We are just hours away from the start of the 2010 Tour de France with the prologue stage around the streets of Rotterdam.  Tour fever is at its peak as we await one of the most hotly contested Tours in years - or is it?  Lets take a look at the teams and favourites for this years Tour.

Astana
Alberto Contador Velasco (ESP), David De La Fuente Rasilla (ESP), Andriy Grivko (UKR), Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (ESP), Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ), Daniel Navarro Garcia (ESP), Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (ESP), Paolo Tiralongo (ITA), Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ)

Last years champion Alberto Contador returns to the roads of France looking slightly more vulnerable than last year following some uncharacteristic shaky performances.  2nd at the Criterium du Dauphine in early June was a strange slipup for the Spaniard which doubtless his competitors picked up on.  Backing him up is a much stronger team than was first expected.  Trusted long-term lieutenants Daniel Navarro and Benjamin Noval have got him to the finish line in yellow before but this year he can count upon the support of Alexandre Vinokourov.  Returning to the Tour for the first time since his suspension following a positive dope test at the 2007 Tour.  Vino has had a good 2010 winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and finishing 6th in the Giro d’Italia.

When Contador decided to stay with Astana this year we thought it was a mistake but he arrives at the start line in Holland with a strong team, but probably not the strongest!  Slightly more vulnerable than 2009 when his teammates were instrumental in getting him to the finish line in 1st (no matter what he himself claimed) look for the other teams to push him to the limit this year.

Ag2r-La Mondiale
Maxime Bouet (FRA), Dimitri Champion (FRA), Martin Elmiger (SUI), John Gadret (FRA), David Le Lay (FRA), Lloyd Mondory (FRA), Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA), Christophe Riblon (FRA), Nicolas Roche (IRL)

2009 was a dream race for Ag2r.  French teams covet stage wins and the yellow jersey and when Rinaldo Nocentini took the yellow jersey and held it for 8 stages he probably ensured the teams survival such was the exposure.  For 2010 the team leader on the road is one Nicolas Roche, the only Irish man in the Tour.  No longer Irish champion, Roche will look to stage wins, something he was incredibly close to last year with a 2nd and 4th place to his credit despite having to protect Nocentini.

Bbox-Bouygues Telecom
Yukiya Arashiro (JPN), Anthony Charteau (FRA), Pierrick Fedrigo (FRA), Cyril Gautier (FRA), Pierre Rolland (FRA), Mathieu Sprick (FRA), Sébastien Turgot (FRA), Thomas Voeckler (FRA), Nicolas Vogondy (FRA)

Thomas Voeckler leads this French team on the road who doubtless will focus on stage wins given the strength of other teams but will attempt to take the maillot jeune for a day or two given half the chance.

BMC Racing
Alessandro Ballan (ITA), Brent Bookwalter (USA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Cadel Evans (AUS), Mathias Frank (SUI), George Hincapie (USA), Karsten Kroon (NED), Steve Morabito (SUI), Mauro Santambrogio (ITA)

Nearly man Cadel Evans shocked the world last year by blasting clear of the field to become World Champion late last year. The Australian had a desperate Tour finsihing a lowly 30th and finally jumped ship from Lotto, landing much to the surprise of the Worlds media at BMC.  The team set about building a serious squad for Evans who has had a good season so far with some good performances at the Giro.  One of the first signings was experienced super-domestique George Hincapie who jumped ship from HTC-Columbia.  This is likely to be Hincapie’s last Tour he has after all done 15 of them (including this year).  The American Champion missed out on the maillot jeune by the smallest of margins when the Peloton led by Garmin chased down his lead.  Hincapie was certain that his old friend Armstrong was involved (something that was later proved to be false) but it was probably the reason he is not riding for Radioshack.  His experience could be crucial for Evans.  Joining him on the squad are experienced riders such as Morabito, Kroon, Ballan and Burghardt.  BMC could be a surprise package this year.

Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
Stéphane Auge (FRA), Samuel Dumoulin (FRA), Julien El Fares (FRA), Christophe Kern (FRA), Sébastien Minard (FRA), Amaël Moinard (FRA), Damien Monier (FRA), Rémi Pauriol (FRA), Rein Taaramäe (EST).

Making up the numbers Cofidis will be looking for stage wins and to get into breakaways.

Cervélo TestTeam
Xavier Florencio Cabre (ESP), Volodymir Gustov (UKR), Jeremy Hunt (GB), Thor Hushovd (NOR), Andreas Klier (GER), Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU), Brett Lancaster (AUS), Daniel Lloyd (GB), Carlos Sastre Candil (ESP)

Former Tour champ Carlos Sastre arrives with a relatively strong team seemingly well prepared but with the loss of Heinrich Haussler to injury faces a tough challenge.  Hushovd will be focused on another Green jersey and has a serious shot.

Euskaltel-Euskadi
Iñaki Isasi Flores (ESP), Egoi Martinez De Esteban (ESP), Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (ESP), Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP), Ruben Perez Moreno (ESP), Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (ESP), Amets Txurruka Ansola (ESP), Ivan Velasco Murillo (ESP), Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (ESP)

The Basque hard men will make their usual attempts in the Pyrennes but may do better this year thanks to the lack of timetrials and in particular team timetrials.

Française des Jeux
Sandy Casar (FRA), Rémy Di Gregorio (FRA), Anthony Geslin (FRA), Matthieu Ladagnous (FRA), Christophe Le Mevel (FRA), Anthony Roux (FRA), Jérémy Roy (FRA), Wesley Sulzberger (AUS), Benoît Vaugrenard (FRA)

Some strong riders here but we are begining to sound like a broken record.

Footon-Servetto
Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (ESP), Eros Capecchi (ITA), Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (POR), Giampaolo Cheula (ITA), Arkaitz Duran Aroca (ESP), Markus Eibegger (AUT), Fabio Felline (ITA), Iban Mayoz Etxeberria (ESP), Rafael Valls Ferri (ESP)

A new team of largely unknown riders anything is possible.

Caisse D’Epargne
Imanol Erviti Ollo (ESP), Rui Alberto Faria Costa (POR), Jose Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (ESP), Vasil Kiryienka (BLR), Christophe Moreau (FRA), Mathieu Perget (FRA), Ruben Plaza Molina (ESP), Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (ESP), Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (ESP)

Following the suspension of Alejandro Valverde, Caisse D’Epagne has been left with a huge hole in its roster.  Luis Leon Sanchez will aim to lead the team on the road.

Garmin-Transitions
Julian Dean (NZL), Tyler Farrar (USA), Ryder Hesjedal (CAN), Robert Hunter (RSA), Martijn Maaskant (NED), David Millar (GBR), Christian Vande Velde (USA), Johan Vansummeren (BEL), David Zabriskie (USA)

The rearly team lost one of its star riders from last year Bradley Wiggins and once again Christian VandeVelde will try and aim for a top finish, if that is he can stay in one piece.  With a lack of time trials Zabriskie will be on domestique duties along with most of the other stars.  Tyler Farrar has an outside shot at the Green jersey if he can make Paris and Cav and Hushovd fail to perform .

Katusha
Pavel Brutt (RUS), Serguei Ivanov (RUS), Vladimir Karpets (RUS), Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS), Robbie McEwen (AUS)
Alexandre Pliuschin (MDA), Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (ESP), Stijn Vandenbergh (BEL), Eduard Vorganov (RUS)

The Russian team has largely failed to perform since its inception sespite some good riders.

Lampre-Farnese Vini
Grega Bole (SLO), Damiano Cunego (ITA), Mauro Da Dalto (ITA), Francesco Gavazzi (ITA), Danilo Hondo (GER), Mirco Lorenzetto (ITA), Adriano Malori (ITA), Alessandro Petacchi (ITA), Simon Spilak (SLO)

Some good riders on this Italian squad - Cunego and Petacchi have the goods but are sporadic.

Liquigas-Doimo
Ivan Basso (ITA), Francesco Bellotti (ITA), Kristjan Koren (SLO), Roman Kreuziger (CZE), Aleksandr Kuschynski (BLR)
Daniel Oss (ITA), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), Sylwester Szmyd (POL)Brian Bach Vandborg (DEN)

No Nibali  and no Pellizotti will hurt them but Liquigas have a decent squad.  Basso is back on form following his victory at the Giro but can he do the double?  The real contender may be Roman Kreuziger who hinted at his role at the team press conference.  It will take a tough campaign from the team to get Basso to the finish in one piece but Kreuziger may have a shot.

Milram
Gerald Ciolek (GER), Johannes Fröhlinger (GER), Linus Gerdemann (GER), Roger Kluge (GER), Christian Knees (GER), Luke Roberts (AUS), Thomas Rohregger (AUT), Niki Terpstra (NED), Fabian Wegmann (GER)

Stage wins and breakaways are the domain of this team who can mix it up in the sprints too.

OmegaPharma-Lotto
Mario Aerts (BEL), Francis De Greef (BEL), Mickael Delage (FRA), Sebastian Lang (GER), Matthew Lloyd (AUS), Daniel Moreno Fernandez (ESP), Jürgen Roelandts (BEL), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (BEL), Charles Wegelius (GBR)

See above…

Quick Step
Carlos Barredo Llamazales (ESP), Sylvain Chavanel (FRA), Kevin De Weert (BEL), Dries Devenyns (BEL), Jérôme Pineau (FRA), Kevin Seeldraeyers (BEL), Jurgen Van De Walle (BEL), Wouter Weylandt (BEL), Maarten Wynants (BEL)

The loss of Boonen to injury could actually help Chavanel but the French man is probably past it at this stage.

Rabobank
Lars Boom (NED), Oscar Freire Gomez (ESP), Juan Manuel Garate Cepa (ESP), Robert Gesink (NED), Denis Menchov (RUS), Koos Moerenhout (NED), Grischa Niermann (GER), Bram Tankink (NED), Maarten Tjallingii (NED)

The 2009 Giro winner, Menchov, has been largely silent since his win in Rome but surely has been cooking things up fo ra  serious attempt at the Tour.  An unknown but could be impressive, some good riders here.

RadioShack
Lance Armstrong (USA), Janez Brajkovic (SLO), Chris Horner (USA), Andreas Klöden (GER), Levi Leipheimer (USA), Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ), Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (POR), Yaroslav Popovych (UKR), Grégory Rast (SUI)

Lots of riders in this team are individual stars in themselves and can step into the breach should the unthinkable happen to team leader Lance Armstrong.  This will be the 7 time Tour winners final crack at the mailot jeune (although not road racing) and he means it this time.  The Texan is looking strong and has built this team and his season around the next three weeks.  He did not like standing on a lower step of the podium last year and the unquestioned King of the Tour will be giving his all.

Horner has had a fantastic year taking the Tour of the Basque country with some style.  Brajkovic took the Criterium du Dauphine from Contador and is also going particularly well.  Leipheimer has had a quiet season - so far and could step into the breach should Armstrong falter as could Kloden.  Look for the Shack to have a big impact come the high mountains and to play lots of games with Contador and Schleck.  Last years echelon break nearly decided the Tour and the opening stages allow for this to happen again.  We don’t think Contador will be caught napping again but you never know.

Saxo Bank
Matti Breschel (DEN), Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), Stuart O’grady (AUS), Andy Schleck (LUX), Fränk Schleck (LUX), Chris Anker Sørensen (DEN), Nicki Sørensen (DEN), Jens Voigt (GER)

The only team that can match Radioshack for strength Saxo is in its final year with this configuration as the Luxemburgers will be departing at the end of the season.  Andy Schleck will likely lead on the road backed up by his brother in the mountains.  Today Cancellara is the favourite to try for the yellow jersey, remember he held it for 6 days last year.  Did this take a toll on the team though as they helped defend it?  The Tour is a long race and perhaps this takes it away from them come the high mountains.  Jens Voigt, Breschel and the Sorensen are good riders in themselves and Fugslang is a former mountain biker who can climb really well.  We think this is possibly the team to watch.

Sky
Michael Barry (CAN), Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR), Stephen Cummings (GB), Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (ESP), Simon Gerrans (AUS), Thomas Lövkvist (SWE), Serge Pauwels (BEL), Geraint Thomas (GB), Bradley Wiggins (GB)

Last year Bradley Wiggins pulled out a fine 4th place overall, a surprise to many but the many time Olympic Champion has had this team built around him since leaving Garmin.  There are some seasoned campaigners in the squad like Flecha, Lövkvist and Barry aswell as young rising star Boasson Hagen.  Can Wiggins pull it off again though?  Doubtless he will be well marked this year and we would not be surprised to see Garmin in particular watching every move.

HTC-Columbia
Mark Cavendish (GB), Bernhard Eisel (AUT), Bert Grabsch (GER), Adam Hansen (AUS), Tony Martin (GER), Maxime Monfort (BEL), Mark Renshaw (AUS), Michael Rogers (AUS), Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR)

The fastest man in the world is back at the Tour.  Mark Cavendish has had a poor year by his standards with only a handful of wins.  Dental surgery at the start of the year has been plamed for this along with the loss of his leadout man Bernie Eisel to injury but the Austrian is back to full fitness for the Tour.  With Renshaw in the squad too it is looking good for the Manx flyer.  Actually we think that his early season form was intentional.  Cavendish could have a shot at the World Championship this year and could be hedging his form to peak now and for the Worlds.  He was fatigued at the end of last season.  For the record we think he deserved the Green jersey last year.  His relegation for blocking in Hushovd on a stage was unwarrented we thought.

For the overall Tour of California champ Michael Rogers and Tony Martin will be in contention but the team is likely to be too focused on Cav to give them the support they need.