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Tour de France: The Contenders

Apart from Alberto Contador, Denis Menchov (RUS/Rabobank) is the only Tour contender in 2009 who has also triumphed in both the three-week Tours of Italy and Spain

  • 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (second left) is one of the favourites to win this year's race
  • Described as the
  • Andy Schleck won the race's white jersey last year for the best placed rider aged 25 and under
  • Apart from Alberto Contador, Denis Menchov (RUS/Rabobank) is the only Tour contender in 2009 who has also triumphed in both the three-week Tours of Italy and Spain
  • As runner-up the past two years, some detractors have already labelled Cadel Evans the Tour's 'nearly man'
  • Carlos Sastre has had a quiet lead-up to the season's big rendez-vous but that does not mean he won't be ready
  • With seven yellow jerseys in his cabinet it is hard not to include Lance Armstrong among the race favourites
  • This year's Tour will be Levi Leipheimer's seventh
  • Andreas Kloden is a two-time podium finisher on the world's toughest bike race
  • The Tour de France has yet to see the best of Michael Rogers, who missed the race last year after a serious crash in 2007

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Apart from Alberto Contador, Denis Menchov (RUS/Rabobank) is the only Tour contender in 2009 who has also triumphed in both the three-week Tours of Italy and Spain

© Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images