What I have been looking forward to now for nearly a year is once again making its return...that's right, I'm talking about the Tour de France, which starts this Saturday.
Last year, the focus was on Lance Armstrong returning to the tour after a 3-year absence and his goal to win number 8. Instead, it was Alberto Contador, Lance's former teammate at Astana, who wins the Tour and his first since 2007. After the tour, the rivalry between these two cyclists continued. Lance finished 3rd in the tour last year, while Andy Schleck came in 2nd.
This year's tour is gonna be interesting again, because according to Lance Armstrong's Twitter site, he announced that this tour will be his last, which means the pressure will be on him to win a record 8th tour championship. Standing in his way include Andy and Frank Schleck, Contador, Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov, the latter 2 looking to rebound back to their 2008 form. Also returning to the Tour this year is Alexander Vinokourov, who was found doping during the 2007 Tour and will race with Contador for Team Astana.
Lance, however, has started his own racing team...Team Radio Shack. Other members of this team includes American Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, Andreas Kloden, and Yaroslav Popovych. With a star-stellar field, Radio Shack will face competition. The other American-based team, Team HTC-Columbia, features one of the best sprinters in the world in Mark Cavendish, who already in his young career has 10 tour victories in the last 2 years. Team Saxo-Bank is also a key team because it features Cancellaria, the Schleck brothers, Jens Voigt and Stuart O'Grady, who look to get the Team title at the end of the tour.
As always the route of the tour changes each year. It starts off in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and then moves through Belgium and into France. There are 6 mountain stages, including one in which riders will climb the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees twice in one stage and that will be July 22nd. That stage could determine the winner of this year's tour. The tour ends in Paris on July 25th.
I'm picking Lance to win his 8th title, but I really won't be surprised if Andy or Frank Schleck (both from Luxembourg) wins the Tour. Stay tuned for updates throughout the tour.
OTHER NEWS/NOTES:
1) NBA Free Agency period starts this Thursday. With Lebron, Bosh, Nowitzki and Wade headlining this huge free-agent class of 2010, it will be very interesting to see where these players will end up. Free-agents can start talking to teams on Thursday and be signed, but the teams may not announce to the media who they have signed or will sign until starting July 8th.
2) The USA was eliminated from World Cup competition as they lose to Ghana 2-1 in extra time. It was a great match and would've been great if the Americans had won and advanced to the quarterfinals and maybe fulfill their dreams to maybe win the Cup. If I have to guess who could win, I would go with Spain.
3) MLB Interleague play has come and gone and was interesting again this year. The White Sox had the best interleague record this year, going 15-3, followed by Texas with 14-4. The Red Sox were 13-5 against the NL this season.
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