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Barloworld team rider Robert Hunter after winning 11th stage of the Tour de France July 19, 2007
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July 04, 2008, 06:45
South African sprinter Robert Hunter has left Brest after becoming a father yesterday. The Barloworld rider, who won one stage of the world's top stage race last year, left Brittany for Switzerland where his wife Claudia gave birth to a baby girl, Mandy.
"I have never felt so proud and humble at the same time," said the 31-year-old Hunter, who will return to Brest on Friday morning. "It will give me a huge boost for the Tour."
French team Cofidis said they were to leave the UCI ProTour series at the end of the year. "We will not renew our ProTour licence," said team manager Eric Boyer, who is also the president of the AIGCP, the International Association of the professional cycling groups.
Boyer has been at odds with the International Cycling Union, the sport's ruling body, since the AIGCP backed the Paris-Nice race earlier this year in a row between the UCI and race organisers ASO, who also own the Tour de France.
The three big Tours (France, Italy and Spain) and most of the classic races are not in the UCI ProTour, which guarantees a place to the elite teams in its events.
Gerolsteiner manager Hans-Michael Holczer said he hoped a strong performance at the Tour de France would help him find a new sponsor for the team.
"I've been looking for nine months but I must tell my riders I have not found one. I hope the Tour de France will be a success for us and that it will force the decision," the German said.
Gerolsteiner's cycling sponsorship deal ends at the end of the year. - Reuters
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