With many of the top favorites for the Tour de France racing this month in the Giro d’Italia, one name absent is that of the tenacious attacker Alexandre Vinokourov.

After last racing in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Vinokourov is continuing with his patient and quiet preparation for the Tour. The demands of the 21-stage Giro don’t figure part of that plan.

“We never thought of racing the Giro. In fact, our thinking is the opposite,” Vinokourov told VeloNews. “We want to stay away from the stresses of racing and prepare specifically for the Tour.”

Vinokourov, 33, is putting everything this year on winning the Tour. He figures with seven-time winner Lance Armstrong out of the picture, this is his best chance on winning.

Since joining Liberty Seguros-Würth following a long tenure at T-Mobile, Vinokourov said he’s excited about the challenge of the Tour. He knows time is running out and has given himself “this season and next” to focus entirely on Tour glory.

Part of that plan has been a major reduction in race days for Vinokourov. Instead of racing a lot in the spring, which included two Paris-Nice victories in 2002-03, the blond-haired Kazakh is on the slow train to Paris.

His 2006 campaign has included just 11 days of racing so far, but he managed to win the Vuelta a Castilla y León in March. He will hit Strasbourg with about 20 days of racing in his legs.

His final dress rehearsal will be the Dauphiné Libéré, which he won in 1999 and took a stage last year on Mont Ventoux.

“I’ve had good results so far in the races I’ve done and I know that the Dauphiné is the ideal race for me to prepare for the Tour,” he said. “Making the Giro and the Tour in the same year would be too much for me.”

Petacchi has surgery
Italian sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) underwent an operation on his broken left kneecap on Wendesday and pledged he would not rush back to action as he still had a few years left in him.

The 32-year-old broke his kneecap in a fall on Monday's third stage of the Giro d'Italia and is an unlikely starter in the Tour de France which gets underway in Strasbourg on July 1.

"I hope that the x-rays I undergo in three weeks will win me some time," said Petacchi, winner of 19 stages at the Giro.

"I champing at the bit to start racing and winning again, but I don't want to rush my rehabilitation as I still have several years in the sport ahead of me," added Petacchi, who will be in a cast for at least five weeks.

De Kort content in Giro debut
Koen de Kort – winner of the París-Roubaix espoirs in 2004 – said everything is going just fine so far during the Giro d’Italia in what’s his grand tour debut.

“The Giro is the best option to ride my first ‘big one’ because both in the Tour and in the Vuelta there is more pressure,” he said on the team’s web page. “This one is my first big tour and for me the most important thing is to finish and to help my companions. Also I would like to try one day to do a good result, but not for beginning here I have more pressure.”

The young Dutchman, who took a stage-win in last year’s Tour de l’Avenir, said he’s hoping to make the most of it. With his Liberty Seguros team not among the main contenders at the Giro, de Kort said he’s hoping to finish the Giro with eyes toward racing the Tour in the future.

“To do your first great tour is something special in your career, something that always you have dreamed of doing though only it was once in your life,” he said. “I want to race the Tour, just like everyone else.”

Di Luca on the radio
In addition to fighting for overall victory in the Giro, Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) is also acting as a special correspondent for Play Radio, an official partner with the Giro.

After each stage, he speaks about his daily struggles in the race, a first in Giro history.

“This opportunity is very appealing to me and I’m curious about it,” Di Luca said. “I know that there will be days during this Giro when I will have to focus all my energy on the race. In those moments, the daily links will be one more demanding task. However, thanks to Play Radio, I will get deeply in touch with the public. My friends know how important contact with the public is for me.”