Later today Damiano Cunego will win the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy). That's a photo from the Tour of Italy from Graham Watson's excellent website. The racing season is in full swing in Europe, and all of the big names are gearing up for the Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong is skipping the Tour of Italy. His next big event will be the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in southern France on June 5-12, which is his final tuneup prior to the Tour de France. By the way, have you seen the new Nike commercial featuring Lance? You can find it here. If that doesn't motivate you to strap on a helmet and go, you are beyond the pull of cycling.

One of the big stories of the season so far is Jan Ullrich (scroll down), who has been rumored to be out of shape and ill-prepared for a run at Lance Armstrong. Ullrich is back with Deutsche Telecom again, and I cannot believe people are counting him out of the Tour de France. He has never finished worse than second; but for Lance Armstrong, Ullrich would be acclaimed as the greatest Tour cyclist of this generation. Next up for Ullrich is the Tour of Germany (Deutchland Tour), which runs next week, followed by the Tour of Switzerland (Tour de Suisse) on June 12-20. In a recent interview (see here if you read German), Ullrich said that he did not expect to win the Tour of Germany because he is still building up for the Tour de France.

Other than Ullrich, Lance's fiercest competition in this year's Tour de France will likely come from Spain. According to Samuel Abt's column in today's New York Times, Joseba Beloki still has not fully recovered from the crash that ended his hopes of victory last year. Beloki will be riding for the French team Brioches la Boulangère, which is being built for Beloki and a run at the yellow jersey, but the results thus far this year are not encouraging.

The most vigorous challenge may come from the Spanish rider Lance knows best: Roberto Heras of Liberty Seguros. Heras was Lance's chief lieutenant in last year's Tour, but it was clear to all who were watching that Heras was one of the top cyclists in the race, and that the only reason he wasn't standing on the podium at the end was his sacrifice for Lance.

Another rider to watch is American favorite, Tyler Hamilton, who distinguished himself by riding last year's Tour with a broken collarbone. This year he is racing with Swiss team Phonak Hearing Systems (with Oscar Sevilla, among others).

Unfortunately, I will be returning from Europe prior to the start of the Tour de France, though I will be around for the Tour de Suisse and the Dauphiné Libéré. Fingers crossed: if we can find the time and the means, we will see some fine racing this summer.

Cycling | Bookmark

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345157d569e200d835437dd669e2

Links to weblogs that reference Gearing Up for the Tour de France: