After all the drama of Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) fighting for victory in the Giro d'Italia and Chris Froome (Sky) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) battling it out at the Critérium du Dauphiné, the fourth of the top Grand Tour favourites, Nairo Quintana (Movistar), begins his final build-up for the Tour de France at the low-key Route du Sud stage race on Thursday.

The Tour de France is only a few weeks away! My father and I have become big fans over the last few years, we try to at least catch the reruns at night of the morning's racing. This year promises to be particularly exciting, as there is a boat load of contenders entered this year. Previous winners such as Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, and Chris Froome are all primed to race, and let's not count out Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, and Tejay van Garderen. The sprinters are always fun to watch as well, such as the likes of Greipel, Sagan, Kittel, and Cavendish.

Anyways, I hope to post fairly frequently about the tour while it's happening. Any other cycling fans on Hubski?