Team RadioShack's seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will be leading his team in the Tour of Murcia, which takes place from March 3rd to the 7th. Riding alongside Armstrong will be German Andreas Klöden and Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia, both expected to a big part of the American's attempt to win an eighth Tour de France this coming July.
The five day race in Southern Spain will see the riders take in a steady dose of climbing, and is used as preparation for many of the riders with their sights set on success in July.
This year the organizer of the Tour of Murcia, Paco Guzmán, has decided to boycott Italian teams from his race to show support for Spaniard Alejandro Valverde. Last year the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) banned Valverde from racing in Italy for two years due to his alleged involvement in the Operación Puerto blood doping scandal.
According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, Guzmán said, "There will be no Italian teams participating [in the Tour of Murcia] because Valverde is not welcome [to race] in that country [Italy]."
Valverde hails from the Murcia region of Spain which has motivated the organizer to act. The Tour of Murcia is used by many riders as part of their build up for the season and, while there is no list, presumably some Italian teams will now be forced to change their racing programs.
The RadioShack team's line-up will also include José Luis Rubiera, Jason McCartney, Gregory Rast, and Daryl Impey. They will be directed by Johan Bruyneel and Viatcheslav Ekimov.