Bobby Julich will take aim for the U.S. national championships next month to earn the Stars ‘n’ Stripes jersey for what will likely be his final year as a pro.

The 35-year-old said he’s close to penning a one-year contract extension that will keep him in a Team CSC jersey through the 2008 season. And he’d love nothing better than to win the national title, which has eluded him in his otherwise successful 15-year pro career.

“I’d like to try to win a national jersey finally. Either the time trial or the road race, I don’t care. I’d take anything,” Julich said. “It would be fun to have the jersey in the last year of my career. I’ve never had it.”

Julich said Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis offered him a one-year contract extension on the very day he told him the bad news he wouldn’t be selected for the nine-man Tour de France team.

Julich said he was likely to stay on with Team CSC and said he would “make a decision in the next week.”

“I said as long as Jens (Voigt) stays around and the bulk of my current teammates, it would be fun to do one more year and go for the Olympics next year,” Julich told VeloNews before the start of Saturday’s Clásica San Sebastián. “I’m more realistic now. Being away from my family for long periods is harder and harder.”

Voigt and Julich are close friends and the gregarious German has already penned a two-year extension to stay in a CSC jersey through the 2009 season. Julich said one more year racing will likely be enough.

“One (more season) is enough. After that, it would have to be something special to continue,” he said. “You have to think about this nomadic lifestyle we lead. It can only go on for so long.”

Julich will race in the Tour of Germany later this week (Aug. 10-18) before returning back to the United States for the national championships, Sept. 1-3. Then he’ll likely race the Tour of Poland and, if his form is going well, the world championships at the end of September.

Check an upcoming issue of VeloNews for a complete interview with Julich.

Leipheimer to race US nats, Missouri
Levi Leipheimer will also be making a run for the national jersey.

Fresh off winning the final time trial and finishing third overall in the 2007 Tour de France, the Discovery Channel captain will be keeping a busy racing schedule for the remainder of the season.

Leipheimer confirmed to VeloNews he will be racing the Tour of Germany, the U.S. national championships and the inaugural Tour of Missouri, Sept. 11-16.

Leipheimer won the Tour of Germany in 2005 and rode to second place in last year’s U.S. national’s behind fellow escapee George Hincapie.

Discovery Channel and Slipstream are among eight teams already committed for the stage race across Missouri.

Di Luca could be in clear
Italian prosecutors will likely drop any charges of doping allegations against Giro d’Italia champion Danilo Di Luca. According to a report in La Gazzetta dello Sport, prosecutors in Pescara have recommended that a new probe against Di Luca be dropped.

Di Luca’s been dogged by alleged links to a doctor in the “Oil for Drugs” doping investigation that dates back to the 2004 season. The Liquigas captain has denied any improprieties and was even cleared of any link to the investigation last month.

Authorities from the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), however, have decided to keep open his portfolio, at least until summer vacations end in early September.

Leading official Ettore Torri is interested in following up on any alleged links between Di Luca and Italian doctor Carlo Santuccione, an alleged collaborator with Operación Puerto brain trust Eufemiano Fuentes and one of the key figures in the “Oil for Drugs” inquiry.

Di Luca said he’s not losing any sleep over the persistent doubts.

“I am tranquilo,” Di Luca said after Saturday’s Clásica San Sebastián. “I have nothing to worry about. I haven’t been able to enjoy my (Giro) victory as I would have liked, but the most important thing is that I have nothing to do with these matters.”

Rabo’ names new director
The Rabobank cycling team has appointed a former coach of the Dutch Olympic sailing team as their new director. Henri van der Aat was named Wednesday in the post left vacant by the resignation last Friday of Theo de Rooy.

De Rooy was the man responsible for kicking Michael Rasmussen out of the Tour de France for allegedly lying about his whereabouts to evade drug testers.

Van der Aat coached the Netherlands' sailing team at the Los Angeles and Seoul Olympic Games.

Rabobank has launched an internal inquiry to look at the Rasmussen affair and in particular why the Danish cyclist was allowed start the Tour de France in the first place after missing two random dope tests in the two months leading up to the race.

Zabel set for German tour
German sprint ace Erik Zabel will lead the effort for Milram in the Tour of Germany later this week.

Zabel confessed earlier this year that he used the banned blood booster EPO during the 1996 Tour de France, but received support from Milram officials to keep racing. That didn’t stop Tour officials from stripping his 1996 green jersey following Zabel’s confession.

Milram for Tour of Germany, Aug. 10-18Erik ZabelElia RigottoSebastian SiedlerFabio SacchiRalf GrabschMartin MuellerBjoern SchroederNiki Terpstra