First Real Warmup For Tour de France Starts Sunday
The Dauphine Libere 8 day stage race starts this Sunday. This race is widely considered to be an indicator of who will be a contender in the Tour de France. This race starts less than one month before the Tour de France is scheduled to begin. A strong performance at the Dauphine shows that the rider is peaking at the right time. This didn’t prove to be the case last year, however. Levi Leipheimer won the Dauphine and then went on to have a very shaky Tour. He had several days in the Tour where he seemed to Bonk right when he needed to attack.
Expect Levi to be at the front again this year. I expect him to show that he is strong enough, but then back off and let someone else take the win. Other big names include Oscar Pereiro, Alejandro Valverde, and Alexandre Vinokourov. All of these riders are trying to take home the ultimate prize in Paris this year. We are smack dab in the middle of the big rides, and I am getting excited.
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