The 2009 Tour de France preview.

Here we are again, that time of year when the worlds greatest annual sporting event takes place.

Le Tour.

Since Christian Prudhomme took over as race director in 2005 he has sought to make the tour better every year. He has modified the format, created brilliant stages and taken a tough stance on drugs. He is an ex TV journo, so he realises that for the viewer at home the scenery can be used as a major spectacle. He also knows the value of close racing and with carefully constructed stages and by removing time bonuses and has sought to make things very tight, the last two years the margin after 3 weeks of racing has been under 1 minute - i think he has succeeded! This year the tour will have perhaps one of its most fascinating conclusions with the penultimate days racing finishing on the summit of the famed mount Ventoux - one of the most imposing climbs that has ever featured on the Tour. Having a mountain top finish so close to the end of the race will ensure an all out war on the 25th of July to decide the winner.

The Route.

Starting in Monaco on July 4th the Tour will visit a total of six nations: Monaco, France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy. The total length is 3,445 kilometres.

This year the tour features:

2 Individual Time Trials (15km and 40km)
1 Team Time trial
10 Flat Stages
1 Intermediate Stage
7 Mountain Stages (3 uphill finishes)

The year we have the re-introduction of the team time trial which has not been seen since 2005. The Total distance of the time trials featured is just 93 km - the shortest amount of time trialing in the tour since 1967. With only 55km of individual time trials we see Prudhomme working to negate the advantge of the strong time triallers and reduce the gaps between the competitors - it really will come down to the mountains.

The Competitors

This year of course sees the return of the King, Lance Armstrong. The seven time winner is joined in the field by past winners Alberto Contador, Carlos Sastre & Oscar Periero. Highlighting the strength of this years field are Andreas Kloden & Cadel Evans who have both finished second twice and Ivan Basso who was second to Lance in 2005. Then we have Levi Leipheimer, Dennis Menchov & Basso have also stood on the 3rd placegetters position on the podium in the past. This is a marvelous line up.

The sprinters, the Climbers, the Aussies!

Over the next week, Mattopia will preview all the teams, the leading contenders for each jersey, the aussies and of course we will have a stage by stage preview with results.

Check back daily as the build up to the tour begins!