Who will win Tour de France Team AG2R-La Mondiale Team BBox-Bouygues Telecom Team Cofidis
French riders have won the Tour de France 36 times, twice as many as the Belgians, the next country with the most wins. The first edition of the Tour de France, in 1903 included 49 French cyclists and four Belgians. In the first five years, 14 podium spots were taken by French and one by a Belgian. The first Belgian winner was in 1912, the tenth tour, and Belgium maintained a first-place streak for seven years, until French took it back in 1923.
The 2010 Tour de France will include four French teams.
Team AG2R-La Mondiale, led by Nicolas Roche. Current standing: 17 (as of stage two).
Team Leader Roche went home with second and third place finishes in stages last July and will go into the race as one of the team's best chances for a stage win.
"We know we won't be riding for overall victory at the Tour," manager Lavenu told French newspaper L'Equipe. "Nicolas Roche has ambitions in the general classification—measured ambitions of finishing in the top 15.”
Roche was involved in both of the first stage crashes, but remains optimistic.
“I am okay…just some bruises and grazing,” Roche told VeloNation. “It’s nothing too serious…top 20 would have been superb, but I was satisfied enough, time-wise.”
Teammate Rinaldo Nocentini wore the yellow jersey after stage seven of the 2009 Tour de France, after a successful breakaway with fellow teammate Christophe Riblon, who earned the daily combativity award. Nocentini retained the race leadership for eight stages and Ag2r-La Mondiale held the team classification from stage 7 to stage 11 and again after stage 14.
Team BBox-Bouygues Telecom, led by Nicolas Vogondy. Current standing: 20 (as of stage two).
The team competes mainly in French races and has had a near-monopoly on the national championship for several years. In September 2009 Bbox Bouygues Telecom along with Team Cofidis were not allowed to renew their ProTour licenses due to poor results, but with the Union Cycliste Internationale, both teams continued to fight.
"This is crazy," said leader Vogondy after crossing the finish line at the Dauphne this year. "It's like a dream. I don't know what to say. Our Bbox Bouygues Telecom team is going well since the beginning of the season and it goes on here, it's fantastic.”
Vogondy can look forward to the Tour de France six months after a heart condition put his racing career in serious jeopardy. Teammate Voeckler became a national hero when he wore the yellow jersey for 10 days in the 2004 Tour de France while holding the French national championship.
Team Cofidis, led by Samuel Dumoulin. Current standing: 15 (as of stage two).
The team withdrew from the 2007 Tour de France after rider Christian Moreni failed his doping test after the 11th stage of the Tour de France. Moreni acknowledged that his blood contained traces of testosterone.
Cofidis recently received attention after former member David Millar, currently a rider with Team Garmin-Transition, blamed the French team for his two-year ban in 2004 for testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO.
"I considered this team to be my family and they took advantage of that," said Millar, 33, to BBC Scotland. "They slowly corrupted me from being idealistic to being morally corrupted by the goals they were giving me…I had grown up with the team. They were my home away from home. I had gone through the ranks of the team very quickly, a young Scotsman as the leader of the number one French team … They treated me in a way that said 'if you don't do this then you are putting all our jobs at risk, we need you to be performing at your best'. It was slowly chipping away at your soul."
In 2009, the UCI ProTour decided not to renew the team’s ProTour license. The team now competes as a UCI Professional Continental team.
Team Française des Jeux, led by Christophe Le Mevel. Current standing: 14 (as of stage two)
A mostly French team, counting a single Australian among its ranks. In the 2003 edition of the Tour de France, Australian time-trialist Bradley McGee wore the yellow jersey for three days. In the same Tour, sprinter Baden Cooke won the green jersey.
“I want to show that my ranking at the Tour de France was not due to chance,” said team leader Le Mevel. “I have already demonstrated in 2009 that I was worthy of the three best French races: I was 10th in Paris-Nice; Dauphiné Libéré 10th; 10th Tour de France. This season, I will try to do better and I want to be competitive.”
"Our young riders have confirmed their potential success in winning major races: I think the stage victory of Anthony Roux at the Tour of Spain and Jeremy Roy, stage winner at Paris-Nice,” said manager Marc Mariot. “Christophe Le Mevel has also achieved strong performances in the Tour de France. In parallel, the leaders have fulfilled their mission. Like Sandy Casar, they took the whole team up.”
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