The UCI ProTour Council (UPTC) has refused to authorize the Trophy of the Grand Tours proposed by the organizers of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.

In a press release issued Thursday, the council said the proposal by tour organizers ASO, RCS and Unipublic "does not respect the principles of road-cycling reform as introduced by the UCI," takes a counter-productive financial approach and demonstrates "a lack of responsibility towards cycling as a whole."

The UCI insists that the three grand-tour organizers operate within the framework of the ProTour as they did in 2005: registering their events in the 2006 UCI ProTour calendar; allowing the 20 UCI ProTeams to enter their ProTour events; and awarding ProTour points in accordance with the UCI rules.

On January 13, the grand-tour organizers officially asked the UCI for authorization to create a Trophy of the Grand Tours circuit. It would have included all 20 ProTour teams this season, then return to a system of automatic inclusion for the top 14 teams with the rest of the field rounded out by wild-card bids. The grand tours proposed sweetening the pot by increasing prize money for their races, with $600,000 in the offing for the winner.

Eisel takes stage 2 at Tour de l'Algarve
Bernhard Eisel (Française des Jeux) sprinted to victory Thursday in the second stage of the Tour de l'Algarve.

The Austrian won the 173.5km stage between Vila do Bispo and Lagos ahead of Portugal’s Manuel Cardoso and Belgian Niko Eeckhout. Italian Marco Zanotti remains the overall leader in front of Eisel and Cardoso.

Friday’s third stage is a 198km leg from Castro Marin to Faro. —Agence France Presse

Stage
1. Bernhard Eisel (A), Française des Jeux, 173.5km in 4:20:43 (39,928 km/h)
2. Manuel Cardoso (Por), Carvalhelhos, same time
3. Niko Eeckhout (B), s.t.
4. Marco Zanotti (Por), Unibet.com, s.t.
5. Giosuè Bonomi (I), Barloworld, s.t.

Overall (after two stages)
1. Marco Zanotti (I), Unibet.com, 8:04:03
2. Bernhard Eisel (A), Française des Jeux, s.t.
3. Manuel Cardoso (Por), Carvalhelhos, at 0:02
4. Jeremy Hunt (GB), Unibet.com, at 0:04
5. Markus Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 0:06

Paris-Roubaix announces teams roster
The organizers of Paris-Roubaix have issued five invitations to continental pro squads for this year’s "Hell of the North," slated for April 9.

The five squads invited to join the 20 ProTour teams at this year’s race are Landbouwkrediet and Unibet.com (Belgium); Agritubel (France); Skil (Netherlands); and LPR (Swiss).

Meanwhile, it’s not yet clear whether the Forest of Arenberg will be part of the 2006 race, according to organizers ASO, which says repairs remain ongoing and the number of pavé sections have yet to be determined. —Agence France Presse

Teams for the 2006 Paris-Roubaix:
France: AG2R, Agritubel, Bouygues Telecom, Cofidis, Credit Agricole, Française des Jeux
Belgium: Davitamon, Landbouwkrediet, Quick Step, Unibet.com
Spain: Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Baléares, Euskaltel, Liberty, Saunier Duval
Italy: Lampre, Liquigas, Milram
Germany: Gerolsteiner, T-Mobile
Netherlands: Rabobank, Skil
Switzerland: LPR, Phonak
Denmark: CSC
United States: Discovery Channel