The 96th running of the Tour de France began on July 4. Even though cycling legend Lance Armstrong is competing this year, he’s not the favorite according to most oddsmakers.

This Tour de France race will be the first for Lance Armstrong in four years. Armstrong retired from competitive cycling, but made a return to professional racing last year.

Nobody has more Tour de France victories than Lance Armstrong, who has seven. All of those amazing victories came in succession, winning all seven between 1999 and 2005. At age 37, and a cancer survivor, he might not be considered the favorite to win this year’s Tour.

This year’s Tour de France race features 180 riders from 30 different countries. The racers are competing in the premier, three-week cycling showcase.

Cycling News lists all Tour de France race stages – Click here.

By the time the 96th edition of the Tour de France wraps up, it will have taken riders over 2,150 miles, finally ending July 26 in Paris.

Photo courtesy of John Hoeft

When you think of cycling, there is practically no other name that comes to mind other than Lance Armstrong. His legacy in the world of professional cycling will last for many years.

Last fall, Lance Armstrong announced that he was planning to race in the 2009 Amgen Tour of California with the Astana Cycling Team. Amgen is cycling’s most important and successful road race in the United States.

After a three-year hiatus from racing, the world’s reaction was widespread. Some doubted he could regain his championship form, but most others proudly cheered him on. Lance Armstrong, the cycling icon was back.

Just completed, the Amgen Tour of California was Armstrong’s first event on his native soil since the seven-time Tour de France winner began his comeback.

Armstrong announced he will address head-on the suspicions of doping that have followed him for years, by submitting to a rigorous testing regime.

At news conference prior to the start of the Amgen race, Lance stated that he’s “clean as a whistle” and that his mind is “fresh” after a break from cycling. Armstrong continued, “I’m telling you, I’m clean as a whistle, and I think that the testing will prove that.”

Armstrong was the center of attention when four bikes of the Asthana team are stolen in Sacramento. The stolen bikes included a one-of-a-kind 10K dollar bike of Lance. Using the Internet, Lance communicated about the theft to his fans using Twitter. Lance was grateful that the Sacramento police recovered two of the four lost bikes, including his.

The Amgen was won by Lance Armstrong’s Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, who clinched his third straight victory in the Amgen Tour of California.

Lance was born September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas. Cycling was in his blood from an early age.

In 1996, Armstrong made a shocking announcement that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The tumors were well advanced and spread to his abdomen, lungs, and lymph nodes. The testicle was removed, and Lance began his racing comeback.

The most remarkable feat of Lance’s famous career, is how he dominated the Tour de France. The Tour is the toughest and most prestigious cycling event in the world. Armstrong won the premier racing event 7 consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005.

Photo: Graham Watson

The Tour de France is considered to be the greatest cycling race in the world. It got its start in the early 1900s and it didn’t take long before it became fiercely competitive. It attracted thousands of viewers right from the start. Its long legacy of riders going to crazy lengths to win started in 1904 with the first reports of cheating.

The Tour de France was founded by Henri Desgrange. The first Tour de France was in 1903, taking 19 days at six stages and covering 2828 kilometers.

Cyclists were expected to pedal through the night. There were no actual breaks for sleep. Bike changes weren’t allowed. No outside assistance was allowed for repairs and punctures. It was all entirely up to the cyclists.

The race started as a publicity stunt for a French sports newspaper called L’Auto. This was a phenomenal success; it destroyed its competitor, Le Velo. Sixty of the bravest, gutsiest, toughest cyclists of the day started the race.

Maurice Garin dominated the race from the beginning. Garin was nickname the “Chimney Sweep.” He still holds a record today for the win with the greatest margin– a remarkable 2 hours and 49 minutes! More than 20,000 people watched Garin cross the finish line in Paris.

The Tour de France bicycle race has 20 stages, covering over 2,000 miles (3,300 km) through four countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Spain). Racers have to battle the summer heat, long climbs through the Alps and Pyrennes mountains and the taunting and teasing from spectators.

Dress has always been important during the history of the Tour de France. The leader of the race always wears a yellow jersey to show he is the rider to beat while the rider who is leading the mountain portion of the race always wears a red and white polka dot jersey.

Until 1937, racers at the Tour de France were not allowed to use bicycles with systems which allowed them to automatically change gears. Riders had to get off their bikes and turn their wheel around every time the road changed from uphill to downhill.

Since 2000, the Tour de France has been dominated by Lance Armstrong. Lance achieved a record breaking total of seven victories in the Tour de France – the most victories ever by a single rider.

Even more impressive, is he won seven-in-a-row. Despite many setbacks including his bout with cancer, Armstrong shows that focus and precision pay off.

Riding the grueling Tour de France bike race takes strength, stamina — and perhaps a heart nearly 40 percent bigger than normal. Researchers who examined the hearts of former Tour cyclists and bikers found that the athletes’ hearts were from 20 to 40 percent larger than average. Full article