Moreau, Piepoli, Zabel: Their Final Tour de France?

Christophe Moreau, Leonardo Piepoli, and Erik Zabel approach the 2008 Tour de France at the very end of their cycling careers. Each may well continue riding into 2009, but it is unlikely that each will be able to make the cut for the Grande Boucle again.

Few people associate or remember Moreau as part of the tainted Festina team of 1998

At 37, Moreau has gone from a yearly top French contender in the Tour to a wild card candidate over the past few seasons. A strong, sturdy pro, Moreau may have not been the strongest rider most of the time, but when he was on, he was as good an elite stage racer as any other rider. The defending French National champ will try to win his national championship again ahead of the Tour so that he can wear French colors in his final year as a Tour de France participant.

Piepoli is a pure climber and a huge asset to a GC hope

Piepoli probably has one or two more Giro's in him, but it is unlikely that we'll see him at the Tour de France after this year. He's an aging mountain goat who can still be an asset once a year in a grand tour, and he'll end up finishing his career in the Giro d'Italia in one or two more seasons. The only reason he's even riding this year's Tour is due to his crashing out of the Giro. He is still relatively fresh, and the 36year old should be able to go top three or better in at least one of the mountian stages.

While at Telecom, Zabel was able to coexist with perrenial runner-up and grand tour contender Jan Ullrich

Erik Zabel has done pretty much everything there was to do in his career. For a pure spinter, he was miraculously durable and scrappy when he needed to be. He's an accomplished track rider, and has an affinity for the bike that few others can match. Despite his doping confession, the 37 year old remains one of the most talented sprinters of his generation. Taking all that into consideration, it seems that of the three riders mentioned here, Zabel is the best hope for a stage win.

Even if each rider fails in his quest for one more big time win in a Tour de France, it won't matter. Their legacies have been cemented into cycling's history books regardless of whether they succeed in this year's Tour or not. Hopefully though one of them will catch lightning, and wow their tifosi one more time.