Fabian Odds-On Favorite for Prolog

Tour de Swiss stage winner Fabian Cancellara grabs his daughter Juliana before heading to the podium.
Photo ©: AFP Photo
Will Juliana Cancellara find herself on the TdF podium? I think she likes her daddy's chances. He won the prolog and the final TT at the Swiss, not to mention that small, insignigicant win at the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TT. Still a prolog win could be easily had by 10 different riders depending on who manages to navigate the course the smoothest.
-Adam

Can Astana Go 1-2?

Would you like some juice boys!?
Something tells me they have had plenty of juice...regardless, Astana looks strong, strong, strong. With Kloden's second place in the final TT at the Swiss, and Vino's St. Nic routine at Dauphine, not to mention a bench full of stage wins over the last couple of months, Astana looks tough. Get used to sky-blue and yellow!
-Adam

The Future is Now

Frank and Andy Schleck, two of the most promising up an comers! Older brother Frank won the pinnacle of all stage wins - L'Alpe d'Huez last year, and younger brother Andy was second in this years Giro! Check this link out for more on the Super-Schlecks! http://www.schleck.lu/
-Adam

Gilberto Simoni

Photo Credit - cyclingnews.com
Does Gilberto Simoni have a chance at the overall TdF? Even with 2 Giros to his name, probably not. He is always a threat for a mountain stage win though. Simoni facts: He was the Italian national champ last year in mountain biking. He worked as a team mechanic before signing on as a pro. The always outspoken Simoni called Basso's Giro win "superhuman" with sarcasm intended. He is my guess for one of the few riders in the pelaton that is clean, and is a very busy racer. - Adam

See adamleahyphotography.com in the bikes section for the official entry sheet!

Stages

The TdF is crawling closer and closer, most teams haven't announced rosters yet. Rabobank is on the books now with no surprises in who they have: Menchov, Rass, Flecha, Friere, Boogerd, etc. Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see one or more of the favorites not starting because of doping charges or allegations. As of now team leaders are: CSC-Sastre, TMobile-Michael Rogers, Astana-Vinokourov, Disco-Leipheimer, Illes Balears-Valverde, Lotto-Evans, Rabo-Menchov, AG2R-Moreau. If the leaders faulter, watch out for: Frank Schleck, Dave Zabriske, Fabio Cancellera, Paolo Salvodelli, Andreas Kloden, Vlad Karpets and Oscar Pereiro! There are 2 long TT's this year...here is the stage list. -Adam

Prologue - July 7: London - London, 8 km

Stage 1 - July 8: London - Canterbury, 203 km
Stage 2 - July 9: Dunkirk - Gent, 167 km
Stage 3 - July 10: Waregem - Compiègne, 236 km
Stage 4 - July 11: Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny, 190 km
Stage 5 - July 12: Chablis - Autun, 184 km
Stage 6 - July 13: Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse, 200 km

Stage 7 - July 14: Bourg-en-Bresse - Le-Grand-Bornand, 197 km (Mountain Stage)
Stage 8 - July 15: Le-Grand-Bornand - Tignes, 165 km (Mountain Stage)
Rest Day - July 16: Tignes
Stage 9 - July 17: Val-d’Isère - Briançon, 161 km (Mountain Stage)

Stage 10 - July 18: Tallard - Marseille, 229 km
Stage 11 - July 19: Marseille - Montpellier, 180 km
Stage 12 - July 20: Montpellier - Castres, 179 km

Stage 13 - July 21: Albi - Albi, 54 km (Time Trial)

Stage 14 - July 22: Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille, 197 km (Mountain Stage)
Stage 15 - July 23: Foix - Loudenvielle - Le Louron, 196 km (Mountain Stage)
Rest Day - July 24: Pau
Stage 16 - July 25: Orthez - Gourette - Col d’Aubisque, 218 km (Mountain Stage)

Stage 17 - July 26: Pau - Castelsarrasin, 188 km
Stage 18 - July 27: Cahors - Angoulême, 210 km

Stage 19 - July 28: Cognac - Angoulême, 55 km (Time Trial)

Stage 20 - July 29: Marcoussis - Paris Champs-Élysées, 130 km
Total Length: 3547 km

TDF 2007 Course

The route

Running from Saturday July 7th to Sunday July 29th 2007, the 94th Tour de France will be made up of a prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,550 kilometres.

These 20 stages have the following profiles:

11 flat stages
6 mountain stages
1 medium mountain stage
2 individual time-trial stages

Distinctive aspects of the race

3 mountain finishes
2 rest days
117 kilometres of individual time-trials (including the prologue)
21 Category 1, Category 2 and highest level passes will be climbed

12 new stop-over towns

Londres, Canterbury, Waregem, Villers-Cotterêts, Joigny, Chablis, Semur-en-Auxois, Tignes, Tallard, Mazamet, Cognac, Marcoussis

Tour de France News

UCI calls cycling teams to special meeting before Tour de France to deal with sport's scandals

The Associated Press
Published: June 10, 2007


BERLIN: Cycling's world governing body has called a special meeting of all 20 ProTour teams before the Tour de France to discuss the sport's growing image problem.

The UCI has convened the meeting in Geneva on June 19 without outlining a specific agenda, German teams Gerolsteiner and T-Mobile said Sunday.

Both teams believe the district attorney's documents from the Spanish blood-doping scandal could be analyzed, while German media speculated a list of riders to be banned from the Tour might be named.

"There is no set agenda, it's about the image of cycling," Team Gerolsteiner manager Hans-Michael Holczer said. "I'm expecting before the Tour starts (that) something big will happen."

More than 50 cyclists were implicated in the doping scandal at a Madrid clinic that led to five arrests. But a judge ruled that Spain's doping laws couldn't be applied retrospectively and threw out the case.

However, the UCI has pursued the matter.

"There is no agenda for our meeting, but it could be the UCI has evaluated the 6,000 pages from the Spanish district attorney's office," T-Mobile technical director Luuc Eisenga said.

The Cologne Express daily, which broke the story Saturday, said the UCI will announce which riders linked to the Spanish scandal will be excluded from this year's Tour.

Holczer said that all riders involved in the scandal be banned from the Tour, which begins July 7.

"There is proof — almost every rider has given up a DNA sample," Holczer said.

The professional cycling teams alliance will meet on June 13 near Lyon, France, before the meeting.

Cycling has been plagued by a series of positive doping tests and confessions from former riders. Floyd Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone after winning last year's Tour, and 1997 winner Bjarne Riis admitted using the blood-booster EPO.

In Germany, companies like MAN truckmakers and Telekom have broken or are trying to get out of sponsorship and advertising deals connected to the Tour de France. German television has threatened to drop the race if the sport isn't cleaned up.

Tour de France Pool

The Thursday Night Riders' Tour de France Pool is coming up...it looks extremely hard to pick this year because of so many drug scandels. Who knows who will start and who will finish?! As we get closer I'll give you the team roster entries and we'll hope for the best!
-Adam