Two-time Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck and Saxo Bank teammate Stuart O'Grady were sent home from the Spanish Vuelta on Tuesday after breaking team rules on drinking, overshadowing a successful day for the home nation. On a day Imanol Erviti of Spain won the 10th stage and countryman Joaquin Rodriguez took the overall lead, Team Saxo Bank said Schleck and O'Grady had been "sent...

Three days after home rider Joaquim Rodriguez was given the Tour of Spain's red jersey only to be told later there had been a mistake, he finally claimed the overall lead on Tuesday.

* Saxo Bank decision too harsh - Schleck

Spain's Imanol Erviti won stage 10 of the Tour of Spain on Tuesday, while compatriot Joaquim Rodriguez took over as race leader.

Team Saxo Bank rider Andy Schleck said on Tuesday he and teammate Stuart O'Grady have been removed from the Spanish Vuelta because they drank alcohol. Schleck said he broke a team rule "by going out for a drink after dinner" and said he is "responsible for my actions." However, the Luxembourg rider told Cyclingnews.com that the decision by the Danish team's boss Bjarne...

Cycling's top stage racer Alberto Contador has said he wants to ride the Tour of Spain in 2011 after a three-year absence.

If Tour of Spain race leader Igor Anton has ambitions of winning the race outright, he is doing a very good job of hiding them.

Italian rider Alessandro Petacchi has pulled out of the Spanish Vuelta after injuring himself in a large pileup during the eighth stage of the race. The crash occurred 6.8 miles from the start of the stage Saturday and involved a number of the leading riders. A statement on the Lampre website Monday said the fall gave Petacchi cuts that could not be treated by a masseur.

Olympic bronze medalist and Tour de France veteran Levi Leipheimer (LEE'-vy LYP'-hy-mur) is visiting Maine to take part in the second annual bicycling fundraiser put on by "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey. Leipheimer joins five-time Olympian George Hincapie (HIHN'-kuh-pee) and this year's top U.S.

Spain's David Lopez got a rare taste of individual glory on Sunday when his gamble to attack paid off with victory in the mountainous stage nine of the Tour of Spain.

Team Sky has withdrawn from the Spanish Vuelta following the death of the squad's masseur. Txema Gonzalez died in a Seville hospital on Friday after going into septic shock following a bacterial infection. The team said the infection entered Gonzalez's blood stream and developed into sepsis that damaged his organs.

* Team withdraw from tour

Former Lance Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis, who has accused the seven-time Tour de France winner of doping while riding for the U.S. Postal Service team, has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit, according to The Wall Street Journal. Landis won the Tour de France in 2006 but had the title stripped because of a positive drug test.

The masseur for Team Sky has died from a bacterial infection after falling ill during the Spanish Vuelta. Txema Gonzalez died in a Seville hospital Friday after going into septic shock, Sky team doctor Steve Peters said. The team said the infection entered Gonzalez's blood stream and developed into sepsis which damaged the organs in his body.

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will not race for Spain at the upcoming world championships. Spain coach Jose Luis de Santos says the three-time Tour champion will not be at the worlds in Australia since "Alberto told me he prefers not to stretch out the season any more and will rest ahead of next season." Contador also injured his right knee after crashing during training on...

American bicycle manufacturer Trek will sponsor the new pro cycling team led by two-time Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck. Schleck and his brother Frank announced earlier this season that they would leave the Saxo Bank team to start their own team based in their native Luxembourg beginning in 2011.

* LeMond pays tribute to "priceless" Fignon

Laurent Fignon, the Frenchman who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and lost to Greg LeMond in 1989 in the race's closest finish, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 50. His death was confirmed by the French government and the French cycling federation. Fignon said in June 2009 he had advanced cancer of the digestive system and was undergoing chemotherapy.

Laurent Fignon was so close to his third Tour de France victory on the penultimate day of the 1989 race that newspapers began preparing their editions with the Frenchman splashed across the front page.