Massive weekend of racing!

This weekend see's some massive racing! First up is the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt. This is one of the biggest, fastest races in Europe, and in Germany it is a BIG deal! It consistently boasts a classy field, and in Germany the event is given all day live coverage, can you imagine that? If only the rest of the world would follow suit! Expect a fast race with several return champions. The men's race will include: Timo Bracht, Chris McCormack, Cameron Brown, Andreas Raelert, Patrick Vernay, among others. On the ladies side there is Sandra Wallenhorst, Yvonne Van Vlerken, Jo Lawn, Nicole Leder and Caroline Steffen

Next up is Ironman Austria. While probably not as huge as its neighbour to the north, IM Austria is another fast race with some gorgeous scenery (I know, I've done it!). Watch out for Marino Vanhoenacker who is attempting his fifth straight victory. He'll have to contend with some up and coming pro's (James Cunnama, Stephen Bayliss, Norbert Langbrandtner and Massimo Cigana), but no real rock stars, my money is on Marino to take the title. The ladies will see Bella Bayliss line up to defend her title. She'll be up against Rebecca Preston, Kathrin Paetzold and Eva Dollinger, my money is on Bella to rip it up again.

Oh, and there's the small matter of the Tour de France! As if the race itself weren't epic enough, with 20 stages covering the circumfrence of France (besides the Prologue which is in Rotterdam), what will really make this race fun to watch is the rivalry between Armstrong and Contador. Though they rode on the same team last year, their rivalry and internal strife on the Astana team was no secret. Just days before Contador's victory, Armstrong announced that he and most of the Astana team members were leaving to form Team Radioshack. This year sees Contador with a new bevy of riders on Astana, including Alexandre Vinokourov - the past leader of the Astana team before serving a 2-year doping suspension that started in 2007. Armstrong's announcement that this will indeed be his last TDF (rumour is he's doing an Ironman next year!), and it's more clear than ever that he's going for the win. Throw in all the other tour riders, each team with its own celebrities and add a dash of (new, but not so new) doping allegations courtesy of Floyd Landis (plus whatever else will inevitably come up), and we've got a month-long cycling soap opera to sit back and enjoy! Train smart all!