Image via Wikipedia

The 2008 Tour de France is just around the corner, officially starting in July 5. This year follows the major blow out of last year’s Operación Puerto doping scandal, which sullied the name of many current and former cyclists. This means there is are massive gaps in the field. Major riders who had been coming up through the ranks are now banned. While the people who have been fingered by the should not have the same rights as those accused of criminal offenses (The image of doping is enough to ruin the sport) It will make for an interesting race.

Looking at the 21 team rosters for this year, even without knowing the exact starting teams, the number of second string cyclists who are the big names now means that the race is really open. Watching the lieutenants finally getting to manage their teams makes for good watching.

Some of the teams I am watching include Team Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle (Formerly Slipstream-Chipotle). Both of these are “American” teams and after the reign of Discovery, it will be interesting to have two budding American teams scraping it up amongst the more established “European” field.

Garmin-Chipotle

Garmin-Chipotle has got my attention firstly with their riders, secondly because they are on twitter as TeamSlipStream.

The riders who I will be watching on Garmin-Chipotle start with the sprinter Magnus Bäckstedt, I love watching the biggest, heaviest cyclist mix it up with the smaller sprinters. He is a hulk of a man and not seeing him in Liquigas Green will make him less hulk-like, but that doesn’t change his speed.

David Millar, previously banned for using performance enhancing drugs, is known for his time trial riding. While I have mixed emotions about Millar, knowing that he is riding for the “strictest” team in professional cycling gives me some hope that doping allegations will stay away for the entire ride

David Zabriskie, another time trialer and interesting character to boot, just joined Team Garmin-Chipotle, which happened after some of the Tour preview magazines were printed. Zabriskie is a strong American rider, who became the third American to ever wear the maillot jaune1. A mac user and blogger, David Z should be a fun one to watch this year.

All-rounder Christian Vande Velde, another American, has been tapped by pre-race “captain”. Vande Velde is known for his past performances as a climber, but after a 25th place finish last year, he has real potential to shine outside of the mountain stages.

Team Columbia

Team Columbia (formerly High Road, apparently), has George Hincape, Lance’s chief domestique, who I would think would be the team captain, but all of the signs are pointing to Kim Kirchen, who had a 7th place finish last year.

The team is rounded out with Servais Knaven, a great attack rider, and Bernhard Eisel, a formidable former T-mobile sprinter.

This team is an interesting mix of riders, including World Time Trial Champion, Michael Rogers, who finished 9th in the 2006 Tour, as well as Kanstantsin Svitsov and Linus Gerdemann, who both finished in the top 50 (32nd and 36th respectively).

Individuals to watch

There are several individuals I watch every year, not that they have snowball’s chance in hell, but because they are personalities and riding styles that make the Tour interesting to watch.

Jens Voigt, of CSC2 has been an incredible rider over the past few years, finishing 28th last year. He will take the ballsy moves, like breaking away from the peleton3 and manages to hang on to them as a single rider more often than some semi-organized breakaways. I love his style and to watch him race.

Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole. Thor is a massive man, he and Magnus Bäckstedt are the tallest and heaviest riders, fitting for his namesake. Being a sprinter, it seems counterintuitive to be so large, but his size gives him power and I love to watch him get into it with my next man to watch, Robbie McEwen. Plus, with a name like Thor4, what is there not to love?

Robbie McEwen, Silence-Lotto, has be balls to say he is the fastest sprinter in the world. More often than not he is right. When things work in his favor, he can really cream the rest of the sprinters. Some times (like in 2006), when it gets really tight, McEwen has no problem throwing an elbow or head bump to make sure he wins. His scrappy style and his attitude make him a great rider to watch.

Conclusion

This years Tour is going to be a very interesting one. I am hoping to write and provide the best coverage I can this year. Unlike in previous years, I want to blog daily with results and my thoughts on the race. I hope to make that happen. Any one want to write with me?