PARIS — Organizers of the Tour de France unveiled plans Tuesday of a series of celebrations to mark the 100th edition of the world's most famous bicycle race later this year. “We are overflowing with projects,” said race director Christian Prudhomme. The race which starts for the first time in Corsica on June 29 and runs until July 21, will take in some of France's most famous landmarks such as the Chateaux de Versailles as well as Mont Blanc, Mont Saint-Michel and the Loire region which are renowned for their chateaux. One of the highlights will be the finish which is expected to be at approximately 1945GMT local time and will include 500 of the 1,400 former Tour de France riders who are still alive. There will also be a photo exhibition celebrating the 100 years of the Tour at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris as well as a film to be released on June 12 about an amateur rider who leaves one day before the peloton, after he was left by his wife and fired from his job. His popularity grows as he tries to stay ahead of the professionals before being finally caught, but not after a brief spell riding alongside the yellow jersey holder. Katusha wins appeal Cycling's World Tour will feature 19 teams this season, instead of 18, after Russian cycling team Katusha won its appeal to be reinstated, the sport's world governing body UCI announced Monday. “Exceptionally there are 19 registered UCI ProTeams in the 2013 season,” a UCI statement read. “The decision comes further to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling of 15 Feb. 2013 which upheld the application of Katusha Management SA to be registered as a UCI ProTeam for the season 2013.” Katusha won its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after being excluded from the circuit in December, leaving it at the mercy of the organisers of the major Tours as to whether it is invited to compete or not. The CAS initially upheld the ruling in January but overturned that decision on appeal Friday. The controversial team, which counts 2012 World Tour champion Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain and Russia's Denis Menchov in its ranks, is run by Russia's Viacheslav Ekimov, a former teammate of the disgraced rider Lance Armstrong. — Agencies
