As much as the route of this year’s Tour de France looks a departure from what we’d normally expect, the list of riders that could potentially win should make this the most exciting race for years.

With the return of Lance Armstrong, coming back to the sport after a few years out, all attention will undoubtedly be focused on him. But there’s a large question mark hanging over his head regarding his form. Someone whose form is not in doubt is that of 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador, who was forced to sit out last year’s Tour and will be settling for nothing less than outright victory. And let’s not forget 2008 winner, Carlos Sastre, who is riding for the new but already-quite-successful Cervelo TestTeam.

There’s also some talented younger riders rising through the ranks, most noticeably Andy Schleck. He was immensely strong on the decisive Alpe d’Huez stage in the 2008 Tour de France, helping Carlos Sastre to his maiden victory. Aiming to complete his first Tour and with it claim the green jersey is Mark Cavendish, a rider it seems no one is able to beat.

There’ll be 20 teams taking to the start line in Monaco when the race gets underway on Saturday 4 July, here’s the full list of teams and riders.

Astana

This is the team that most riders, spectators and rival riders and team managers, will be keeping a close eye on. With 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador on the form of his life at the moment, and Lance Armstrong having seemingly made an impressive return to racing after three years away, but there are still question marks over the Texan rider’s form. With Johan Bruyneel at the helm and a deep resource of talented riders, this is the team to beat.

Alberto Contador
Lance Armstrong
Levi Leipheimer
Andreas Kloden
Dmitriy Muravyev
Sergio Paulinho
Yaroslav Popvych
Gregory Rast
Haimar Zubeldia

Cervelo TestTeam

The newly formed Cervelo TestTeam has rocketed from nowhere to take many victories in 2009 with some choice riders picked up at the end of last season. All eyes will be on Sastre and whether the young team has the depth and experience required to pull together and take the Spanish to his second Tour de France win.

Haussler and Hushovd will be two to look out for in the sprints and in the green jersey competition.

Carlos Sastre
Iñigo Cuesta
Volodymir Gustov
José Angel Gomez Marchante
Heinrich Haussler
Thor Hushovd
Andreas Klier
Brett Lancaster
Hayden Roulston

Columbia-HTC

Having confirmed a new sponsor, mobile phone company HTC, just days before the start of the race, this team heads into the race looking strong. Stage wins for Mark Cavendish will be a team focus and there are plenty of stages for the Isle of Man rider to show his fearsome sprint, but with sights set on the green jersey he’ll need to pick up points along the way. Michael Rogers will be aiming for a good result on the General Classification.

Mark Cavendish (GBR)
Mark Renshaw
Bernhard Eisel
George Hincapie
Kim Kirchen
Michael Rogers
Maxime Monfort
Bert Grabsch
Tony Martin

Lampre-NGC

The Lampre-NGC squad will be led by world champion Alessandro Ballan, with the team aiming for stage wins throughout the race.

Alessandro Ballan
Marzio Bruseghin
Angelo Furlan
Simon Spilak
Marco Bandiera
Daniele Righi
David Loosli
Mauro Santambrogio
Marcin Sapa

Quickstep

At the time of publishing this article Quickstep had only named eight riders. The ninth place is being reserved for Tom Boonen who is currently awaiting a court ruling to decide whether an out-of-competition test for cocaine should see him sit out the race.

If Boonen doesn’t make the start of the race the team still has some strong riders who will ensure Quickstep are represented at or near the front of the race. Namely Chavanel and Devolder will no doubt be looking for a good ride and a high position in the GC.

Carlos Barredo
Sylvain Chavanel
Steven De Jongh
Stijn Devolder
Jerome Pineau
Sebastien Rosseler
Matteo Tosatto
Jurgen Van De Walle

Garmin-Slipstream

Christian Vande-Velde is the US teams GC hopeful and impressed all with his climbing prowess in 2008 taking him to a top five finish, but an injury picked up in the Giro d’Italia could be a spanner in the plans. The team time trial will be a good opportunity for the team to take a team victory, with David Zabriskie, David Millar and Bradley Wiggins.

Christian Vande-Velde
David Zabriskie
David Millar (GBR)
Bradley Wiggins (GBR)
Dan Martin (GBR)
Danny Pate
Ryder Hesjedal
Julian Dean
Tyler Farrar

Silence-Lotto

Is this Cadel Evans’ year? It very well could be, with the rider showing good form and a more attacking style in the races we’ve seen him in this year. Will the Silence-Lotto, a major limiter last year, be able to set him up for the win and protect the yellow jersey should it fall onto his shoulders?

Cadel Evans
Thomas Dekker
Johan Vansummeren
Mickael Delage
Sebastian Lang
Matthew Lloyd
Staf Scheirlinckx
Greg Van Avermaet
Jurgen Van den Broeck

Agritubel

2008 Tour of Britain winner Geoffroy Lequatre needs a good ride. Christophe Moreau has years of experience, could this be his last Tour de France? If so, he’ll look to add one more top ten finish to the two occasions he has previously done so.

Maxime Bouet
David Le Lay
Geoffroy Lequatre
Christophe Moreau
Nicolas Vogondy
Sylvain Calzati
Brice Feillu
Romain Feillu
Eduardo Gonzalo

Bbox Bouygues Telecom

Will plucky Frenchman Thomas Voeckler be able to release some of his potential into an assault on the general classification?

Thomas Voeckler
Laurent Lefèvre
Alexandre Pichot
Saïd Haddou
William Bonnet
Pierre Rolland
Yukiya Arashiro
Pierrick Fedrigo
Yuriy Trofimov

Caisse d’Epargne

With Alejandro Valverde facing a ban ruling him out of the Tour, the Caisse d’Epargne squad will be missing out on a shot at the yellow jersey. Thus far just six riders have been announced, the remaining three are to be revealed shortly.

David Arroyo
Ivan Gutiérrez
Luis Pasamontes
Oscar Pereiro
Luis León Sánchez
Xavier Zandio
Katusha

This Russian team has a couple of strong riders, Pozzato, Napolitano, who will be looking for a stage win here and there where possible.

Filippo Pozzato
Vladimir Karpets
Alexandre Botcharov
Joan Horrach
Mikhail Ignatiev
Sergei Ivanov
Danilo Napolitano
Nikolay Trusov
Stijn Vandenberg

Liquigas

23-year-old Roman Kreuziger is tipped by many as a rider to watch.

Daniele Bennati
Vincenzo Nibali
Franco Pellizotti
Roman Kreuziger
Fabio Sabatini
Alksandr Kuschynski
Alessandro Vanotti
Fredrik Willems
Brian Bach Vandborg

Rabobank

Two fast riders in the shape of 2008 green jersey winner Oscar Friere and 2009 Giro d’Italia winner Denis Menchov, the team is capable of scoring stage wins and making an impression on the GC, but how much will the Giro have taken out of Menchov’s legs? We’ll have to wait and find out.

Robert Gesink is one to keep an eye on, finishing seventh in this first stage race, the Vuelta a España.

Denis Menchov
Oscar Friere
Stef Clement
Juan Antonio Flecha
Juan Manuel Garate
Robert Gesink
Grischa Niermann
Joost Posthuma
Laurens ten Dam

Saxo Bank

It hasn’t been the most successful year compared to its impressive record last year. Despite a few setbacks, Fabian Cancellara is clearly firing on all cylinders and will be the man to beat in the time trial. Overall contender Frank Schleck will see this year as his chance to go for the yellow jersey, and with the strong team, and his rapidly improving younger brother Andy, he’s ably placed to do just that.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Fabian Cancellara
Gustav Larsson
Stuart O’Grady
Andy Schleck
Frank Schleck
Nicki Sørensen
Chris Anker Sørensen
Jens Voigt

Francaise des Jeux

14th overall in 2008 and a previous stage winner of the Tour de France, is Sandy Casar this teams strongest shot at the GC? Look for Anthony Geslin in the thick of the bunch sprints.

Sandy Casar
Jérôme Coppel
Anthony Geslin
Yauheni Hutarovich
Sébastien Joly
Christophe Le Mevel
Jérémy Roy
Benoît Vaugrenard
Jussi Veikkanen

Euskaltel-Euskadi

The plucky Basque team will seek to shine as the race reaches the mountains where its mix of pure climbers will have a stab at getting away for a solo win.

Mikel Astarloza
Igor Antón
Rubén Pérez
Amets Txurruka
Egoi Martínez
Gorka Verdugo
Juan Jose Oroz
Koldo Fernandez
Alan Perez

Cofidis

The French team rocked by doping scandals which led to the entire team pulling out in the 2007 Tour de France, it’ll most likely be long breakaways that represent the best chance for this team to place a rider at the pointy end of the race. David Moncoutié could spice things up in the mountains, and has won two stages in the Tour in previous years.

David Moncoutié
Stéphane Augé
Samuel Dumoulin
Leonardo Duque
Bingen Fernandez
Christophe Kern
Sébastien Minard
Amaël Moinard
Rémi Pauriol

Skil-Shimano

Simon Geschke could be a potential for the white jersey classification.

Thierry Hupond
Cyril Lemoine
Jonathan Hivert
Simon Geschke
Fumiyuki Beppu
Piet Rooijakkers
Albert Timmer
Koen de Kort
Kenny van Humme

Ag2r-La Mondiale

The Russian Vladimir Efimkin finished 11th in last year’s Tour and could stand a chance of a strong top ten finish. Cyril Dessel slipped into the yellow jersey in 2008, following a stage long breakaway on the 16th stage. Son of former champion Stephen Roche, Nicolas Roche will look for a stage win during a stage that favours a small breakaway group attacking the peloton.

Vladimir Efimkin
Nicolas Roche (GBR)
José Luis Arrieta
Cyril Dessel
Hubert Dupont
Stéphane Goubert
Lloyd Mondory
Rinaldo Nocentini
Christophe Riblon

Milram

Linus Gerdemann rose to prominence winning the seventh stage in the 2007 Tour edition, winning both the yellow and white jerseys. An injury forced him to sit out the 2008 Tour, and so could be an interesting one to watch as the race heats up. Gerald Ciolek is a strong sprinter and will no doubt be looking for a stage win.

Gerald Ciolek
Markus Fothen
Johannes Fröhlinger
Linus Gerdemann
Christian Knees
Niki Terpstra
Peter Velits
Fabian Wegmann
Peter Wrolich