European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 6, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Stars and Mideast edition july sports Venus cruises into semis Nadal rallies to Advance to Page 30 a Tough Road ahead tour needs a clean and theres no Clear favorite by Jerome Pugmire the associated press Paris cycling cannot afford another doping and desperately needs a clean tour de France win Ner this with few big names the race has an unpredictable feel to it not just in terms of who will Wear the yellow but who and How Many might get caught doping Between the july 7 Start and the july 29 cycling must not Only get its credibility but even More its tour director Chris Tian Prudhomme said in an inter it is a romantic sport which must be there Are sponsors and organizers fighting for its dig Ivan Basso and Floyd Landis Are among the Many riders either suspended or under investigation for doping who wont be at the starting line in oth ers Are trying to Clear their names in time for the prologue near Trafalgar doping is the enemy of cycling and the enemy of the tour de Prudhomme doping brings a certain absence of which is at the oppo site of the cycling on the eve of last years nine riders including 1997 tour Winner Jan Ullrich and 2005 runner up Basso were kicked out after being implicated in a Spanish doping investigation called operation More than 50 cyclists were implicated because of their alleged ties to Eufemiano a doctor accused of running a blood doping clinic in Basso received a two year Dop ing penalty from the italian cycling federation in mid june and has said he accepts the punish Basso confessed to at tempted though he said he never actually went through with Landis tested positive for syn thetic testosterone in last years tour and his Case is now before an arbitration of the nearly 200 riders in this years Only Alexandre Vinokurov is considered a genuine the kazakh rider is a dashing the wiry cyclist thrilled spectators along Paris Peter Many of the bes known cyclists have been caught up in doping scandals and wont compete in the which is desperate for a clean a look at some of the main contenders for the 2007 tour de France title Alexandre Vinokurov 3rd in 2003 5th in didst race in 2006 tour after five teammates were implicated in a Dop ing the 33yearold kazak has won three tour Stag and the 2006 tour of Strong on Moun Tain and has worked to improve his time Levi Leipheimer 6th in 2005 8th in 2002 9th in the rid ers discovery casting around for a new Champ since seven time tour Winner Lance Arm Strong retired in Hopes that Leipheimer will at least finish in the top i am 100 per cent said the Andreas Kloeden runner up to Arm Strong in 2004 and third last the German was a close associate of Jan who has since retired under a Dop ing he now rides for the Astana team of i he is a Strong climber and very won the Tirreno Adriatic co race in Italy in Oscar Pereiro runner up to Floyd Lan Dis last year and could still be declared the 2006 Champion if Landis loses his Appeal after testing positive for synthetic Tes the Spanish riders Mountain climb ing strength is offset by a weakness in time Tri Pereiro placed 10th in 2004 and Christophe Moreau eleven years after Fin Ishing 75th in his tour the 36yearold French rider is Blossom ing late in his by winning last months Dauphine Moreau showed that his experience and climbing ability could rival More talented Best tour finish was 4th in champs Elysee on the final Day in after attacking Lance Armstrong in the Moun he still found the Energy to win the final stage with a five of Vino Kourous team mates on team Astana withdrew from last years tour because of operation and Vinokurov had to pull out because a minimum six riders Are needed for a team to this Vinokurov said he already has been drug tested randomly several times by the inter National cycling once before the fleche Wai another time in at and at the Start of april where i live in Vinokurov told sports daily Lequire on june if there was an atom we would me the but i have not received no Post to this no mail from the last years Oscar 2004 runner up Andreas Kloeden and american Levi Leipheimer Are dark Pereiro will be declared the Winner of last years tour de France if Landis loses his Jerome the associated press the 2007 tour could be an important Milestone in cycling fight against if Leipheimer he knows some will question whether he did it cleanly and thinks More has to be done to convince everyone that not everyone is a Leipheimer discovery Chan Nel team director Johan Bruyneel thinks cycling needs an Independent watchdog body to oversee the see clean on Page 30 a glance at the tour de France route Paris a Brief look at this years tour de on july 729 week one starts in with prologue time trial near Trafalgar the relatively Flat terrain of the first week favors favourites for the Overall title stay tucked in the main safely away from the front riders nervously jostling for week two with the race going clockwise around riders reach the mountains quickly with the first of three Alpine stages on july 14 a trek from Bourge Bresse to the following Day has the first of three Uphill finishes up to the ski resort of the hardest Al Pine stage is on july taking in famed climbs such As the col de Ilseman and col do the second week ends with the opening time Miles around week three More Tough in the and another time trial on the penultimate stage 16 on july 25 toughest mile the col is considered the 2 Miles rising to a finish up it reaches a Crescendo in the tour race director Christian Prudhomme said when organizers unveiled the 2007 if the rider in the yellow Jersey is not then hell be in a lot of that stage comes after a rest Day pre ceded by another Tough leg from Foix to Loude Vielle featuring the col de Portet Raspet and the port de it never stops Prudhomme i just gets steeper and the tour finishes in on the racing stripes cot rules could make creativity thing of past Page 25