Johan Bruyneel, general manager of RadioShack-Nissan Trek, will not direct the team at the Tour de France, which starts today in Belgium.

RadioShack-Nissan-Trek’s nine-man Tour squad will instead be led by Team Director, Luca Guercilena.

A statement published today on the RadioShack-Nissan-Trek website says that Bruyneel had asked Guercelina to take his place at the Tour.

Guercelina had been working with RSNT riders picked to represent their various nations at the Olympic Games in London in July and August.

Guercilena said: “I’ve already  done five Tours, so I know what to expect. On the other hand I still have a long and hard second part of the year, but that’s part of the job.”

The news comes a day after the United States Anti-Doping Agency said an independent three-person review panel had recommended filing formal doping charges against Bruyneel, his most successful rider, seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, and three others, while at the US Postal team.

Earlier this month, when USADA confirmed its intention to pursue action against the five respondents, Bruyneel published a statement that read:

“I am dismayed that once again doping allegations have been raised against me, this time by USADA.

“Following a Department of Justice Grand Jury investigation, no charges were filed against me. It cannot be right that I or anyone else can be pursued from court to court simply because our accusers do not like the decisions made along the way and so attempt to find a court which will get them the result they want.

“I shall of course cooperate fully with the investigation, although I have no doubt the end result will be the same as all the other investigations over the years.

“I have never participated in any doping activity and I am innocent of all charges.”

Armstrong also published a statement earlier this month that read:

“I have been notified that USADA, an organization largely funded by taxpayer dollars but governed only by self-written rules, intends to again dredge up discredited allegations dating back more than 16 years to prevent me from competing as a triathlete and try and strip me of the seven Tour de France victories I earned,” he said in a statement.

“These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation. These charges are baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity.

“Although USADA alleges a wide-ranging conspiracy extended over more than 16 years, I am the only athlete it has chosen to charge. USADA’s malice, its methods, its star-chamber practices, and its decision to punish first and adjudicate later all are at odds with our ideals of fairness and fair play.

“I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one.

“That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence.”

On June 15, Leopard-SA, the organisation that runs the RadioShack-Nissan-Trek team, published a statement distancing itself from the investigations into Bruyneel’s actions while he managed the Armstrong-led US Postal squad.

The statement pledged to take “all appropriate measures” to “guarantee its sporting integrity”.