Columbia denies rumours Rogers is to miss the Tour

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Reports that Columbia-Highroad are set to leave Australian Michael Rogers out of their team for the Tour de France are "extremely inaccurate", according to a team spokesman.

It has been reported that Columbia had settled on a short-list of ten riders for the final nine-man Tour team, with Mark Cavendish, Thomas Lovkvist, Kim Kirchen, Marcus Burghardt, Tony Martin, Maxime Monfort, George Hincapie, Mark Renshaw, Bernard Eisel and Michael Albasini in the frame.

The biggest name missing from that list was Michael Rogers, who finished eighth overall in the Giro d'Italia.

Contacted by Cycling Weekly, a Columbia-Highroad official said the report was extremely inaccurate and that the team would not be announcing the final nine for the Tour de France 'for a while'.

"It is very likely that Rogers will ride the Tour de France," said the spokesman. "Or to put it better, it is very unlikely that he won't ride it."

One man certain to ride, barring disaster, is Mark Cavendish, whose next race is the Tour of Switzerland.

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Sports journalist Lionel Birnie has written professionally for Sunday Times, Procycling and of course Cycling Weekly. He is also an author, publisher, and co-founder of The Cycling Podcast. His first experience covering the Tour de France came in 1999, and he has presented The Cycling Podcast with Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe since 2013. He founded Peloton Publishing in 2010 and has ghostwritten and published the autobiography of Sean Kelly, as well as a number of other sports icons.