Cyclingnews has a short article on the 2010 Tour and how it will be difficult to get an invitation to the tour.  The article quotes Christian Prudhomme stating new teams like Radio Shack, Sky, and the new line-up at BMC making it a difficult decision to choose among qualified teams.

What confused me was the discussion of the ProTour.  The article says that there are 16 teams guaranteed an entry into the tour because of the ProTour.  It then says:

Squads not given an automatic berth include Radio Shack, Team Sky, BMC Racing, Vacansoleil, Saur Sojasun, Katyusha, Garmin-Transitions, Cervélo and Skil-Shimano.

I don't understand why Radio Shack, Sky, Katyusha, and Garmin are not guaranteed entry into the Tour if they are in the ProTour.  Even if only the top 16 teams from the previous year are guaranteed entry into the Tour, Katyusha ended the year 10th and Garmin 11th in the team rankings.

In the article Prudhomme indicates they will invite 20 to 22 teams.  If anyone can shed some light on the automatic entries that would be helpful - of course, helpful to begin the speculation of who will get invited to the Tour and who  will not.

I love this time of year in cycling - it is taken so seriously.  Does any other sport have this kind of yearly devotion?

Cyclingnews is reporting that the velodrome for Paris-Roubaix is double booked!? Oh my!

Enjoy

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Can someone explain how Basso is getting around the 4 year Pro-tour team ban.  Is Liquigas planning to drop from the Pro-tour or did the ban not apply since he was not proven to have taken drugs just to have planned to take drugs?

I would think that the four your pro-tour team ban would also prevent Vinokourov from joining Astana.  Isn't the ban from riding for a Pro-tour team different from the ban applied by the cycling federation of the rider's country?

Who is Going to Win?

So who will win this thing? There are six riders within a minute of the lead. There are three big stages left: a mountain stage with two HC climbs and a down hill finish, a stage with three HC climbs and an up hill finish, and a 53 km time trial. It is possible that time could be gained on Thursday with category 2 and 4 climbs right before the finish, but I think its unlikely.

So that's what we have: three stages and six contenders. Here's my take of the favorites:

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This is a short article with some great photos.  With this kind of help, maybe I could be a pro cyclists.

I need several more words to finish this post, so here is a link to some cool wheels I bought about a week ago.  I've only ridden them 3 times so far, but they are an improvement over the stock shimano wheels that came with my bike.  At 1370 grams, they are lights for the money and the hubs seems to spin well.

Normally this time of year, I can't wait for the tour to start.  This year, I'm much less interested.

I read this site, cyclingnews, velownews and other regularly. I watch all the races I can and ride regularly. It might sound like I'm a fan of cycling, but I don't have much interest in the upcoming Tour. I'm sure at least some of my lack of interest is because there are only four US riders in the race.  No Levi and no Horner.

I should explain that I did follow the Giro this year even though no US riders were likely to win. To me the Giro is more interesting because they have a wider variety of stages. In addition to mountain top finishes and sprint finishes, they also have small hills near the finish so classic riders like Bettini can contest the stage.

At the Tour this year, there will be a small number of riders who can win. Evans, the consensus favorite and second place rider from last year, is not an attacking rider. He'll ride tempo or follow wheels to the end. There is no team time trial. There's no US rider that will challenge either in the sprints nor in the mountain stages. After all this, the best stage rider in the world right now, Contador, won't be at the Tour.

I might watch the Tour to see how much Valverde has improved as a grand tour rider, see how well the Schlecks do, or to watch the Rico show. While these might seem like good reasons, they are not overly compelling.

As a fan, I'd rather have another Giro and skip the tour this year or maybe cycling.tv will broadcast the Cascade Classic.

Felt has a new AR bike that incorporates some of the aero traits of time trial and track bikes for a road bike.  I think Cervelo has used some aero designs in ttheir bikes as well.

I'm curious as to why this hasn't been done before.  Aero wheels can be heavier, but faster - why not the bike?

Velonews has a picture of the new Felt AR here. It appears to me that the bike is pictured with Mavic wheels even though Slipstream/Garmin is sponsored by Zipp.

How much sympathy must I show for a rider's illness or injury before I complain about the effect it will have on my VDS team?

It looks like Michael Rogers has the Epstein Barr virus and will be out for 8 weeks (four weeks of no training).  I'm sure it is rather frustrating to be constantly tired and unable to train, but at least he now knows the problem.  Hang in there Mick!

On the VDS note, I thought Rogers was going to do really well this season.  Last year he was looking on really good form until his crash at the Tour.  I had some hopes pinned on him for the grand tours.

Due to various influences (including reading this site) I have begun commuting to work on my bike several times a week.  I am commuting on my only bike which is a 2007 Lemond Versailles bought to keep up with my cycling friends on group rides.

I am considering buying a less expensive bike to avoid punishing my Lemond too much and as a general excuse to get another bike.  Some people on this site seem to like the aluminum Cannondale bikes and I wouldn't mind getting an aluminum bike.

In looking at the bikes, I noticed that Cannondale still has a level top tube while most of the other bikes now have a sloping top tube.  Can someone explain the difference?  Also, I saw a specialized Allez at the bike shop that looked extremely intriguing.

Slipstream's schedule is posted.  If this is an accurate schedule (which I assume they have invites to most of these races), why would a team pay the money to join the Pro Tour?

It looks like they are going to miss Amstel Gold, Romandie, and Tour of Switzerland, but that is about it.  They will be in all the other big races the first half of the season including the Giro (and maybe the Tour).  The will be in Milano-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, LBL, Paris-Nice, etc.

If I were running a team, I would consider saving my Pro Tour dues and the other obligations that go with it and staying as a pro continental team.

If Slipstream is able to race almost all of the high profile races without joining the Pro Tour, I wonder if others will follow the same format.