The 99th edition of the Tour de France begins on June 30, 2012, in Liège, with an opening prologue followed by 20 road stages before the race reaches Paris on July 22.
The route places unusual weight on racing against the clock, with a 6.4 km prologue and two individual time trials of 41.5 km and 53.5 km. The mountains remain important, including finishes at La Planche des Belles Filles, La Toussuire and Peyragudes, but more than 100 km of individual time trialing gives the race a markedly different balance from many recent editions.
The general classification begins without two of the riders who have dominated its recent history. Alberto Contador is serving a retroactive two-year suspension after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules against him in February, stripping his 2010 Tour victory and awarding the title to Andy Schleck. Schleck, however, is also absent after fracturing his pelvis in a crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Their absence reshapes the race around defending champion Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins, who arrives with the strongest season of his career.
Wiggins enters as the pre-race favorite after winning Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné, with the long time trials particularly suited to his strengths. Evans remains the proven benchmark after his 2011 victory and comes to Liège as Wiggins's principal rival. Vincenzo Nibali leads Liquigas-Cannondale as another established Grand Tour contender, while recent Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal, Denis Menchov, Fränk Schleck and Jurgen Van den Broeck add depth to a field that looks more open beyond the leading pair. Team Sky also brings Chris Froome, runner-up at the 2011 Vuelta a España, as a key climbing lieutenant for Wiggins.
The points competition brings a different kind of uncertainty. Defending green jersey winner Mark Cavendish joins Wiggins at Team Sky, but acknowledges that the team's Tour ambitions are centered on the general classification and arrives with the London Olympics only days after the race finishes. André Greipel brings one of the strongest dedicated sprint trains, while 22-year-old Peter Sagan makes his Tour debut after a prolific spring that immediately places him among the leading contenders for green.
