Apparently Ekimov, now retired from cycling is helping Bruneel in the team car
as "team director". Levi Leipheimer will be the GC contender on the Discovery
Team and Vinokourov, now riding for a team called "Astana" is going in as the
favorite to win the TDF... Lance seems kind of out of the picture.... The
Prologue is Saturday, starting from London - the review show never mentioned
Floyd Landis except to say he was still in court, trying to prove "his
innocence". Basso confessed and got the two years off. Jon Uhrich previously,
announced his retirement.... This is a part of a press conference given by
Bruneel and Leipheimer

- by Chris Brewer
Yesterday an international group of journalists got the opportunity to not only
be among the first to learn who would be racing on the the Discovery Channel Pro
Cycling Team 2007 Tour de France squad, but then a long opportunity to pepper
Sports Manager Johan Bruyneel and team leader Levi Leipheimer with questions
about almost anything on their mind. We sat in and here's a recap of what went
down.

Team communications director PJ Rabice started things off by announcing that the
team will commence with a major "green" program starting July 5th but backdating
to January 1st 2007 to make the Discovery Channel team carbon neutral. "Our main
goal is a long-term commitment to offset carbon emissions from the race caravan
vehicles, and for the team to take a leadership role in this issue," he said.
When the boys take to the line in London you'll see significant green accents on
their shorts, jersey, and team car decals. PJ gave kudos to the American Kodak
Gallery cycling team who also has a big stake in this effort, and noted that the
team, and in particular ThePaceline, will be letting the fans and general public
know what they can do to help. Watch for lots more on this important topic and
how (and why) the team's "going green," one week from now in these pages.

Continuing in this vein, PJ noted the significant amount of work that the team's
title sponsor, Discovery Channel, has contributed to this program. Discovery
Channel will soon launch a 24 hour network dedicated to environmental issues and
is very committed to this cause. He also noted the efforts of all the team's
sponsors, in particular Trek and Shimano, for their green team efforts. One
solid example of what the "boys in green" are doing is a tree planting program
in the Mendocino National Forest, a program that will not only offset the carbon
emissions of the team's vehicles but will also provide a habitat for several
endangered species. Lots more to come on this program for sure.

And with that it was time for Johan to announce the 2007 squad: Alberto Contador
| Vladimir Gusev | George Hincapie | Levi Leipheimer | Sergio Paulinho | Egoi
Martinez |Benjamin Noval| Yaroslav Popovych | Tomas Vaitkus, and then to let the
journo's have their say.


Johan and Levi before the Tour of California Solvang TT

Johan was first asked if the performance at the Tour de France had a direct
relationship to acquiring a new team title sponsor. He noted that while the Tour
de France is very important, sponsorship is not purely Tour oriented. He said
that he was very proud in that the team has built a solid business and racing
program that spans the entire season, and so while the Tour is the Tour, it is
not the sole focus.

What about the make up of the team - how is that different than in years past?
Johan said he had a combination of experience and stage hunters. The old mission
was to focus on Lance everywhere - and it worked. But with Levi not going in as
the #1 favorite that affords the team the opportunity to also include riders
with personal ambitions as well. The team certainly has the riders who can
support Levi when then time comes, but expect to see guys like Contador,
Hincapie, Popo, and Gusev being set free to get stages, and Contador in
particular is very interested in winning the Best Young Rider white jersey
competition.

Next up was a question about DC's Tom Danielson, and why wasn't he on the Tour
de France squad? Johan noted that Tom has had physical problems with his stomach
starting before the Tour of Catalunya, and that in the pre-season talks Tom knew
that his chances at making the Tour team depended on strong personal showings
not only at Catalunya but at the Dauphine Libere as well (where you'll recall he
had to drop out again due to stomach issues). He noted that Tom is a great
teammate but he needed to see those personal performances, and without them it
would not have been fair to the other riders who had demonstrated their
abilities, nor would it help the security and experience levels of the riders
selected.

Looking towards the team selected, Johan was then asked where he thought Levi
could end up overall. Johan listed a long laundry list of Levi's
accomplishments, including three times in the Top 10 at the Tour, and now thinks
he is ready to take another step up and finish in the Top 3 on the podium in
Paris. What does this leadership role mean to Levi? He went back to his early
days with Team USPS, and said that where he is now is literally a dream come
true, to be going for the General Classification at the Tour de France on the
team where he truly wants to be. Where is Levi physically? He said that he's not
as strong at this point in time as he was in the past two years, and that is by
design. He is still growing into form and wants to be in top form in four weeks
as the Tour hits the all-important second half.

Concerning Levi's rivals, all eyes are firmly on Team Astana's Alexandre
Vinokourov as the #1 favorite - but based on past performances, is he still an
"X factor" that no one knows what to expect? Johan agreed with the assumption
that "Vino" is the favorite going in and that his style in the past has been to
be very aggressive and attack when no one expected. However, he noted that
usually this was when he wasn't the designated leader and that he expected at
the Tour to see a more conservative ride by him and that he would attack in the
more logical critical places on the route. Johan also noted that Team Astana
would come into the race with the initial burden of controlling the race just
like in the USPS / Discovery Channel days during the Lance era. All the other
teams will be looking to them and trying to take advantage of the situation as
they see it. Who are the other riders Johan expects to be going for the overall
win? In addition to Levi and Vino, he looks to Kloden, Sastre, Evans, Karpets,
and Menchov.



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