Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

The 2011 Tour de France will be wide open, even if Alberto Contador manages to escape banishment for using performance-enhancing drugs. Lance Armstrong will not be participating. Andy and Frank Schleck will be looking to win a Tour for Andy. Several other riders, including Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, Samuel Sanchez, Ivan Basso, Alejandro Valverde, Carlos Sastre, Vincenzo Nibali, Christian Vande Velde, Roman Kreuziger, Alexandre Vinokourov, Bradley Wiggins, and Michael Rasmussen, can take the overall prize. If you're interested in next year's route, please click the image in this post. The Tour begins in northwest France, goes south to the Pyrenees, skips east to the Alps, and finishes in Paris. I can't wait.