winning the Tour lie with Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg, who finished 7th last year. UK sprinter Mark Cavendish, racing his second Tour, will be on hand for stage victories.
Hincapie won the inaugural Tour of Missouri last fall and a stage of the Tour of California in February and Dauphine Libere recently.
His Tour de France history includes a yellow jersey for one stage in 2006 and winning Stage 15 in 2005. He's been on eight teams that have won the Tour, 7 with Lance Armstrong and 1 with Alberto Contador.
His wife, Melanie, gave birth to a son, Enzo, on June 20. They already have a daughter. More at his website.
Here's Team Columbia at the Tour de France.
Kim Kirchen (Lux), 29
George Hincapie (USA), 34
Thomas Lövkvist (S), 24
Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr), 25
Mark Cavendish (GB), 23
Gerald Ciolek (G), 21
Adam Hansen (Aus), 27
Marcus Burghardt (G), 24
Bernhard Eisel (A), 27
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