Sport and Cinema.com

One of the biggest stories of the 2009 Tour de France is that there were NO scandals or drug accusations. Alberto Contador’s 2007 victory was marred by the number of riders excluded for positive drug tests or missed testing during training.

With Stage 1 in the books, who would have thought that Lance’s 10th place finish would be only 4th place for Team Astana. Alberta Contador is on great form, and his climbing abilities in the past tours should make him a formidable foe.

One of the sporting world’s great annual endurance events begins anew. Running from Saturday July 4th to Sunday July 26th, the 96th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages with 180 riders hoping to complete a total distance of 3,500 kilometers (over 2,170 miles).