The Tour de France announces its team selection for the '09 race and IAAF announces Doping Rule Violations!

Former Saunier Duval team not in 2009 Tour
PARIS (AP) — Twenty teams will compete at this summer's Tour de France, with the former Saunier Duval-Scott team excluded from cycling's premier race.
The Spanish team now called Fuji-Servetto quit the 2008 Tour when rider Riccardo Ricco tested positive for the blood-booster CERA after winning two stages. The team was also excluded from the recent Paris-Nice race. The 20 teams will have a total of 180 riders for the 96th edition of the Tour, which starts July 4 in the principality of Monaco. Seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong is returning to the race with the Astana team in a comeback after 3 1/2 years of retirement. France will enter five teams, the only country with more than two. The two U.S. teams are Garmin-Slipstream and Team Columbia-Highroad. On Tuesday, Ricco's two-year doping ban was reduced by four months. The decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the Italian will be eligible to ride in the 2010 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. Ricco appealed to CAS for a year ban because he gave information that helped French doping authorities catch teammate Leonardo Piepoli for CERA use.

Doping Rule Violations
The IAAF has recently been informed of the following Anti-Doping Rule Violations:

Mitchell POPE (USA) - 2 years ineligibility
Jordan VADEN (USA) - 2 years ineligibility
Lada CHERNOVA (RUS) - 2 years ineligibility
Svetlana NECHAYEVA (RUS) - 2 years ineligibility
Edi MAIA (POR) - Warning and Disqualification
Enrique LLANOS (PUR) - 2 years ineligibility
Manuel REPOLLET (PUR) - 2 years ineligibility
Andriy Yurin (UKR) - 1 year ineligibility

Further information on these violations can be found on the anti-doping section of the IAAF website: click here