Who do you think will win the 2010 Tour de France?
Will it be a repeat win by one of the former champions like Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador or Carlos Sastre? Or will a new cyclist — such as Cadel Evans, Christian Vande Velde, or one of the Brothers Schleck — climb to the top step of the podium in Paris?
I'm running a poll here in the right column where you can vote. I'll post the results Saturday morning before the Tour de France prologue starts in Rotterdam. Then we'll follow that favorite to see if he does finish on top when the race ends July 25.
Who are the favorites? Let's start by number of Tours de France championships.
Lance Armstrong — At 38, Armstrong is looking for his 8th Tour de France victory. This is the second year of his comeback after retiring at the completion of the 2005 Tour de France, which he won. He's riding for his own team, RadioShack, so there's no confusion about who the team leader will be in 2010. Last year, he shared leadership with Contador, which led to a lot of animosity and split loyalties among the teammates. Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner and Andreas Kloden will be among Armstrong's devoted teammates this year.
Alberto Contador — The Spaniard is looking for his third Tour de France victory and is touted as the overall favorite. Once again he's on the Astana team. Instead of Armstrong to contend with, there's Khazakhstan's favorite son, Alexandre Vinokourov, fresh off a two-year doping ban. Over the years, there are times when I've wondered whether Vino was riding for his team or himself. I'm sure that question will arise again. Vino's coming off several days in the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia; Contador won Paris-Nice and the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, among other races this spring. (Another Astana cyclist, Oscar Pereiro, won the 2006 Tour de France after Floyd Landis was caught doping. The team didn't select Pereiro for the Tour, however.)
Carlos Sastre — The winner of the 2008 Tour de France is riding with Cervelo Test Team, which also comes to the Tour with sprinter Thor Hushovd. Sastre was injured in a Giro d'Italia crash but says he has recovered.
That's it for the veteran champions. Here are some other favorites, listed alphabetically:
Ivan Basso — Over the years, the Italian has been touted to win the Tour de France by none other than Lance Armstrong. He's run into a lot of trouble with doping, however, but that appears to be behind him as he finally returns to the Tour de France on the Liquigas team after missing four years. If you watched him win the Giro d'Italia, he handily beat Cadel Evans, Alexandre Vinokourov and Carlos Sastre in the final mountain stages to win the race.
Cadel Evans — The gritty Australian returns to the Tour de France wearing the world championship jersey this year and fronting a new team for him, BMC Racing. His chief lieutenant will be George Hincapie of the U.S., who seems to have a knack for putting teammates in the yellow jersey. Over his 15-year career at the Tour, a teammate has won the Tour de France (7 times Armstrong, 1 time Contador).
Denis Menchov — The Russian on Rabobank is always worth mentioning as a contender at the Tour de France, considering his victories at the Vuelta a Espana (2005 and 2007) and the Giro d' Italia (2009). He did all right in 2008 by finishing 4th in the Tour, but slid in at 51st in 2009.
Shleck brothers — Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck are both members of Team Saxo Bank, and together, the cyclists from Luxembourg are a force to be reckoned with. Fortunately for the rest of the peloton, Saxo Bank cannot pick the best performance to record in the stats and each must compete on his own. Last year, Andy Schleck was the strongest and hung with Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador on the roughest climbs, finishing second overall. This year, Frank Schleck is the one going strong with a second place at Tour of Luxembourg and squeaking out a win by 12 seconds ahead of Armstrong at the Tour de Suisse.
There are plenty of other cyclists in the peloton who have a chance of a podium spot, but I don't see the yellow jersey. Among these are Christian Vande Velde, left (Garmin), Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Eparge) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi).
Le Tour
The Tour de France starts in Rotterdam and rolls through Belgium before actually entering France this year. An early obstacle will be the cobblestones of Stage 3. The peloton struggles through the Pyrenees for four stages in the last week. For details and a map of this year bike race, check out “2010 Tour de France visits Pyrenees in closing stages”.
For more Tour de France news, see the Tour de France folder.
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