Course: None

Comments: I love professional cycling. I could discuss it for hours. In fact, I was planning to do a long write-up of my predictions for this year's Tour de France. Then I went to Velonews to re-examine the course profiles for the next few days and discovered this article. Holy crap. No Ullrich, no Basso, no Mancebo. There are so many implicated riders on Astana-Wurth, they might kick the whole team out, and then there'd be no Vinokourev either.

So, taking the shake-up into account, here are my predictions:

The Overall, in order:
Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Cadel Evans.
All three riders are good time-trailists and competent climbers. Without Basso and Ullrich to worry about, they should have no trouble placing high. Christophe Moreau, Denis Menchov, and Paolo Salvodelli will be in the mix too. I think Vladimir Karpets and Alejandro Valverde will finish in the top ten, but I think either one would do better if they weren't on the same team. I expect George Hincapie to finish in the top ten, but I don't think he's got what it takes to get on the podium.

The Green Jersey:
If he can finish the race, Tom Boonen should walk away with the Sprint Points trophy. Robbie McEwen will nip at his heels the whole way, and Thor Hushovd should round out the top three.

The Polka Dot Jersey:
I don't see anyone challenging Michael Rasmussen for King of the Mountains. I expect Landis, Leipheimer, and Valverde will finish highly, but they're concentrating on the overall, which is a totally different game. Rasmussen will win be by taking maximum points on the early climbs and purposely fading toward the end of the stage so he's not a threat to the overall.

The Prologue:
I think Dave Zabriskie will win the prologue. He's a time-trail specialist, Ullrich won't be there to challenge him, and Cancellara stayed home. Bradley Wiggins could grab a high spot, but he never seems to ride as well on the roads as he does on the track. World Time-trail champ Michael Rogers is always a threat, but he hasn't seemed sharp this year. As to David Millar, I don't see him being a factor—you don't knock off two years of rust at the Tour de France.

Stage One:
Agritubel Riders will attack all day, but won't get any results. This one will definitely come down to a sprint finish. I think the riders will be nervous and there won't be much organization at the front. That is the ideal situation for a win from Robbie McEwen; he can follow wheels through a crowd like no one's business. I've heard he's not 100%, but I don't think it will make a difference on this stage since it will boil down to craftiness and aggression, which McEwen has in spades.  ¶ 7:43 AM