24 teams for Paris-Tours
The organisers of the Paris-Tours cycling race released the list of participating teams for the event, to be held on Sunday October 10. Among the oldest road cycling races in the world, the Paris-Tours was founded in 1896, seven years
before the Tour de France and only four years after the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the oldest (and among the most important) classic race.
1896 was also the founding year of the Paris-Roubaix, second-oldest of the five Monument Races, which are usually considered the most important Classics in the calendar. The Paris-Roubaix, however, has been considered a joke by some
riders for being unnecessarily difficult, with the Paris-Tours being a more realistic version of the race. The latter, however, is part of the UCI Europe Tour rather than the World Calendar, and therefore does not contribute to World Rankings points, which
makes it less important to the riders near the top of that list.
The 24-team list for the 2010 Paris-Tours includes 14 ProTour teams, seven Pro Continental teams and three Continental teams. All three Continental teams are French, as are five of the professional teams. Belgian squad Omega Pharma-Lotto,
for which Philippe Gilbert rode when he won the event in both 2008 and 2009, will be returning, and new participants Vacansoleil and RadioShack have been invited.
Sprint-specializing team, HTC-Columbia, has made the list for the race, which is known to frequently finish in a bunch sprint, but their sprinting star Mark Cavendish will not be on the team.
The Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke has also released a list of 23 teams, including 12 ProTour squads. The race, formerly known as the Binche-Tournai-Binche, will serve as a warm-up for the Paris-Tours, taking place only two days after
the World Championships and five before the French classic.
The race was last held in 1996, when it was won by Frank Vandenbroucke. Race organiser Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke has revived the race and renamed it in memory of his nephew Frank, who died last fall.
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