A fourth likely Division 1 runner is the recently announced Cofidis team with Cyrille Guimard as directeur sportif. Pantani's Progress Lest anyone still be in doubt about this Marco Panatani has publicly stated that he won't be fit to ride the Tour de France. He is, however, building up his preparation, with a ride in the Vuelta a Espana in September in mind. He is now taking daily training rides of more than 120km with Carrera team-mate Marcello Siboni. The relatively weak field in the Tour de Suisse and complaints from the Tour of Catalonia organizers already alluded to seem to suggest that many of the stars of the peloton are preferring to make their final preparation in private.
Some examples spring to mind.
Mapei's Abraham Olano and Tony Rominger have gone even further afield, their pre-Tour preparation is taking place in the Canary Islands. Banesto's riders have also been fully committed to avoiding races. Just at the moment, though, Emonds is suffering from a discal hernia and is resting for two weeks.