Alexander Vinokourov is the favorite at +110 odds to win the Tour de France with BetUS.com. The race starts in London on Saturday.
Many considered Vinokourov to have a fine chance in 2006 but the Kazakh's hopes were ruined on the eve of the Tour when five of his Liberty Seguros outfit were implicated in a doping scandal, leaving the team with insufficient riders. Two months later, now riding for the Astana, "Vino" underlined his Grand Tour potential by beating local hero Alejandro Valverde in the Vuelta – the Tour of Spain.
The bookies' favourite, the 33-year-old all-rounder’s best Tour result was third in 2003. Meanwhile, Alessandro Petacchi will "definitely not be racing" in the Tour de France, a spokesman from his team Milram said.
The news comes after the Italian Olympic Committe charged him with doping at this year's Giro d'Italia. All 189 riders have been declared fit to start the Tour on Saturday after blood tests were carried out on Thursday.
"We have carried out 189 blood tests. There are no unfit cases," said an International Cycling Union spokesman.
Petacchi, who protests his innocence, faces a one-year ban after testing "non-negative" for salbutamol, which he is allowed to take for his asthma.
"Non-negative" means a substance is found which may be legal if the rider has a medical certificate. Nevertheless, the Olympic Committee has asked the Italian Cycling Federation to ban him.
The International Cycling Union said the 33-year-old Petacchi, who is currently suspended by his Milram team, tested for salbutamol at Pinerolo on 23 May, the day he claimed the third of his five stage wins in this year's Giro.
"What can I do to demonstrate my good faith? I do not want to miss the Tour," Petacchi, who has 21 ProTour victories, told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport when the story first broke.
"Why would I have done something different from other times? I have the responsibility of the team on my shoulders, with the sponsors that are always speaking against doping."
BetUS.com has posted cycling odds to win the Tour de France 2007:
Alexandre Vinokourov +110
Alejandro Valverde +360
Andreas Kloden +360
Carlos Sastre +825
Cadel Evans +900
Levi Leipheimer +700
Denis Menchov +1200
Frank Schleck +1200
Alberto Contador +1800
Andrey Kashechkin +2000
Michael Rogers +2500
Michael Rasmussen +2500
Vladimir Karpets +2500
Oscar Pereiro +2500
Yaroslav Popovych +3500
Christopher Moreau +3500
Jose Angel Gomez Marchante +4000
Haimer Zubeldia +5000
Thomas Dekker +5000
Markus Fothen +5000
Iban Mayo +5000
George Hincapie +5500
Samuel Sanchez +5500
David Zabriskie +7000
