List of teams and cyclists in the 2008 Tour de France

The list of teams and cyclists in the 2008 Tour de France contains the professional road bicycle racers who will compete at the 2008 Tour de France from July 5 to July 27, 2008. Of the 18 UCI ProTour teams, only Astana was not invited. Additionally, Agritubel, Barloworld and Slipstream-Chipotle were given entries. The 20 teams invited to the race will enter a team of nine riders each, which will make up a total of 180 riders. The riders hail from 28 countries, with France (40), Spain (30) and Italy (21) having the highest representation.[1]

Country representation in 2008 Tour de France. Light green: 1-9; Green: 10+

Teams

On July 1, the Tour de France announced the provisional start list for the 2008 Tour de France. Among the notable absentees were:

• the Astana Team, which includes two of the top three from the 2007 race, Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer, and Andreas Klöden, 2nd in the 2006 race.
• José Ángel Gómez Marchante, who would have been expected to be team leader for Saunier Duval-Scott, due to ill health.
• Thomas Dekker of Rabobank, dropped due to his poor performance in earlier 2008 races.[2]
• Liquigas sprinter Daniele Bennati due to a persistent Achilles tendon problem.[3]
• Tom Boonen of Quick Step, 2007 points classification winner, who was barred by the race organizers due to an out-of-competition positive cocaine test.[4]

Age as of the start of race, 2008-07-05.

†: Riders eligible for the Young Riders' competition, with birthdays on or after 1 January 1983.

Silence-Lotto SIL Nr. Age Pos. 1 Cadel Evans 31 2 2 Mario Aerts 33 31 3 Christophe Brandt 31 DNF-19 4 Dario Cioni 33 83 5 Leif Hoste 30 124 6 Robbie McEwen 36 122 7 Yaroslav Popovych 28 24 8 Johan Van Summeren 27 87 9 Wim Vansevenant 36 145 Team manager: Marc Sergeant	Team CSC Saxo Bank[5] CSC Nr. Age Pos. 11 Carlos Sastre 33 1 12 Kurt Asle Arvesen 33 57 13 Fabian Cancellara 27 65 14 Volodymyr Gustov 31 46 15 Stuart O'Grady 34 109 16 Andy Schleck 23† 12 17 Fränk Schleck 28 6 18 Nicki Sørensen 33 118 19 Jens Voigt 36 37 Team manager: Bjarne Riis	Euskaltel–Euskadi EUS Nr. Age Pos. 21 Haimar Zubeldia 31 45 22 Mikel Astarloza 28 16 23 Iñaki Isasi Flores 31 104 24 Egoi Martínez 30 50 25 Juan José Oroz 27 103 26 Rubén Pérez 26 91 27 Samuel Sánchez 30 7 28 Amets Txurruka 25 52 29 Gorka Verdugo 29 73 Team manager: Miguel Madariaga
Caisse d'Epargne GCE Nr. Age Pos. 31 Alejandro Valverde 28 9 32 David Arroyo 28 30 33 Arnaud Coyot 27 115 34 José Vicente García 35 141 35 Iván Gutiérrez 29 56 36 David López 27 51 37 Óscar Pereiro 30 DNF-15 38 Nicolas Portal 29 66 39 Luis León Sánchez 24† 62 Team manager: Eusebio Unzue	Team Columbia[6] THR Nr. Age Pos. 41 Kim Kirchen 30 8 42 Marcus Burghardt 25† 120 43 Mark Cavendish 23† DNS-15 44 Gerald Ciolek 21† 106 45 Bernhard Eisel 27 144 46 Adam Hansen 27 108 47 George Hincapie 35 35 48 Thomas Lövkvist 24† 41 49 Kanstantsin Sivtsov 25 17 Team manager: Brian Holm	Barloworld BAR Nr. Age Pos. 51 Mauricio Soler 25† DNF-5 52 John-Lee Augustyn 21† 48 53 Félix Rafael Cárdenas 34 DNF-11 54 Giampaolo Cheula 35 88 55 Baden Cooke 29 DNF-12 56 Moisés Dueñas 27 DNS-11 57 Chris Froome 23† 84 58 Robert Hunter 31 107 59 Paolo Longo Borghini 27 DNF-11 Team manager: Claudio Corti
Liquigas LIQ Nr. Age Pos. 61 Filippo Pozzato 26 67 62 Manuel Beltrán 37 DNS-8 63 Francesco Chicchi 27 Elim-16 64 Murilo Fischer 29 76 65 Roman Kreuziger 22† 13 66 Aliaksandr Kuchynski 28 128 67 Vincenzo Nibali 23† 20 68 Manuel Quinziato 28 130 69 Frederik Willems 28 113 Team manager: Stefano Zanatta	Lampre LAM Nr. Age Pos. 71 Damiano Cunego 26 DNS-19 72 Alessandro Ballan 28 94 73 Matteo Bono 24† 117 74 Marzio Bruseghin 34 27 75 Marco Marzano 28 92 76 Massimiliano Mori 34 140 77 Daniele Righi 32 127 78 Sylvester Szmyd 30 26 79 Paolo Tiralongo 30 49 Team manager: Giuseppe Saronni	Crédit Agricole C.A Nr. Age Pos. 81 Thor Hushovd 30 99 82 William Bonnet 26 102 83 Alexander Bocharov 33 18 84 Jimmy Engoulvent 28 138 85 Dmitry Fofonov 31 DNF 86 Simon Gerrans 28 79 87 Christophe Le Mével 27 40 88 Remi Pauriol 26 80 89 Mark Renshaw 25 DNF-15 Team manager: Roger Legeay
Quick Step QST Nr. Age Pos. 91 Stijn Devolder 28 DNF-15 92 Carlos Barredo 27 89 93 Matteo Carrara 29 36 94 Steven de Jongh 34 125 95 Mauro Facci 26 DNF-7 96 Sebastien Rosseler 26 98 97 Gert Steegmans 27 111 98 Matteo Tosatto 34 96 99 Jurgen Van de Walle 31 78 Team managers: Wilfried Peeters and Dirk Demol	Ag2r-La Mondiale A2R Nr. Age Pos. 101 Cyril Dessel 33 28 102 José Luis Arrieta 37 72 103 Hubert Dupont 27 55 104 Vladimir Efimkin 26 11 105 Martin Elmiger 29 71 106 John Gadret 29 DNF-7 107 Stéphane Goubert 38 21 108 Christophe Riblon 27 137 109 Tadej Valjavec 31 10 Team manager: Vincent Lavenu	Gerolsteiner GST Nr. Age Pos. 111 Stefan Schumacher 26 25 112 Robert Förster 30 116 113 Markus Fothen 26 33 114 Heinrich Haussler 24† 126 115 Bernhard Kohl 26 3 116 Sven Krauss 25† 143 117 Sebastian Lang 28 75 118 Ronny Scholz 30 93 119 Fabian Wegmann 28 Elim-19 Team manager: Hans-Michael Holczer
Agritubel AGR Nr. Age Pos. 121 Christophe Moreau 37 DNF-7 122 Freddy Bichot 28 135 123 Jimmy Casper 30 Elim-17 124 Romain Feillu 24† Elim-19 125 Eduardo Gonzalo 24† 39 126 Nicolas Jalabert 35 DNF-14 127 David Le Lay 28 81 128 Geoffroy Lequatre 27 85 129 Nicolas Vogondy 30 64 Team manager: Denis Leproux	Rabobank RAB Nr. Age Pos. 131 Denis Menchov 30 4 132 Juan Antonio Flecha 30 Elim-19 133 Óscar Freire 32 70 134 Sebastian Langeveld 23† 131 135 Koos Moerenhout 34 34 136 Joost Posthuma 27 69 137 Bram Tankink 29 60 138 Laurens ten Dam 27 22 139 Pieter Weening 27 63 Team manager: Erik Breukink	Bouygues Télécom BTL Nr. Age Pos. 141 Pierrick Fédrigo 29 32 142 Stef Clement 25 90 143 Xavier Florencio 28 101 144 Laurent Lefèvre 32 86 145 Jérôme Pineau 28 38 146 Matthieu Sprick 26 142 147 Yuri Trofimov 24† DNF-10 148 Johann Tschopp 26 54 149 Thomas Voeckler 29 97 Team manager: Jean-René Bernaudeau
Team Milram MRM Nr. Age Pos. 151 Erik Zabel 37 43 152 Ralf Grabsch 35 123 153 Christian Knees 27 29 154 Brett Lancaster 28 129 155 Martin Müller 34 105 156 Björn Schröder 27 100 157 Niki Terpstra 24† 136 158 Peter Velits 23† 58 159 Marco Velo 34 44 Team manager: Gerry van Gerwen	Française des Jeux FDJ Nr. Age Pos. 161 Sandy Casar 29 14 162 Sébastien Chavanel 27 DNF-16 163 Rémy Di Gregorio 22† 59 164 Arnaud Gérard 23† 132 165 Philippe Gilbert 26 112 166 Lilian Jégou 32 DNF-7 167 Yoann Le Boulanger 32 74 168 Jérémy Roy 25† 121 169 Benoît Vaugrenard 26 82 Team manager:Marc Madiot	Saunier Duval-Scott SDV Nr. Age Pos. 171 Riccardo Riccò 24† DNS-12 172 Rubens Bertogliati 29 DNS-12 173 Juan José Cobo 27 DNS-12 174 David de la Fuente 27 DNS-12 175 Jesus del Nero 26 DNS-12 176 Ángel Gómez 27 DNF-3 177 Josep Jufré 32 DNS-12 178 Aurélien Passeron 24† DNS-6 179 Leonardo Piepoli 36 DNS-12 Team manager: Mauro Gianetti
Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone COF Nr. Age Pos. 181 Sylvain Chavanel 29 61 182 Stéphane Augé 33 139 183 Florent Brard 32 119 184 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle 28 DNF-1 185 Samuel Dumoulin 27 114 186 Leonardo Duque 28 53 187 David Moncoutié 33 42 188 Amaël Moinard 26 15 189 Maxime Monfort 25† 23 Team manager: Éric Boyer	Garmin-Chipotle presented by H3O[7] TSL Nr. Age Pos. 191 Christian Vande Velde 32 5 192 Magnus Bäckstedt 33 Elim-7 193 Julian Dean 33 110 194 Will Frischkorn 27 133 195 Ryder Hesjedal 27 47 196 Trent Lowe 23† 77 197 Martijn Maaskant 24† 134 198 David Millar 31 68 199 Danny Pate 28 95 Team manager: Jonathan Vaughters

Summary of the field

• Euskaltel is the only team whose riders are all from one country (Spain); Teams CSC Saxo Bank and Columbia each represent eight nations among their nine riders.
• Óscar Pereiro is the only previous Tour winner, having won in 2006.
• Two other riders have won a Grand Tour race: Denis Menchov (Vuelta a España in 2005 and 2007) and Damiano Cunego (Giro d'Italia in 2004).
• Four riders have won the green jersey in previous Tours: Erik Zabel (six times), Robbie McEwen (three times), Baden Cooke and Thor Hushovd (once each).
• Only Mauricio Soler has previously won the Tour's King of the Mountains competition, in 2007.
• Three riders have won the maillot blanc: Menchov, Cunego and Yaroslav Popovych.
• 33 riders have won a Tour de France stage, and 13 have worn the yellow jersey.
• The youngest rider is Gerald Ciolek, at 21, and 38-year-old Stéphane Goubert is the eldest.
• Six riders in the field went on to win one or more Grand Tours, Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, Alejandro Valverde, Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Juan José Cobo.

References

1. "Tour de France announces the participants". cyclingnews.com. 2008-07-01.
2. "Menchov to lead Rabobank at Tour". 2008-06-24.
3. "Liquigas announces line-up". 2008-06-26.
4. "Former world champion Tom Boonen barred from Tour de France". afp.google.com. 2008-06-11. Archived from the original on 2008-06-20.
5. formerly known as Team CSC : "Riis Cycling signs Sponsorship Agreement with Saxo Bank" (Press release). Team CSC Saxo Bank. June 10, 2008. Archived from the original on June 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
6. renamed with effect from the date of commencement of the 2008 Tour de France, formerly known as Team High Road : "Columbia Sportswear Announces Sponsorship" (Press release). Team Columbia & High Road Sports, Inc. June 15, 2008. Archived from the original on June 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
7. formerly known as Slipstream Chipotle : "Garmin is the new title sponsor of the Slipstream-Chipotle team" (Press release). VeloNews. June 18, 2008. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-18.