2004 Tour de France Preview

Le Tour. I suppose it is what we have all been waiting for. It is true really. We watch all the other races and enjoy them, but in the back of our minds, it is "Le Tour" that we really think about.

For me, that's tough. As a rider, I raced them all -- all the big races, and each race has it's own personality. But even I must admit, Le Tour was and is always bigger than anything else.

Why? I suppose because it's the oldest and the stories always get magnified because the mountains are bigger, longer and harder, as is the event itself. But you know, actually that's true. Even though I love Paris Roubaix and Le Ronde Van Vlaanderen, "Le Tour" remains something special.

It's hard to explain. I've been there, done it, read the book, own the video (several of them actually), but the Tour just adds a little extra.

Will Lance win again? The great thing about this sport is, toady, I honestly don't know. I hope he does for many reasons. Firstly because there is a huge community out there that is willing him to win. A community bound together by the will to live -- his followers for example, the "cancer survivors" or those stricken with that sick disease.

Secondly, because records are made to be broken. Lance is one of the greats and always will be. Even though Eddy Merckx was the greatest of all time and will never be bettered in my mind, his record at the Tour needs to be beaten. That's what records are for, after all, to be created.

If Lance can beat it, I am sure the first man to congratulate him in Paris will be the King, the King of them all, Eddy Merckx. He will crown the new King of the Tour. But even Lance will never rival "le Cannibale", and that is why he is so good because he has come to respect the Kings of the past.

Let the show begin.