One week away...

This time next week Nathan and I will be on a plane bound for Paris. It is pretty exciting! Obviously, going to the Tour is going to be great, but it's also nice to be going when my favorite teams/riders are in decent shape. Last year, Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek was already basically out of the race due to crashes at this point. This year, all the RSNT riders are in decent shape with the exception of Chris Horner, but he was sort of marginal to start. Of course it would have been good to have a healthy and on-form Andy Schleck, but you can't have everything. Personally, I'd love to see Andreas Kloden do well this year. I really think the team needs to take good care of him, especially after Cancellara (unfortunately but inevitably) loses the maillot jaune. I'm concerned that all the time trialing in this year's tour is going to take Frank Schleck out of the mix. He can do a lot well, but time trialing just isn't his specialty. Non-RSNT, I am definitely backing Levi Leipheimer. His tour last year was such a disaster, it would be nice to see him stay out of trouble and do something special. I'm also a big fan of Vincenzo Nibali, just because he's such an entertaining and unpredictable rider. Anyway, it's shaping up to be a great Tour this year, and I can't wait to get into the middle of it!