The Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), owner of the historic Paris-Nice stage race, is still waiting for three teams to enter their respective line-ups to the event, which is planned to get underway this Sunday. Because of the ongoing quarrels with the governing body of the sport, some teams are waiting until the very last minute to submit their selections, or have changed line-ups to include less prominent riders out of fear of the UCI's possible sanctions.
Gerolsteiner, Liquigas and Saunier Duval have not announced their participating riders yet, while Silence-Lotto communicated its line-up with Cadel Evans, Yaroslav Popovych and Dario Cioni in a press release, but not directly to the organiser.
Rabobank also confirmed Juan Antonio Flecha and Robert Gesink in its team taking the start line in Amilly this Sunday. But American team High Road changed its initial selection this week and removed George Hincapie, Mark Cavendish, Roger Hammond and Bradley Wiggins from its list sent to the organiser.
The big names (probably) racing this upcoming Paris-Nice are: Philippe Gilbert, Davide Rebellin, Damiano Cunego, Daniele Bennati, David Millar, Cadel Evans, Jens Voigt, Fränk Schleck, Thor Hushovd, David Moncoutié, Christophe Moreau, Oscar Pereiro and Sylvain Chavanel amongst others.
Cyclingnews' recent coverage of the ProTour-Grand Tours split
October 4, 2008 - New ASO chief to maintain values
September 26, 2008 - UCI declares peace, appoints new VP
August 30, 2008 - UCI re-signs five ProTour races
August 22, 2008 - ProTour: Bouncing back or lame duck?
August 19, 2008 - Stapleton analyses 'world calendar'
August 18, 2008 - Feedback on 'world calendar'
August 18, 2008 - UCI announces 'world calendar'
Cyclingnews' complete coverage of the ProTour-Grand Tours split
