All good things come to a end. Then good things start­ again. Lets let the riders talk with there bikes in­ 2010. And may the best rider win...(and maybe just­ maybe he might be clean)

@Steven You right about tactics, but for tactics you­ need to have strong riders, if main rider dont have a­ strengt, that is over. First, 39 old guy cant beat 27­ years old guy, second, Lance is going to lose time in­ both TT against Contador (team cant help Lance ITT),­ third you sad "Contador­ may be out of contention­ before the Pyrenees even start", in youre dreams­ that will happend, Contador is going to win prologue­ (against all contenders), then he will attack in 8­ stage 5km till the end of stage 8 with single attack(no­ body could follow him) and race will be over for all­ contenders, fourth, Lance buy all riders from Astana to­ build strong team with chance to give all team on TTT­ minimum 1 minute advantage (but TDF2010 dont have TTT,­ sorry Lance :) )

Yo, idiots: Contador's 527 points come from several­ races NOT just the TdF! It's about consistency, not­ just winning one race. But then again, most fanboys­ think there's only the TdF and nothing else­ matters.

Also, please stop quoting Lance's­ twitter feed. It's biased and BS.

Not having Lance on his team will be an asset for­ Alberto.
If Astana can keep two or three Spanish­ climbers on the team to help out Alberto, he will be OK­ in the mountains.
Neither Levi, Andreas, or Lance­ challenged Aberto in this years Tour de France. What­ is it that makes anyone think that it will be different­ in 2010.
I will be pulling for the best rider to win,­ not the smartest tactical rider to win. I hope Lance­ races well as well as Levi, Andreas, Wiggins, and the­ Schleck brothers.
Sciotrader, I think that the best you­ can guarantee is 100%, but you can make Lance an 1.1 to­ 1 favorite to win.

@bobcha78, Ok first no TTT will be a detriment to all­ the teams with the big contenders. Second--this year­ the cobbles come into play--see what happened to Iban­ Mayo in 2004...Lance is a much more tactically­ proficient rider than Contador.. Bruyneel wont be there­ to help Contador. and Support riders count....Contador­ may be out of contention before the Pyrenees even start

I am curious to see how he does without the big­ Domestiques that he had in 2007 and 2009. You have to­ agree that Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloeden, Yaroslav­ Popovich and Lance Armstrong helped him control the­ race in those two victories.. He evidently is going to­ still have Vinokourov on his team but is that enough??

Next year is a different issue. Different team­ different race. They will be climbing the same mountain­ twice this year. I don't care how good he is in the­ mountains. He is going to have to look over his­ shoulder this tour. The Schleck brothers will be right­ there, and I guarantee Lance will be ready and be right­ there too giving Contador all he can handle. The­ question is what kind of team Contador has. From what­ it looks like, the team is nothing compared to what it­ was this year. The other issue is Contador. Contador­ rides for himself and not the team. He rides for the­ glory rather than being a team player. He needs the­ team to work for him in the flat stages and up those­ mountains. Because if the team feels he is in it just­ for himself which he is, he is going to have a hard, ­ Long, Long tour. As Lance said," Hey pistole there­ is no I in team."

Contado is a great rider no one can argue about that. ­ However, this past year showed he still has alot to­ learn. Durring the tour he went against the team plan­ several times and hurt his teams overall time. ­ It's not all about winning rather it's how you­ play that counts. If he does not supprt his teammates­ they may leave him in a bad way. Never rip the legs­ off your teammates, never hurt their chances for a­ better finnish, give them the opertunities to win when­ times comes, and treat them with respect. If he does­ this his team will ride for him with all they have if­ not they will ride for the money only. He will also­ gain hte respect of the other rides and maybe one day­ be given hte honor of the title "The Boss" in­ the tours peleton as Lance was known for seven years.

@ciotrader tell me something, with what will Lance beat­ Alberto in hills? Alberto is better TT rider, better­ hill rider, in TDF2010 is not be TTT, Lance could buy­ every rider on planet, but the most important thing,­ could Lance stay with Alberto when Spanian attacks in­ hills? When Contador do that, he will destroy all 8­ riders in Lance's team, even Lance. I think­ he's team cant help him when that will happend

Contador is only problem to find riders who will ride­ for him on the road without hills, on the hills and­ mountains no body need to suport him, if anyone attack­ him in hills, he would beat anybody on hills

Spain may have won the Triple Crown of cycling. Not­ only did they have the highest ranked individual rider­ and rank highest as a nation, but they may have also­ had the most riders popped for doping (although Italy­ may have given them a run for their money). I agree­ with other posters, Alberto is a phenom, but next year­ will be a tough one for the cocky, whining Spaniard.

Contador showed that he is much stronger than the rest­ of the peleton, but can't do it with a crappy team.­ When Vino tests positive again, the whole team will­ get tossed and Contador's chances will disappear­ along with the dirty Kahzak's washed up career.

It will be a lot harder for him to win next year and­ not just because Lance will be on another team.

That was this year and there was a good reason for­ that....Armstrong & team.
Next year! I'll­ guarantee you 110% that Alberto won't win.