London gears up for start of most open Tour in recent times

Cycling: Floyd Landis is still in limbo as regards charges he used doping products during the race but runner-up, and thus possible 2006 Tour victor, Oscar Pereiro is in London for today's start of the 2007 race.

He will line out alongside Caisse d'Epargne team-mate Alejandro Valverde for the three-week event.

Past injury means Valverde is yet to finish the Tour but he certainly has the potential to win. Pereiro hasn't shown strong form yet this season but the two together will be a strong package. They will face the double-whammy of Astana co-leaders Alexandre Vinokourov and last year's third-place rider Andreas Klöden, regarded by many as the strongest favourites.

Other top contenders include Spaniard Carlos Sastre (CSC, fourth in 2006), Cadel Evans (Predictor Lotto, fifth), Denis Menchov (Rabobank, sixth), Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) and Michael Rogers (T-Mobile). Frenchman Christophe Moreau (AG2R) is nearing retirement but a strong win in the recent Dauphiné Libéré means he too is a big gun in what is the most open Tour in many years.

The 3,554 kilometre race gets under way today with a 7.9 kilometre prologue in London. British riders Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) and David Millar (Saunier Duval) are aiming to win on home soil. Following the first stage proper from London to Canterbury, the riders head to France via Belgium - Ghent is the finish on day three - and will tackle mainly flat stages until the first big mountains on stage seven.

The stages to Le Grand Bournand, Tignes and Briançon will give a clearer indication of the real contenders before the race returns to flatter terrain on stages 10 through to 12.

The following day sees the next big target for the favourites with a 54 kilometre time trial in and around Albi. Three Pyrenean mountain stages follow, to Plateau de Beille, Loudenvielle-Le Louron and the Col d'Aubisque and with two being summit finishes, these will narrow the list of those in the running.

Stages 17 and 18 are mainly flat and will favour the sprinters or the breakaway riders, then the general classification contenders spring back into the frame again on Saturday, July 28th, with their big showdown.

The Cognac-Angôuleme time trial is 55.5 kilometes in length and will essentially determine the final finishing order in the race.

After that there remains only the concluding stage from Marcoussis to Paris, where the riders will do 12 laps of the Champs Elysées circuit and bring the Tour to a close.