Cycling Central

Follow the 2008 Tour de France on every day on SBS TV and follow it online on www.sbs.com.au

As the Giro starts to wind down, and the blog opportunities start to dry up, this might be the best chance to look ahead to the Tour de France and predict the Australians likely to be selected to make it to the start line in Brest on July 5.

Based on form this year, experience in Grand Tours and overall value and reliability, I've come to the conclusion nine Aussies are in the running.

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With an eye to the upcoming Tour de France, Mike Tomalaris spots a rider on the Silence-Lotto team who has the engine to match team leader, Cadel Evans.

It's rare for modern-day pro-cyclist to compete in successive Grand Tours, particularly if they have performed beyond expectations and challenged for top honours on the General Classification.
Take Silence-Lotto's Belgian discovery Jurgen Van Den Broeck and his outstanding performance at the Giro.

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The dispute between the ASO and the UCI has turned the UCI Pro-Tour series into a provberial non-event, with few cycling fans knowing (or caring) who heads the Pro-Tour rankings.

Does anyone know which cyclist is leading the much heralded UCI Pro-Tour - more importantly does anyone care?
It wasn't that long ago (last year) when the Pro-Tour was regarded as the series to end all series - one which produced cycling's greatest all-rounder.
Cadel Evans was the last man to win the UCI Pro-Tour, and rightly so for his performances over the multi-race series - a highly rated series which included all three Grand Tours, namely the Giro, Le Tour and the Vuelta, and prestigious one-day events such as the Paris-Nice and Paris-Roubaix.
Sadly, these events - and many others - are omitted from the 2008 Pro-Tour.

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About this Blog

Stay in touch with the ProTour road cycling season with SBS's cycling blog, featuring race reports, video highlights and blog coverage of every race of 2008, as well as details of SBS's racing coverage.

Mike Tomalaris is SBS's cycling presenter, who has covered the Tour de France for 12 years. Mike is a keen cyclist himself, and covers a few hundred kilometres a week in a social weekend bunch ride. For cycling fans around Australia, Mike Tomalaris is cycling.

 
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