One could say it wasn’t as hard in the end as it could have been with all the pre-race contenders still fighting for yellow, but that’s how cycling works. Fans have to accept that their favorites may be forced to withdraw for the race anytime during the three weeks. This year, there have been a lot more crashes than usual, and thanks to that, a number of contenders had to go home (after a quick visit to the local hospital).

Janez Brajkovic of Team Radioshack was one of the victims

Janez Brajkovic, Chris Horner, Andreas Klöden were all forced to leave the Tour because of injuries, just like top domestique/stage hunter Yaroslav Popovich; Levi Leipheimer‘s performance was marked by the injuries he suffered early in the race. This meant that Radioshack’s Tour was dunzo, it was like they weren’t even there. Kazakh idol Alexander Vinokurov of Astana had to finish his cycling career a bit earlier than planned thanks to a huge crash that not only took him out, but also Omega-Lotto’s GC contender Jurgen van den Broeck. Let’s not forget about Sky’s number one rider, Bradley Wiggins who also had high hopes for finishing on the podium in Paris. As for the sprinters, it was probably Tom Boonen of Quickstep who had the worst Tour, having to withdraw from the race during stage 7.

Moving on to the riders who made it to Paris, well, (or should I say bueno), we have seen some epic performances. Cadel Evans really deserved this win as he worked very hard in a smaller (but certainly prosperous) team, and he has been so unlucky in the recent years. His age suggests that he doesn’t have as much time in cycling as does Andy Schleck, so to be perfectly honest, I’m glad he won the Tour. He performed constantly well – so well actually, that Leopard Trek’s twin-turbo engine, Andy and Fränk Schleck were not able to get rid of him. To tell the truth, I have to say I did not really believe in BMC as a team (of course I never doubted George Hincapie, he’s one of the best riders to have on your team if you want to win the Tour). BMC, however, did a fine job when they had to, and even though they could not always be with Evans in the high mountains, they still managed to keep him out of trouble the rest of the time so he could save his energy for the battles in the Pyrenees and Alps. Hats off to the team.

Team BMC

Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Fränk Schleck in Paris

Let’s move on to 2nd and 3rd. Andy Schleck got second again, but it’s the first time Fränk is on the podium as well. After the first mountaintop finish, I thought Fränk might be stronger, but it turned out that they’re almost equally strong. One might think Andy should have won the Tour after his impressive attack on the Izoard, but hey, that’s only one day. The Schlecks were lucky that a weakened, out-of-form Contador appeared at the start line three weeks ago, which meant that Andy should have won this Tour easily, given that it was almost about him and Contador the last two years. However, Andy Schleck wasn’t as strong in the mountains as he’s been the years before neither, which meant that others like Evans were able to keep up with him. My point is: 1. he should have been far more aggressive in the mountains 2. someone please try to help the Schlecks figure out how to time trial. We always know that Fränk was terrible against the clock, but last year Andy showed signs of improving in this particular discipline. Well, this year there was no sign of improvement. No need to worry though, they have plenty of time to win the Tour. The team is there, even if Jens Voigt drops Gerdemann as he takes over pulling or even if he spends most of his day in the bushes next to the road.

As for the rest of the top 10, Voeckler’s fourth place is a proper miracle. Nobody expected him to stay in yellow after the first mountain stage, he fought really well. I hope there haven’t been any forbidden substances behind this performance. Apart from that tactical mistake he made on the short mountain stage (which cost him the podium, see the picture), he rode brilliantly, hats off to him as well.

French hero Thomas Voeckler of Europcar

Contador kept fighting even though this Tour wasn’t about him (just like I predicted). Appearently, there was a lack of Spanish beef at Saxo Bank’s kitchen…His team wasn’t on the top of their game neither, Navarro‘s form was anything but Tour-worthy.

Olympic road champion Samuel Sanchez of Euskatel rode well the last three weeks. His form wasn’t the best during the second week, but after realizing that the podium is out of reach – watch and learn, failed contenders – he decided to go for the polka-dot jersey, which he won, even though he had to fight for it. Good job by the man in orange! He certainly needs to get a good helper on the team though!

To be honest, Cunego‘s performance and final 7th place is something to cheer about! There wasn’t much talk about him, we all thought that 3 week races just aren’t for the Little Price. Well, he proved that he can if he wants to, well done Damiano!

8th placed Ivan Basso of Liquigas came to France with hopes for the podium. It just wasn’t meant to be – blame the crash on the Etna or whatever, others were much stronger than the Smiling Assasin. He’s not getting any younger, which makes me think that he should focus on the Giro and Vuelta instead of the Tour. But who knows, Evans is 34 after all…

Garmin’s Tom Danielson, who at 33 finally made his Tour debut, rode a quiet but brilliant race to finish in the Top 10. I always knew he’s capable for it, I like him since his time at Discovery. After Hesjedal and Vande Velde failing to impress this year, his constant ride gave his team something to smile about – apart the 4 stage wins, of course

Last but not least, the 10th place goes to Jean-Christophe Peraud of AG2R. He rode a quiet race too, but somehow he managed to climb into the top 10. Well done for the Frenchman, AG2R can be happy after Gadret, Riblon and Roche all failed to deliver.

Contador, Sanchez, Cunego, Basso, Danielson and Peraud

Outside the top 10, Voeckler’s wingman Pierre Roland finished 11th and took the white jersey, plus a stage win at Alpe d’Huez of course:

Pierre Roland of Europcar

His performance was stunning, let’s hope he won’t become the next Sevilla or Karpets, who all failed to deliver good results after winning the white jersey. Rein Taaramae of Cofidis came 12th, Jerome Coppel 14th, Arnold Jeannesson 15th. Look at these young guns! Tours might get even more exciting the next years!

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To speak about the other disciplines, Mark Cavendish should be happy to take the green one home, his Tour turned out fantastic despite the slow start. His teammates rode their asses off for him, this wasn’t an easy Tour for HTC.

Mark Cavendish of HTC

Rojas of Movistar came second, which came as a bit of a surprise I’d say, and Phil Gilbert took third. Seriously, Gilbert as a green jersey contender? Wow – a lot must has changed lately! Both Hushovd and Boasson Hagen performed brilliantly by winning 2 stages each, but that just wasn’t enough since their mass sprints were unsuccessful most of the time. I am a bit disappointed by the performance of Greipel, Farrar and especially Petacchi, not to mention Mr Ciolek of Quickstep. With Boonen and Steegmans out of the picture, former German champion Gerald Ciolek should have scored a lot more than a whopping 16 points (Cav won with 334 points, even Hesjedal had 73)!

Regarding the climber’s jersey, I’ve praised Sammy Sanchez‘s performance already, Jelle Vanendert was a pleasant surprise too. After he took the jersey, I thought Omega-Lotto made keeping the jersey a priority, but that wasn’t the case.

Samuel Sanchez of Euskatel

The team classification went almost easily to Garmin-Cervelo. Leopard and AG2R rode well too, but they just couldn’t stop the American team from having an almost perfect (remember Dave Z crashing out?) race.

Team Garmin-Cervelo on the podium in Paris

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Let’s talk about the flops:

Nicolas Roche (26th), Robert Gesink (33th, 54 minutes down from Rolland for the white jersey, but we know about his crash), David Arroyo (36th), Tony Martin (44th, but at least he won a stage), Luis Leon Sanchez (57th, one stage as well), José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (102th), Roman Kreuziger (112th, I mean…), Grega Bole (haven’t seen from him anything), plus the whole Katusha Team.

Last but not least the unsung heroes:

Johnny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil, of course. It was a joy seeing him at the Giro with each and every attack of him doomed to fail, and he did not disappoint. Of course, the horrible crash that took him and Juan Antonio Flecha of Sky out for basically the rest of the Tour is something we’re going to remember for the rest of our lives (just like these guys), but still, there’s no way forgetting about Hoogie.

Johnny "Scarlegs" Hoogerland after getting hit by the French TV car

The whole FDJ team and Jeremy Roy in particular. The French team wanted a win. They wanted it badly. But that’s cycling, others have been better, so they had to settle for the price for the most aggressive rider. Their relentless efforts to attack are the only reason I don’t say they were useless like Katusha.

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I’m sure I’ve forgot about a few special riders from this selection, but let’s just congratulate them all for making it to Paris, because that is a big-big deal. Well done riders, thanks for entertaining!

Image credit: Cyclingnews.com, Bettini, Sirotti, AFP

Obviously, the question is: can anyone stop Contador? I think yes. The Giro has been a hard race even for him, and I’d say don’t let the big margin fool you, it wasn’t easy for him to win with such a big lead. There are a number of great riders who’ll compete for the yellow jersey, we should see exciting battles during the time trials and the mountain stages.

Let’s take a look at the GC favorites!

Alberto Contador has a team built around him (Saxo Bank Sungard) with Jesus Hernandez, Dani Navarro, Chris Anker and Nicki Sörensen supporting him the mountains, while Porte and Vandborg will be useful during the team time trial. Noval and Tosatto should take care of him on the flats.

Leopard Trek has a superb team to help Andy Schleck – let’s be honest, he’s far stronger than Frank. Fuglsang, Gerdemann, Monfort should be with them in the mountains, while Cancellara, O’Grady, Posthuma and of course Jens Voigt will shelter them in every other situation.

Euskatel has a designated leader in Samuel Sanchez, he has a fair shot to get on the podium. I don’t think he’ll get much help from his team in the mountains, but that won’t strike him as a surprise as he lacked support in the mountains before already.

Omega Pharma-Lotto has Jurgen van den Broeck for the GC, I wonder if he can repeat his performance of last year. The team is there to win stages on the flats (Gilbert, Greipel), he won’t have many friendly riders around him in the higher mountains.

Rabobank has Robert Gesink as usual, but they also have Luis Leon Sanchez for the GC. Boom, Mollema and ten Dam should be very helpful later in the game.

Garmin-Cervelo will be riding for Hesjedal I guess with Vande Velde as an option. Danielson, making his Tour debut, should be helping them in the mountains while they’ll try to get the most of the team time trial by having riders such as David Millar, Dave Zabriskie and Navardauskas on the team.

Astana will have two leaders, Vinokurov and Kreuziger. This is Vino’s last chance for the yellow jersey ever, while Kreuziger has yet to prove that he can be a sole leader. Helping them in the mountains will be Rémy di Gregorio and Tiralongo.

Team Radioshack has the best chances to be on the podium as they have a powerfull lineup in France. Leipheimer, Klöden, Brajkovic and Horner should be the team to beat in the mountains, while Zubeldia as ex-GC rider will be their top-mountain domestique. Popovich, Paulinho, Irizar and Muravyev will be the guys supporting that fierce quartett on the flats.

Movistar have lost Valverde for this season and Tondo forever (rest in peace), so they’ll stick to David Arroyo for the GC and hope that Gutierrez Palacios and Kiryienka can help him as much as possible. In my opinion, they have no real shot for the podium in Paris, not even top 10.

Ivan Basso of Liquigas will try his luck again in France. I’m not sure about his form, but he might be a contender for the podium. Sylvester Szmyd, as usual, will be his helper in the mountains.

AG2R have both Nicolas Roche and John Gadret in the lineup, they could target the top 10, even though Gadret might be a bit tired of his extraordinary performance at the Giro earlier this year.

Sky have a super team at the Tour as well, with Bradley Wiggins going for the GC. Rigoberto Uran might be his only help in the mountains though.

Quickstep have Sylvain Chavanel as their man for the GC, but don’t expect too much from the new French champion in the mountains…

FDJ have Sandy Casar riding for the GC as usual – with no real help, as usual.

BMC will be once again going after the yellow jersey with Cadel Evans. Hincapie, Bookwalter, Moinard could take care of him until the ascents don’t get too steep.

Cofidis might go with Rein Taaramae for the GC, while Moncutie will be chasing the mountains jersey. Just sayin’.

Lampre have the Little Prince, Damiano Cunego with no real mountain domestique, maybe Malori.

HTC-Highroad might be a team to watch as they have Tony Martin and Van Garderen for the GC. Don’t forget about Peter Velits.

Katusha have Karpets for the GC, but I think that white jersey era was too long ago…The Russian team might be chasing stage wins just like Team Europcar, Vacansoleil and Saur-Sojasun.

Protourblogger’s Top 10 tip:

1. Andy Schleck

2. Alberto Contador

3. Levi Leipheimer

while Horner, Basso, Gesink, Sanchez, Evans, Wiggins, Vinokurov, Hesjedal, van den Broeck will be fighting for top 10 places.

Sprints:

Radioshack don’t have anyone for the sprints as usual, just like Leopard. Saxo Bank might let Tosatto for it if he has the legs. Expect to see the following riders in mass sprints: Greipel and Gilbert (OME), Hushovd, Dean, Farrar (GAR), Iglinsky & Vaitkus (AST), Joaquin Rojas and Ventoso (MOV), Hinault (AG2), Boasson Hagen and Swift (SKY), Boonen, Ciolek, Steegmans (QST), Burghardt (BMC), Dumoulin and Duque (COF), Bole, Hondo, Petacchi (LAM), Cavendish, Eisel, Goss, Renshaw, Bak (what a train, HTC), Galimzyanov (KAT), Bozic (VAC), Engoulvent (SAU).

I think it’s HTC for the stages to beat, but it might be Boonen, Farrar or good old Petacchi who could take the green jersey in Paris.

Mountains classification:

Well, well, well, this is always a tough question to answer. At the start, nobody knows in post-Virenque era who might possibly make a move for the polka-dot jersey. The GC guys will be collecting a lot of points by finishing well at mountaintop finishes, but it’s usually someone else who takes the jersey in the end. My imagination could go wild easily, so I think it will be a Frenchman going for this jersey. Think about it: they can’t win any of the other jersey, and this one means being part of a lot of breakaway, which means a lot of camera time. So, it could be Voeckler or Kern (EUR), Chavanel (QST), Moncutie (COF), Feillu (VAC), Dupont or Riblon (AG2), or of course someone from outside France, like Egoi Martinez & Amets Txurruka (EUS), Barredo or Garate (RAB), Gerrans or Thomas (SKY). If I were Cunego, I’d let the GC go and set grabbing the polka-dot jersey as a realistic target.

Riders to watch (stage wins, breakaways, etc.):

Roelandts (OME), Barredo (RAB), Grivko (AST), Popovich (RSH), Rui Costa (MOV), Oss (LIQ), Flecha (SKY), Terpstra (QST), Roux (FDJ), Quinziato (BMC), Voeckler (EUR), Brutt, Ignatiev, Kolobnev (KAT), De Gendt, Johnny “Breakaway” Hoogerland (VAC), Talabardon (SAU).

What do you think? What are you looking forward to? Who do you miss from the start list?

Stage one goes to Cavendish, stage two (team time trial) goes to Radioshack, HTC or Garmin (it’s a short one).

Cyclingnews did an article on the favorites, which is obviously a good selection. They’ve selected Cancellara, Boonen, Hushovd, Chavanel, Ballan, Flecha, Pozzato, Hincapie and Leukemans as the riders to watch. Fair enough, but there’s more to talk about.

Leopard’s Cancellara is without a doubt the race favorite. He might have been not the strongest in Flandres, but he should be super motivated for this one. Everyone was watching him last weekend, everyone was working against him. He has Klemme as a good domestique with him, not to mention O’Grady, Posthuma and sprinter Weylandt.

Quickstep’s chances are good for this race if they can decide who their team leader is. Last weekend they voted for Boonen, even though it was obvious that Chavanel was stronger and in a much better position. They have Steegmans and Ciolek to help them, but I don’t think these two can do too much for these specialsts.

Garmin-Cervelo has a strong team with world champoin Hushovd leading the team, helping him will be Farrar, Hammond, Haussler and van Summeren. As a team, they look the strongest, but I wonder if Hushovd has the power to win this edition of Paris-Roubaix.

Team Sky count on Flecha, who is always their in this race but never on the top of the podium. Arvesen, Barry, Thomas and Wiggins could help him to fulfill his dream.

HTC has Goss as team leader, but I don’t think this race would suit him. Bak, Eisel, Rasmussen may be his best helpers, I guess Cavendish will just suffer again.

Omega’s chances are slightly worse than last weekend, given that Gilbert won’t be racing this time. Greipel is their sprinter, but I don’t think he’ll be able to keep up with the top group.

BMC has a strong team, no doubt about it. Ballan and Hincapie are co-captains, I actually wish Big George would win this, he really deserves it. But that’s not the way cycling works, he’ll have to work hard for the victory. He showed good form in Flandres, Burghardt and Quinziato are his best helpers for today.

Katusha may go home without a trophy once again. Pozzato, Hoste, Gusev, Paolini and Ivanov form a good team on paper, but somehow they always miss out. I wonder if today things will change.

Vacansoleil showed signs last weekend why they are a Protour team, but Leukemans can’t get results on his own. Devolder has troubles since years trying to get good results here. I guess Leukemans will get separated from his teammates once again.

Rabobank has Boom, Bos and Langeveld to count on, they are outsiders just like Saxo Bank‘s Cooke and Larsson – their team does not have Nuyens for this race, I don’t know why. In my opinion, Liquigas‘ Sagan and Oss have even less chances, just like the whole Lampre team.

We do have to menton Radioshack‘s Ben King, who will have his first P-R race today and teammate Rosseler, who really is in good condition. Astana‘s Tomas Vaitkus and Simon Clarke could be also able to stay with the top group for a while.

My top 3:

1. Chavanel

2. Cancellara

3. Hincapie

It is always the same question about this race: will some riders manage to break away on the Cipressa or the Poggio, or will the race eventually end in a mass sprint.

In case it will come to a mass sprint, I expect the following riders to be fighting for places: Freire (RAB, to be helped mostly by Langeveld and Boom), Napolitano (ACQ), Greg van Avermeat (BMC), Visconti, Gatto (FAR), Cavendish (HTC, massive leadout train incl. Eisel, Goss, Renshaw), Pozzato and/or Paolini (KAT), Petacchi (LAM, strong team as well with Bole, Gavazzi and Hondo taking care of Ale Jet), Sagan (LIQ), Joaquin Rojas (MOV), Gilbert, Greipel (OME), Davis (AST, helped by Gasparotto, Vaitkus), Boonen (QST, without Steegmans!), Haedo(SAX, Cooke and Tosatto), Boasson Hagen (SKY, strong team but no real leadout men), Hushovd, Farrar, Haussler (GAR, I’m not sure who is number 1, helped by Van Summeren, Hammond), Bennati (LEO, helped by Weylandt, O’Grady), McEwen (RSH, Hunter, Rosseler), Bozic (VAC).

Riders, who could go for a long breakaway or try their luck at one of the hills: Ballan, Burghardt, Hincapie (BMC), Egoi Martinez, Txurruka (EUS), the whole FDJ team, Cobo, De La Fuente (GEO), Hoste, Ignatiev, Kolobnev (KAT), Scarponi (LAM), Samoilau, Kiryienka (MOV), Gilbert (he could show up anywhere), Terpstra, Pineau, Chavanel (QST), Larsson, Nuyens (SAX), Thomas, Lövkvist, Flecha, Rogers, Wiggins (SKY), Cancellara, Germemann, Wegmann (LEO), Lequatre, Muravyev, Popovich (RSH), Leukemans, De Gendt (VAC).

So, bottom line is: who is going to win it? I seriously don’t know

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But let’s look ahead and examine the races ahead of us.

The famous Strade Bianche, the Italian Paris-Roubaix is today. Here are the names to watch: Ballan, Evans, Hincapie (BMC), Visconti, Gatto, Sinkewitz (FAR), Cunego (LAM), Oss (LIQ), Gilbert (OME), Hammond, Hesjedal (GAR), Cancellara, Schleck, Wegmann (LEO). BMC, Trek-Leopard and Omega-Lotto have strong teams, but I don’t think Omega has more leaders than just Gilbert.

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On Sunday, Paris-Nice will start! The “Race to the Sun” will be surely a spectacular stage race, especially in the final stages. Let’s take a look at the favorites: Roche (AG2R), Moncoutie (COF), Samuel Sanchez (EUS), Casar (FDJ), Van Garderen and Tony Martin (and maybe Sitsov, HTC), Karpets, Gusev (KAT), Sagan (LIQ), Tondo (MOV), Van Den Broeck (OME), Vinokourov and Kreuziger (AST), Sylvain Chavanel (QST), Luis Leon Sanchez (RAB), Porte (SAX), Wiggins and Rogers (SKY), Talansky and Hesjedal (GAR), Fränk Schleck, Gerdemann, Monfort (LEO), Leipheimer, Klöden, Brajkovic and Irizar (RSH).

Watch out for Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Taylor Phinney (BMC), Rein Taaramae (COF), Juan Manuel Garate (RAB), Nicki Sörensen (SAX), Simon Gerrans (SKY), Mikhail Ignatyev (KAT), Thomas Voeckler (EUR), Daniel Lloyd (GAR), Jens Voigt (LEO), Geoffroy Lequatre (RSH) and Björn Leukemans (VAC) as they could animate the race and go for stage wins.

Many sprinters will also be present at the race: Samuel Dumoulin (COF), Inaki Isasi (EUS), Matthew Goss (HTC), Denis Galimzyanov (KAT), Grega Bole (LAM), Joaquin Rojas (MOV), Tomas Vaitkus (AST), Gert Steegmans and Gerald Ciolek (QST), Greg Henderson (SKY), Heinrich Haussler (GAR), Wouter Weylandt (LEO) and Robert Hunter (RSH).

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In the meanwhile, Contador could take his first victory of the season as there’s only a mountain stage and a time trial remaining at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia, while Team Radioshack could hope for an overall win at the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen as they have five riders in the top 7 (the podium was all Radioshack at the first stage).

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That’s it for now, this really is a great weekend for cycling fans!