Lance Armstrong hopes to revive Coors Classic, plus more cycling news

Lance Armstrong hopes to revive Coors Classic, shoo-ins for Radio Shack now less sure, LPR Brakes kicks Di Luca to the curb, Jens Voigt on the mend and the rest of your daily dose of cycling news.

• Lance Armstrong met with Colorado’s Governor Bill Ritter to talk about bringing a major stage race back to Colorado. Things are still in the very early planning stages, but with the move of the Vuelta a Espana to April in 2011, they are hoping to slot into the race calendar just before the World Championships. Ritter has pledged support, but it sounds like the onus is on Armstrong to do the heavy lifting.
• Armstrong was impressed with the performance of Columbia-HTC’s Tony Martin at the Tour de France and offered him a contract with the new Radio Shack Cycling Team. Martin was flattered by the offer but chose to stay on with Columbia, where he now has a contract through 2011.
• Columbia-HTC also announced that rider Marcel Sieberg has accepted a two year contract extension
• Many, including this writer, thought that Levi Leipheimer (Astana) was a no-doubt addition to the Radio Shack team, but Cycling News has rumored that he and George Hincapie (who I had as a far outside chance for RS) are in talks with the American BMC team. BMC is based in Leipheimer’s hometown of Santa Rosa, CA and has its sights set on a wildcard invite to the 2010 Tour de France. Leipheimer has not denied that he has talked to the team.
• Meanwhile, Alexander Vinokourov is still hoping to ride for the rapidly sinking Astana team. He says that he hopes the administrative and bureaucratic problems can be addressed and he’ll soon be back with his home team.
• The LPR Brakes team has kicked Danilo Di Luca to the curb after his B-samples came back positive for CERA. His dismissal is back dated to July 23rd and the team is expected to file a lawsuit to recover damages to the image of the sponsor and the team.
• Jens Voigt is said to be healing well and doctors say that he will definitely be able to race again. He has a titanium plate in his jaw now, but his face has healed and does not even shows signs of swelling. Skin injuries to his shoulder, arm and leg are healing well and surgery was not required.

Results:

• Rein Taaramae and Cofidis made a major splash in the closing stage of the Tour de l’Ain. Taaramae won the final stage and his teammates David Moncoutié and Damien Monier finished second and third respectively. They succeeded in knocking American Chris Horner (Astana) out of the overall lead. Taaramae ended up with the final win. Alexander Vinokourov, who won yesterday’s time trial, withdrew from the race.
• Spaniard Eladio Jimenez (Centro Cilismo De Loule – Louletano) won the day, but Nuno Ribeiro (Liberty Seguros) was able to defend his lead on the 6th stage of the Tour of Portugal.

Tags: alexander vinokourov, astana, BMC, CERA, Chris Horner, Cofidis, danilo di luca, George Hincapie, jens voigt, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, liberty seguros, LPR Brakes, Nuno Ribeiro, portugal, radio shack cycling, Vuelta a Espana, World Championships