Also off today's AP wire:::
The head of British cycling's governing body wants riders involved in
current doping investigations to stay away from the start of next
year's Tour de France in London.
"This will be a historic event, in the heart of one of the world's
great cities, a fantastic opportunity for our sport," British Cycling
president Brian Cookson said.
"We really do not want to see this tarnished by a repeat of the doping
scandals of 2006, so, frankly, we urge all those with involvement in
various investigations to stay away," he said.
The 94th edition of the Tour will begin in London on July 7.
US rider Floyd Landis won this year's Tour but tested positive for
elevated levels of testosterone to epitestosterone. He is contesting
the finding.
Pre-Tour favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were left out of last
year's event after their names turned up on a list of 58 cyclists who
allegedly had contact with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the
doctor at the center of the Spanish doping probe called "Operation
Puerto."
Basso has since been cleared by the Italian cycling federation and was
signed up by Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team. Ullrich was
fired by his team and remains without a team for next season.
Several other cyclists implicated by the Spanish doping scandal have
been cleared by their respective federations, while not one rider has
been sanctioned as a result.
Cookson made his comments on Wednesday while offering support for
International Cycling Federation president Pat Mc-Quaid, who has come
under fire from European cycling federations recently.
"As far as Britain is concerned, we strongly support president McQuaid
in his stance on the anti-doping measures, and we understand the legal
difficulties encountered in dealing effectively with such matters,"
Cookson said.
"The UCI is our best hope for achieving this and we urge all national
federations to support president McQuaid at this time."
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Have a very Merry White Christmas - Davey Crockett
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New Orleans police lined up "like at a firing range" and fatally shot
an unarmed man in the back as he fled from them in the days after
Hurricane Katrina swept ashore, a witness to the shooting told CNN.