What Are Lance Armstrong's Chance of Winning the 2010 Tour De France?

The toughest test in all of sports begins today with the 2010 Tour De France. Honestly, if you are a casual fan of cycling like myself, the only cyclist you know Lance Armstrong. No doubt, Armstrong is one of the greatest champions of the event. He is the only seven time consecutive winner of the race. It is an incredible feat. Armstrong himself created a dynasty for the event. His individual accomplishment is comparable to the consecutive champions won by such teams as the Montreal Canadiens, New York Yankees, Boston Celtics, and Green Bay Packers to name a few.

The 2010 Tour De France begins on July 3rd with the Prologue in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. After the Prologue there are twenty stages of the Tour De France that will cover a distance of 3642 kilometers. According to the official website of the Tour De France, nine stages will be raced on flat surfaces, six stages are mountain stages with three stage finishing at the summit, four medium mountain stages, and one individual time-trial stage. For the 2010 Tour De France, eleven new cities have been added to the event. Those cities are Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, Bourg-de-Péage, Bourg-lès-Valence, Gueugnon, Longjumeau, Pamiers, Pauillac, Sisteron, Station des Rousses, Tournus, Wanze (Belgium). The Prologue is the shortest distance stage at 8.9 kilometers. The longest stage is Stage 6, Montargis to Gueugnon which covers 227.5 kilometers. The race is competed in twenty-two days. The final stage is Stage 20, Longjumeau to Paris Champs-Élysées on Sunday, July 25th.

Lance Armstrong official retired for the first time from competitive cycling after winning his seventh consecutive Tour De France in 2005. On September 9, 2008, Lance Armstrong announced to the world he would return to competitive cycling and compete in the 2009 Tour De France. At his press conference and on his livestrong.org website, he stated, "after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden". In the 2009 Tour De France, Armstrong finished 3rd. Last year's winner was Alberto Contador of Spain.

This year, Lance seems very focused and determined to return to the winners circle. He is racing for a new team, Team RadioShack. According to his Twitter page, the 2010 Tour De France will be his last. He has accomplished so much including beating cancer. You cannot help but root for him. I admit, I own a Livestrong bracelet and I wear it because of the message to promote cancer awareness. Many of us have lost family members and friends to cancer. What Lance Armstrong did in winning the Tour De France seven times is amazing. All of the cyclists in the race are battling some tough physical and mental elements. Lance will certain face some tough competition this year. Among those top competitors are defending champion Alberto Contador, Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland (Winner of the 2010 Prologue), Tony Martin of Germany, and David Millar of Great Britain. There are over 197 competitors competing for the title.

If you are wondering where you can watch the Tour De France on American TV, go to the Versus Network.  Versus will show both live and taped coverage of the Tour De France.  Live coverage will take place in the morning American time.  There will be taped coverage 8PM Eastern/7PM Central time in primetime.  For more information on Tour De France coverage, go www.versus.com.  Please be sure to check with your local cable or satellite provider.  I have Directv and Versus is Channel 603. 

The big question is whether Lance Armstrong win for the eighth time?  Well, after the Prologue, he finished fourth and was ahead defending champion Alberto Contador.  Lance is in a good position to begin the 2010 Tour De France. He is determined and focused to win again.  I feel he has something more to prove to all of us.  So, if you are fan of Lance Armstrong, it is time to root for him one more time in cycling's biggest race.