Columbia denies rumours Rogers is to miss the Tour

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.