2010 TOUR DE FRANCE
What: The 97th Tour de France cycling race, 2,663 miles beginning with a prologue today in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and ending in Paris on July 25.
Stages: 20 of them, including nine flat ones, six mountain stages, four medium mountain stages and one individual time trial.
Last year: Alberto Contador won for the second time in three years, marking the fourth year in a row the winner was from Spain (Oscar Pereiro won in 2006, Carlos Sastre in '08).
Five riders to watch: Contador, of Team Astana, is the odds-on favorite, but he will rely on a new group of support riders. Every rider who helped him win in 2009 is with Lance Armstrong's Team RadioShack. Armstrong, of course, is trying for his eighth championship, but this one would be at age 38. BMC Liquigas' Ivan Basso is back at the Tour for the first time since finishing second to 2005; he completed a two-year suspension for doping a year ago. Cadel Evans is a two-time podium finisher at the Tour. Saxo Bank's Frank Schleck won the Tour of Switzerland in June, beating Armstrong by 12 seconds.
TV: Versus is carrying the Tour for the 10th year in a row, with live racing in the morning and a three-hour recap in the evening. Today's coverage begins at 10:30 a.m.
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