There won’t be a Tour de France debut for Tom Danielson this year. Recurring stomach ailments – which forced him to pull out of the first stage of the Dauphiné Libéré -- have scuttled Tour hopes for the 29-year-old Discovery Channel rider. “Tom is off the Tour team,” Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel told VeloNews. “He’s sick. We’re trying to find out exactly what the problem is. He’s had stomach problems throughout the year at several key moments. It’s definitely a disappointment.” Danielson was hoping to earn a spot on the nine-man Discovery Channel team in what would be his much-anticipated start in the Tour. Stomach problems have plagued him this spring, forcing early departures from important pre-Tour races at the Dauphiné and the Volta a Catalunya last month. “Catalunya and the Dauphiné were two races where I expected some results to show himself for the Tour selection,” Bruyneel continued. “He’s never done the Tour, so I have nothing to rely on in terms of what his contribution might be to the team. I was hoping he could give me that impression.” Securing a Tour spot with Discovery Channel has never been easy as competition is keen among candidates within the team to show their strengths. Bruyneel has narrowed the list to 11 riders and will make a final selection after the Tour de Suisse later this month. With his health problems, Danielson is no longer on that list. Instead, the popular American climber is undergoing tests to try to determine exactly what is sapping his strength. He visited a Spanish hospital earlier this week. “If you’re not healthy, you cannot race the Tour. And he needs to be racing to be ready for the Tour,” Bruyneel said. “There are no miracles in this sport. You cannot suddenly be ready. Bruyneel suggested Danielson would likely race the Vuelta a España, where he won a stage last year and twice finished in the top 10. Depending on the speed of his recovery, he could also race the Tour of Austria (which he won last year) as well as the Tour of Quinghai Lake (which he won in 2002) in China, where the team will be going for the first time. “He’s disappointed,” Bruyneel concluded. “I talked with him before he left – it was not what he was expecting.”