Team RadioShack's Levi Leipheimer has announced the key races he will be using for his build-up to the 2010 Tour de France via his Twitter account today. Leipheimer's tweets outline the use of week-long stage races to gain form for July, including the Tour of Algarve, Paris-Nice, the Tour of California which now takes place in May, and the Dauphiné Libéré. Leipheimer will be riding for his fourth win in the Tour of California, a race that has grown dramatically each year in both viewership and talent since its inception in 2007.
The American is expected to be an integral part of teammate Lance Armstrong's bid for an eighth Tour de France crown. Last year Armstrong said that the new RadioShack team wasn't built around him. His statement would indicate that the team's efforts to dethrone reigning Champion and former teammate Alberto Contador could give Leipheimer his freedom come July.
The RadioShack team will also look to German Andreas Klöden for a three-pronged attack on the race when team manager Johan Bruyneel, the mastermind behind a total of nine Tour de France victories, puts his tactical skills to the ultimate test in the event later this year.
With the Belgian at the helm, all three riders have the potential to win the Tour against the likes of Contador and Andy Schleck, however that scenario is likely to require two riders to sacrifice themselves one hundred percent. The road is often cruel, and with the competition for yellow at such a high level in 2010, it may not allow RadioShack a choice in their eventual leader.
It's obvious that Armstrong is out to prove he can stand on the Tour's top step once again, however he has also stressed the importance of being a team player in recent months. His comments on the matter were directed at ex-teammate Contador's lack of crediting the team for help with his second Tour win. The resulting war of words could also see the Texan proving something else: that he will dutifully deliver Leipheimer or Klöden in the Tour de France, no regrets.