Tour organisers unveil 2010 route

Alberto Contador will have to contend with treacherous cobblestones and blustery North Sea winds before sinking his teeth into the mountain stages of the Tour de France after organisers unveiled the route for next year's race.

But Spaniard Contador, Tour champion in 2007 and 2009 and arguably the best climber in the world, can look forward to stretching his rivals in the Pyrenees, which will be the highlight of cycling's showcase event in 2010.

Four stages, including a gruelling 16th stage with four daunting climbs, will be held in the mountains that form the border between France and Spain.

One hundred years after first featuring on the Tour map, the Pyrenees could be the scene of a classic battle between Contador and seven-times champion Lance Armstrong.

The objective of this year's route was to create an unpredictable race, Tour director Christian Prudhomme told reporters when he unveiled the route.

'It is going to be a big fight,' he said. 'We wanted to make sure anything could happen anywhere.'

The three-week race over almost 3,600km will start with an 8km prologue in Rotterdam before diving into the heartland of cycling - Belgium.

The first stage will take the riders along the North Sea, with 12km and 6km sections on an embankment, with crossing winds likely to split the peloton.

'With these two sections on an embankment, with the strong winds blowing, there could be some trouble,' said Prudhomme.

The opening stage to Brussels will also go through Antwerp and Meise, the hometown of five-time winner Eddy Merckx.

A tribute will be paid to the classics, with the second stage going through roads used on Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Leaders will have to be extremely cautious in the third stage, which features treacherous cobbled sections used for Paris-Roubaix, the Queen of the Classics.

'There will be 11km of cobblestones in the last 30km. There will be some damage,' said Prudhomme.

Although the Alpine stages will not prove too arduous, a one-stage detour in the Jura mountains is expected to prove tricky, with 56km of climbs over the last 120km in the seventh stage to Station des Rousses.

'That could cause havoc,' said Prudhomme.

Those that survive the Pyrenees will then head to Bordeaux for the last rest day before a final individual, 51km time trial to Pauillac through the Bordeaux vineyards.

The race will end on the Champs Elysees in Paris on 25 July.

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Cyclist Vandenbroucke dies in Senegal

Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke has died at the age of 34.

The 1998 Paris-Nice winner's body was found in a Senegalese hotel room where he had been holidaying.

Belgian media suggested the rider had suffered a pulmonary embolism.

Vandenbroucke made his professional debut in 1994 and recorded 51 victories, including the 1999 Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic, his career highlight.

In 2002, Vandenbroucke was twice stopped by police and discovered to be under the influence of alcohol at the wheel of a car. In another incident that year, a police search at his home uncovered a large quantity of doping substances.

In 2003, when he rode for the Quick Step team, Vandenbroucke appeared on the way back after a second place finish in the prestigious Tour of Flanders classic.

However, despite a promising start to the 2004 season, hopes of a sustained comeback were cut short and he sunk further into depression.

'Sadly this has only partly come as a surprise, for we knew he was not doing too well,' said his uncle, former racer Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke.

'He was up and down, both in terms of his health and his morale. He left for Senegal on Sunday.'

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Italian drug scandal worsens

A day after it was revealed that Italian Gabriele Bosisio had failed a dope test, his countryman Francesco De Bonis has also been flagged as an EPO user.

De Bonis tested positive for the new-generation EPO called Cera during the first stage of the Tour of Italy on 7 May, according to Italian press.

The news comes just a day after it was announced that LPR's Bosisio was caught out by a suprise out-of-competition test conducted by the International Cycling Union (UCI) on 2 September at Rogeno.

LPR was the team of Italian Danilo Di Luca, who finished second in the Tour of Italy in May only to be suspended for failing two doping tests during the race.

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