Tour d'France 2011

Tour d'France 2011 will be a favorite event of many triathletes. It's an opportunity to learn from some of the best cyclists in the world.

When Lance Armstrong was on his amazing run in the Tour d'France over the years, I never missed a stage.

I was in the midst of the most competitive years of my Ironman career as an age-grouper and it was a great opportunity to learn some cycling tips from the best in the world.

I will be the first to admit that I always struggled in the Ironman bike.

It never seemed to matter how many 100-mile rides I did, I just never seemed to be able to figure out the Ironman bike.

Like many Ironmen, I made the transition from a marathoner to an Ironman without knowing a thing about road bikes. As a matter of fact I couldn't swim a stroke either, but that's another story.

It was when I watched the Tour one year and really focused on how exactly Lance was cycling that I was able to become a better cyclist myself.

It was through Lance Armstrong that I finally realized that the spin is the key when it comes to biking a long distance and this is especially true in the Ironman bike when you have to make the transition into a runner almost instantaneously.

I remember sitting with my watch and timing Lance's RPM'S one year when he was climbing the Alps and pulling away from the field as he went on to win the stage that day.

Lance did 28 revolutions.....in the 15 seconds that I timed him. So in other words his Revolutions per minute were an unworldly 112.

Most of the way up the Alps that day he was being chased by a cyclist doing about 70 RPM in a huge gear.

You could just tell the guy was going to blow up because he was expending so much energy. That's exactly what happened and Lance went on to spin his way to the stage win uncontested.

Even though Lance will not be there, will be watching Tour d'France 2011.

There are so many quality cyclists in any Tour d'France that any number of them are capable of winning it all. There are so many variables over such a long event.

The weather, sickness, crashes and just about anything else can happen to effect the Tour d'France 2011 results.

However, here are five that I think might have a good shot at winning this year.

Alberto Contador

Although Alberto came out on top in the Tour of Italy, it could just be his undoing when it comes to the Tour d'France 2011. The last one to pull off wins in both the events was Marco Pantini in 1998.

Yes, he can certainly climb and is awesome in the time trials, but can me maintain the demanding pace the Tour d'France will require day after day without the fatigue factor setting in. He just may come up a bit short.

Ivan Basso

Now here is a perfect example of what I mean. Last year it was Ivan who won the Tour of Italy and simply ran out of gas in France.

His plan was to skip the Italian tour and save himself for Tour d'France 2011, but then he crashed and lost a ton of training time so he is coming in unprepared anyway. I really can't see him winning this year under the circumstances.

Andy Schleck

Andy came very close to winning it all last year and I'm sure many people were picking him as the Tour wound down, but it was not to be.

Although he made the podium it's most likely pretty certain that he will not be happy with "just making the podium" this year.

Just possibly he can stick with Contador through the mountains as he did last year and pounce if Contador runs out of gas like I think he just might.

Andy schleck is my personal pick to win Tour d'France 2011.

Cadel Evans

Is it possible that an Australian will win Tour d'France 2011?

Most likely this is the best chance an Australian will have for a long time to win this Tour. Cadel has finished 2nd twice in France, but always seems to fall a bit short in the mountains.

If he is able to stay close to Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador through the mountains then he will have his shot in the final time trials to win it all. But can he stay close? I'm thinking no, but we will see.

Levi Leipheimer

Levi is a great team rider and was hoping to try and help Lance Armstrong to another win in 2010 but once Lance packed it in, it was too late for Levi to really contest for the overall win.

However he did manage to finish high up in the standings just the same.

Things may be different this year as he is with a very strong Radio Shack team that must might put someone on the podium in Paris.

There are probably over a dozen others that have the skill and strength to win Tour d'France if the top contenders falter just a little.

Really looking forward to seeing how this race will play out.

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