The cycling world was stunned this morning when it was learned that pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso will not (repeat: will not) be allowed to race in the 2006 Tour de France. The T-Mobile and CSC riders have now been implicated as having been involved in the Operacion Puerto doping scandal about which I’ve talked on the show for the past several weeks.

Ullrich, along with teammate Oscar Sevilla and team manager Rudy Pevenage were suspended by T-Mobile earlier today, while Basso was banned from this year’s Tour by the organizers of the race.

According to Cycling News, the Spanish Radio station Cadena SER has released a list of 58 professional cyclists implicated in Operacion Puerto. The list includes people who have already been implicated in doping scandals such as Roberto Heras and Tyler Hamilton, a large number of riders from Astana-Wurth (formerly Liberty Seguros), as well as Ullrich, Basso and others.

This is a huge development and will certainly throw the entire peloton into confusion. With the two potential leaders now out of the race, it opens the door for riders such as Landis, Leipheimer, Salvoldelli, Hincapie and others.

I’ll be recording the podcast this evening, so stay tuned . . .