In Granada story headlined "Cycling-ProTour boosts Tour of
Spain field", please read in fourth para ... as well as six
home-grown squads ... instead of ... as well as four home-grown
squads (correcting number). Corrected repeat follows:
By Alasdair Fotheringham
GRANADA, Spain, Aug 26 - Cycling's new ProTour
competition has proved a major boost to the Tour of Spain which
gets underway on Saturday with a record number of foreign teams
taking part.
"The Tour of Spain has gained enormously thanks to it," said
Spaniard Manolo Saiz, the manager of the Liberty Seguros squad.
"The ProTour and this high level of international
participation will increase general awareness of the event, both
at home and abroad."
Twenty-two teams line up in Granada on Saturday, four from
France and Italy and two each from Belgium and Germany. Teams
from the United States, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland
as well as six home-grown squads complete the peloton.
The ProTour, introduced this season in a re-organisation of
professional cycle racing, features 30 races through the year,
among them the three major Tours.
Saiz cited the presence of non-Spanish stars such as top
sprinters Tom Boonen of Belgium, Alessandro Petacchi of Italy
and Norway's Thor Hushovd as a bonus for the smallest and
traditionally most insular of the major Tours.
Saiz believes the 2005 Tour route is "much better structured
than last year" and should lower the number of abandons.
"Last year the third week was so hard it became
counter-productive, this time it's the second that's the
toughest," he said.
"Plus the race's final third is a perfect build-up to the
world championships in Madrid (held the week after the race
ends)."
The Tour of Spain finishes on September 18th in Madrid.