29 year old Wiggins has always been known as a track star. He is proud owner of 4 medals from the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2 gold medals from the recent Beijing Olympics. Prior to his breakthrough at this year's Tour de France, his major wins have primarily been short time trials or prologues. Now that he's placed 4th, behind Contador, Andy Schleck and Armstrong, everyone expects Wiggins to continue to prove that he's transitioned into being a stage race contender and climber. But I'm not convinced.

Originally from Bend, Oregon, Chris began his career way back in 1995. After a very successful domestic stint, Chris moved across the pond to join the French team, Française des Jeux. Not able to acclimate himself to being away from home or the European scene, Chris returned to American soil and began to dominate the US circuit. He won almost every major race there is to win in America, including duking it out with Lance Armstrong at the 2004 Tour de Georgia and a solid top ten finish at the UCI World Road Race Championships that year. The top Pro teams in Europe noticed again and he was offered a contract to join the Spanish team, Saunier Duval - Prodir. This was Chris' second chance at racing with the big boys, Chris was confident that this time would be a success.

Could it be the caffeine? Some of us drink coffee for the taste without regard to its caffeine content while others drink it especially for the high they may get from the stimulant. This could make sense if you drink coffee during the last part of your ride but it wouldn't make any sense if you drink it before your ride like most people do. So I'm ruling out coffee being used as a jolt of energy.

Coffee even sponsors a cycling team! Credit: Jittery Joe's Cycling

1. Team Astana
It's hard to argue that this is perhaps the greatest team ever assembled on paper for a stage race. Astana included 2 past Tour winner's and 2 past podium finishers. It included some of the best domestiques in the sport, one's that can lead a team themselves if they were not on Astana. But once you get past the list of members, what do you get? You immediately see a lot of conflicts of interest. You see 3 or 4 very competitive riders that are winners in their own right. You have a 7-time Tour winner that believes he can win every time he sets his wheels in France. And you have what people believe is the best stage racer of this generation who has been the hot favorite for this win all along. In a sport that relies heavily on team support, just who would the team look after? Would it be Lance, Alberto, Levi or Andreas? As we saw, the conflict was real, the tension was high and at end, the issue was settled on the bike and not in the press room. As Lance said himself, the strongest rider will be the team leader.

So now the Tour heads into the 3rd and final week and have the Alps looming. This is where the organizers wanted all of the action and this is where we are going to get it. At least I hope. One thing's for sure, there will at least be fireworks between Armstrong and Contador but I am not convinced the other challengers will even come out and have a worthy fight. Astana's tactics might change a little because of the crash and withdrawal of Levi Leipheimer, but I think this will affect Lance more than Alberto as he was one of the trusted riders in Armstrong's circle. Carlos Sastre (Cervelo Test Team) has pretty much already conceded that he will not defend this title thanks to Astana and Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) has remarked that his job is extremely difficult thanks to a poor team time trial. The only people that look ready to fight is Team Saxo Bank. Andy Schleck has already put in a few accelerations while in the Pyrenees to test the legs of his rivals and look poised to strike again. Andy and his older brother Frank are some talent. They are very exciting to watch.

Tomorrow is the 2nd uphill finish for the Tour at Verbier. Action is sure to return, if for no other reason but because it is an uphill finish. Will it just be a battle between the 2 Astana riders or will the Schlecks provide some drama? Evans will surely try something but will it be enough to gain back 3 minutes?

In the mean time, Lance or Alberto? Vote at the top right of the page.

Because of the current state of the economy, the Governor of Missouri is threatening to revoke the money already slotted for this year's Tour of Missouri. As a cycling fan, I think the $1.5 million committment to the sport is a great investment for the state. It not only gives the state national and, more importantly, international notoriety related to tourism but it helps promote a healthy lifestyle that should help the state spend less on health care costs.

Let's do our part as fans of the sport and lobby the Governor to spare this great race. Please click here to read a statement by the state's Lt. Governor (a supporter of the race) and here to directly email the Governor's office.

Update: Just found out the race is a go! Read an article here.

Armstrong's virtual leadership continued in the following day's Stage 4 team time trial. Team Astana dominated the race and as a result put 5 of its riders in the top 10 of the general classification. Armstrong seemed to have put the most effort by taking longer and stronger pulls compared to Contador and seemed to make another statement as to who's the strongest on the team. The drama then shifted to today's Stage 7 ride into the Pyrenees and the summit of the ski station of Andorre-Arcalis.

Soon after the Tour of California ended, it was time to get ready for the baby and for helping my wife around the house as she was getting increasingly immobile. Then once Siena came, the world stopped (though I was catching Universal Sports' coverage of the Giro thanks to DVR). Now that we've started to come into more of a routine, I'll be back at it just in time for the Tour!

Can you feel the excitement already? This will be one of the most watched Tours thanks to you-know-who and all of the expected infighting between his Astana teammates will make for a Tour just as dramatic as LeMond's 1986 win over Hinault.

...On to July 4th when the Tour starts in Monaco.

Despite the bad weather for 3 of the first 4 days, California once again showed the cycling world that it can indeed put on a great show! Sure, there was the "Lance factor" and while no one can deny that, the race has grown enough throughout the last 3 years that it has fans of its own regardless of who decides to race. But it is the cyclists that make the race what it is and this year's field was the best yet! We had an opportunity to see what a field may look like at both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. Whether for training or for winning, no one had a back seat ride in the peloton. If you wanted to finish the stage, you better be at your best.

We saw an aggressive Rock Racing made up of ex-Tour de France caliber riders animating the race from the very first stage. Regardless of what you thought of Francesco Mancebo before, you would have to give him credit for that gutsy solo break on Stage 1 to Santa Rosa. He courageously took the leader's yellow jersey from a sick Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), who had to pull out mid-stage after winning a stunning Prologue the day before.