Attention Everybody! It's Tour de France Time!

This year's edition of Le Tour de France is announcing to be a spectacular one. And when I say that, I say it from a variety of reasons. For starters, I would only remind Lance Armstrong. His retirement from sport, after winning the last 7 editions of the competition, will leave the fight open to the new contenders. Once the American dynasty is over, the other riders still in the cycling world will now attack on the mountains with less worry, since the Texas Express won't be troubling them on the last meters of the stages. This way, Ivan Basso, Alexander Vinokourov and Jan Ulrich are announcing to be the main contenders for the final win. Lance Armstrong's former team, Discovery, will have minimal chances to hold on to their title, since neither Vladimir Gusev, nor Paolo Savoldelli or Jose Azevedo seem to be up for the challenge.

Another reason for which this year's edition of Le Tour will be a tensioned one is because of the doping scandal arose a few weeks ago. Also known as the "Saiz affair" - after the name of the person involved - the scandal was centered on the whole Liberty Seguros team. The Manolo Saiz team's sponsor withdrawal gave the Kazakh sponsor Astana to step in the ProTour. Still, after continuing talks with Tour manager Jean-Marie LeBlanc, Astana-Wurth finally got the OK for the race. This way, Vinokourov could continue his quest for a maiden win.

Here are the teams that will participate in this year's edition of Le Tour, leaving you the opportunity to choose the one that will make the best of it after the Armstrong Supremacy.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM

GUSEV Vladimir RUS
DEVOLDER Stijn BEL
BARRY Michaël CAN
SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA
RUBIERA José Luis ESP
POPOVYCH Yaroslav UKR
PADRNOS Pavel CZE
NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin ESP
MARTINEZ Egoi ESP
HINCAPIE George USA
EKIMOV Viatceslav RUS
AZEVEDO José POR

TEAM CSC

CUESTA Inigo ESP
CANCELLARA Fabian SUI
ARVESEN Kurt-Asle NOR
ZABRISKIE David USA
VOIGT Jens GER
VANDEVELDE Christian USA
SCHLECK Frank LUX
SASTRE Carlos ESP
O'GRADY Stuart AUS
LOMBARDI Giovanni ITA
JULICH Bobby USA
BASSO Ivan ITA

T-MOBILE TEA

NARDELLO Daniele ITA
IVANOV Serguei RUS
BERNUCCI Lorenzo ITA
SINKEWITZ Patrik GER
SEVILLA Oscar ESP
ROGERS Michael AUS
MAZZOLENI Eddy ITA
KLÖDEN Andréas GER
KESSLER Matthias GER
HONCHAR Serhiy UKR
GUERINI Giuseppe ITA
ULLRICH Jan GER

AG2R PREVOYANCE

NAZON Jean-Patrick FRA
KRIVTSOV Yuriy UKR
CALZATI Sylvain FRA
USOV Alexandre BLR
MOREAU Christophe FRA
GOUBERT Stephane FRA
GERRANS Simon AUS
DUMOULIN Samuel FRA
DESSEL Cyril FRA
ASTARLOZA Mikel ESP
ARRIETA Jose Luis ESP
MANCEBO Francisco ESP

WÜRTH TEAM

OSA Aitor ESP
BARREDO Carlos ESP
BARANOWSKI Dariusz POL
SANCHEZ Luis ESP
NOZAL Isidro ESP
KASHECHKIN Andrey KAZ
JAKSCHE Jorg GER
DAVIS Allan AUS
CONTADOR Alberto ESP
BELOKI Joseba ESP
BAZAYEV Assan KAZ
VINOKOUROV Alexandre KAZ

GEROLSTEINER

ZBERG Beat SUI
SCHUMACHER Stefan GER
HASELBACHER Rene AUT
WROLICH Peter AUT
WEGMANN Fabian GER
TOTSCHNIG Georg AUT
SCHOLZ Ronny GER
LANG Sebastian GER
KOPP David GER
FOTHEN Marcus GER
FÖRSTER Robert GER
LEIPHEIMER Levi USA

RABOBANK

ELTINK Theo NED
DE GROOT Bram NED
ARDILA Mauricio COL
WEENING Pieter NED
RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN
POSTHUMA Joost NED
FREIRE Oscar ESP
FLECHA Juan Antonio ESP
DEKKER Thomas NED
DEKKER Erik NED
BOOGERD Michael NED
MENCHOV Denis RUS

DAVITAMON - LOTTO

ROESEMS Bert BEL
MERTENS Pieter BEL
DOCKX Bart BEL
VANSUMMEREN Johan BEL
VAN BON Leon NED
STEEGMANS Gert BEL
RODRIGUEZ Fred USA
MC EWEN Robbie AUS
HORNER Christopher USA
BRANDT Christophe BEL
AERTS Mario BEL
EVANS Cadel AUS

PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS

ELMIGER Martin SUI
PENA Victor Hugo COL
MOOS Alexandre SUI
MOERENHOUT Koos NED
MERCKX Axel BEL
MARTIN PERDIGUERO M.Angel ESP
JALABERT Nicolas FRA
HUNTER Robert RSA
GRABSCH Bert GER
LANDIS Floyd USA

LAMPRE-FONDITAL

FIGUERAS Giuliano ITA
CORIONI Claudio ITA
VILA ERRANDONEA Patxi ESP
VALJAVEC Tadej SLO
TIRALONGO Paolo ITA
RIGHI Daniele ITA
COMMESSO Salvatore ITA
BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA
BENNATI Daniele ITA
BALLAN Alessandro ITA
CUNEGO Damiano ITA
CARRARA Matteo ITA

CAISSE D'EPARGNE-ILLES BALEARS

PRADERA Mikel ESP
PEREZ ARRIETA Aitor ESP
JULIA CEGARRA José Cayetano ESP
ZANDIO Xabier ESP
PORTAL Nicolas FRA
PEREIRO SIO Oscar ESP
KARPETS Vladimir RUS
GARCIA ACOSTA Vicente ESP
GALVEZ Isaac ESP
BRARD Florent FRA
ARROYO David ESP
VALVERDE Alejandro ESP

QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC

TRENTI Guido USA
NUYENS Nick BEL
CRETSKENS Wilfried BEL
VERHEYEN Geert BEL
VASSEUR Cédric FRA
TOSATTO Matteo ITA
TANKINK Bram NED
RUJANO José VEN
POZZATO Filippo ITA
GARATE Juan Manuel ESP
DE JONGH Steven NED
BOONEN Tom BEL

CREDIT AGRICOLE

VOGONDY Nicolas FRA
FOFONOV Dmitriy KAZ
BOTCHAROV Alexandre RUS
LE MEVEL Christophe FRA
HUSHOVD Thor NOR
HINAULT Sébastien FRA
HALGAND Patrice FRA
ENGOULVENT Jimmy FRA
DEAN Julian NZL
CHARTEAU Anthony FRA
CAUCCHIOLI Pietro ITA
BODROGI Laszlo HUN

EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI

PENA Aketza ESP
ANTON Igor ESP
ALBIZU Joseba ESP
ZUBELDIA Haimar ESP
VERDUGO Gorka ESP
LOPEZ GARCIA David ESP
LANDALUZE Inigo ESP
ISASI Inaki ESP
HERNANDEZ Aitor ESP
ETXEBARRIA Unai VEN
CAMANO Iker ESP
MAYO Iban ESP

COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE

FERNANDEZ Bingen ESP
BESSY Frédéric FRA
AUGE Stéphane FRA
WIGGINS Bradley GBR
VERBRUGGHE Rik BEL
PARRA Ivan Ramiro COL
MORENI Cristian ITA
COYOT Arnaud FRA
CHAVANEL Sylvain FRA
CASPER Jimmy FRA
BERTAGNOLLI Leonardo ITA
MONCOUTIE David FRA

SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR

GIL PEREZ Koldo ESP
DE LA FUENTE David ESP
COBO ACEBO Juan Jose ESP
VENTOSO Francisco ESP
SIMONI Gilberto ITA
RINERO Christophe FRA
RICCO Riccardo ITA
MILLAR David GBR
LOBATO Ruben ESP
GOMEZ Jose Angel ESP
FRITSCH Nicolas FRA
CANADA David ESP

FRANCAISE DES JEUX

LARSSON Gustav SWE
GUESDON Frédéric FRA
FINOT Frédéric FRA
VAUGRENARD Benoît FRA
MOUREY Francis FRA
MENGIN Christophe FRA
LÖVKVIST Thomas SWE
JOLY Sébastien FRA
GILBERT Philippe BEL
EISEL Bernhard AUT
DA CRUZ Carlos FRA
CASAR Sandy FRA

LIQUIGAS

SPEZIALETTI Alessandro ITA
FAILLI Francesco ITA
ANDRIOTTO Dario ITA
QUINZIATO Manuel ITA
PAOLINI Luca ITA
MUGERLI Matej SLO
GARZELLI Stefano ITA
DI LUCA Danilo ITA
CARLSTRÖM Kjell FIN
CALCAGNI Patrick SUI
BACKSTEDT Magnus SWE
ALBASINI Michael SUI

BOUYGUES TELECOM

MARTIAS Rony FRA
KERN Christophe FRA
FLICKINGER Andy FRA
VOECKLER Thomas FRA
SPRICK Matthieu FRA
ROUS Didier FRA
PINEAU Jérôme FRA
LEFEVRE Laurent FRA
GESLIN Anthony FRA
FEDRIGO Pierrick FRA
BROCHARD Laurent FRA
BENETEAU Walter FRA

TEAM MILRAM

DEN BAKKER Maarten NED
CADAMURO Simone ITA
BECKE Daniel GER
ZABEL Erik GER
VELO Marco ITA
SCHRÖDER Björn GER
SACCHI Fabio ITA
POITSCHKE Enrico GER
ONGARATO Alberto ITA
KNEES Christian GER
GRIVKO Andriy UKR
CELESTINO Mirko ITA

AGRITUBEL

CANOUET Gilles FRA
BUFFAZ Mickaël FRA
BERGES Stéphane FRA
SALMON Benoit FRA
PLOUHINEC Samuel FRA
MERCADO Juan Miguel ESP
MARTINEZ José Alberto ESP
LAURENT Christophe FRA
GONZALO RAMIREZ Eduardo ESP
DUENAS NEVADO Moises ESP
COUTOULY Cédric FRA
CALVENTE Manuel ESP