If you're in the UK, or are an ex-pat, then the great, nail-biting question is: Will Bradley Wiggins be the first Brit ever to win the Tour de France? If he does, it would be a huge boost for the UK Olympic team. So far he's the overall leader, with his fellow cyclist Christopher Froome, also in the Skyprocycling team a close second (just 2 minutes 05 seconds behind him).
The whole race suffered a blow when Luxembourg rider Franck Schleck tested positive to a banned diuretic, but he is strenuously denying knowingly taking the substance. He has left the race and is preparing his defence. He was 12th in this year's race and last year finished third behind his brother Andy Schleck, who was prevented from riding due to injury and
Today Aljeandro Valverde from Spain (Movistar Team) won the day's mountain race from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Peyragudes, with Christopher Froome second and Bradley Wiggins third. They were followed by Thibaut Pinot of France (FDJ - Bigmat), Pierre Rolland of France (Europcar), the Belgian Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol), Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Tejay van Garderen from the USA (BMC Racing).
Tomorrow's race is a long (222.5km/140.1mi) flat race from Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde in the south of France.
The current overall positions of the leading ten riders are:
Bradley Wiggins, Christopher Froome, Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol), Tejay van Garderen from the USA (BMC Racing), Cadel Evans (also in the USA BMC team), Haimar Zubeldia from Luxembourg (Radioshack-Nissan), Janez Brakjovic from Kazakhstan (Astana Pro Team) and Thibaut Pinot of France (FDJ - Bigmat).
I'll be blogging each day from now to the end of the race on Sunday down the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Image: Vincenzo Nibali; Bradley Wiggins; and Christopher Froome at stage 16, Tour de France 2012 © Bryn Lennon/Getty Images Sport
Wow, this paragraph is good, my sister is analyzing these kinds of things, so I am going to tell her.