Paris-Nice 2010: Contador, Schleck Among Big Names Confirmed

Alberto Contador has already made it known that he will return to the Paris-Nice stage race in a few weeks time in hopes of winning the prestigious early season stage race. Also confirmed to start is Saxo Bank star Frank Schleck, who was a hard luck loser in 2009 by only one minute to winner Luis Leon Sanchez of the Caisse d'Epargne team. Paris-Nice, always a nice early season indicator of some of the eventual favorites for the July Tour de France, figures to once again provide cycling fans with a glimpse of some of summer's heavy hitters.

Last year, in one of the most exciting Paris-Nice races in years, Contador famously bonked during stage 7 while wearing the leader's jersey, allowing Leon Sanchez to ride away with the overall. Contador of course bounced back in July to claim his 2nd Tour de France overall, but nevertheless his miscue at Paris-Nice proved for the first time in a long time that even great riders are prone to having bad days on the bike during racing.

The 2010 edition of the race will be hard-pressed to deliver the type of drama that was witnessed in 2009, but a stellar field should ensure good racing throughout the 8 day race. Schleck will be highly motivated to put in a good performance, and Christian Vende Velde will likely take to the start line as well, in hopes of a solid performance to gauge his early season form for his Garmin-Transitions team. Whether Lance Armstrong will race for Radioshack is yet to be determined, but it would not be surprising to see his teammate Levi Leipheimer line up. Leipheimer will be trying for a fourth overall win at the Tour of California in May, and he'll need Paris-Nice as an indicator of his fitness.

Team Sky will likely bring a strong contingent to Paris-Nice as well, with their newly-signed stage race leader Brad Wiggins. The Brit dropped out of the race in 2009 to attend a family funeral, but if he races again in 2010 he'll likely be among the top ten without much of a problem. Finally, one other rider to watch at Paris-Nice will be HTC-Columbia's young stage racer Tony Martin. The German won the mountains classification in 2009 and had a solid ride at the Tour later that summer. He'll be leaned on heavier in 2010 for results, and so he should be highly motivated at Paris-Nice despite the race coming so early in the season.

As we enter a bit of a lull in the International cycling calendar, it is nice to know that the Paris-nice race will commence in just over a month's time. An exciting early season stage race with more meaning than most races during the same time, Paris-Nice will, as it always has, give cycling fans a look into who will be some of the Tour de France protagonists in July.