Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana)

The Kazakh has the greatest pedigree of any rider in this year's field. He finished on the podium in 2003 and won last year's Vuelta following Astana's exclusion from the tour. He is making his sixth appearance in the race and enjoyed top 20 finishes in 2000 and 2001. In 2003 Vinokourov finished second on the stage to the l'Alpe d'Huez and the following day, attacked on the final climb 9km from the finish to win in Gap. That helped him achieve a third place finish overall. He bettered that achievement by winning two stages in 2005 despite seemingly a conflict of interests with his T-Mobile team and he finished fifth on GC. The 33-year-old showed he was in good order by claiming two stages at the Dauphine Libere.

Strengths: Fearless attacker and a good all-rounder.

Weaknesses: Inconsistent in the very high mountains.

Odds: 2/1

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Épargne)

Runner-up to Vino in last year's Vuelta, the Green Bullet has been earmarked as the natural successor to Miguel Indurain in his native Spain. He has finished no lower than fourth in three appearances in his home tour, winning three stages in the process. He can also add victories in Liège-Bastogne-Liège - en-route to the 2006 ProTour title - and Paris Nice to his palmares plus two silver medals from the World Road Race Championships. But his two previous Tdf appearances have ended in disappointment, in 2005 he was fifth on GC and in the white jersey after winning stage ten in the Alps only to be forced out during the 13th stage because of a knee injury and last year he fractured his right collarbone on stage three.

Strengths: Excellent climber; respectable time trial rider and strong team.

Weaknesses: Yet to finish the Tour de France.

Odds: 9/2

Andreas Kloden (Astana)

After two podium finishes in three starts for T-Mobile, the 31-year-old will be looking to replicate that form in Astana colours. In 2004 he began as a domestique for Jan Ullrich but after outriding his team leader in the mountains claimed second overall from Italian Ivan Basso in the final time trial. The 2005 renewal was less rewarding as he missed on a maiden stage victory by a mere 9.6 millimeters to Pieter Weening on stage eight and had to withdrew on stage 17 after fracturing a bone in his right wrist. Last year he finished just 89 seconds behind Floyd Landis in third position after a strong performance in the final week, culminating in a second place finish in the final time trial. Opened the season with overall victory in Tirreno-Adriatico.

Strengths: Only man in the peloton to have twice finished on the podium in the TDF.

Weaknesses: Will he be forced to work for Vinokourov?

Odds: 13/2

Levi Leipheimer (Discovery)

The American has been a consistent finisher in the Tour without ever threatening to reach the podium. He was eighth in 2002, ninth in 2004, sixth in 2005 and 13th in 2006 and only a broken a hip bone suffered in a crash at the end of stage one in 2003 has prevented him from finishing in every appearance. A terrible performance in the stage seven time trial last year ruled out any chance of a top five finish on GC although a strong performance on the mountain stage to Pla-de-Beret, where he finished second, elevated his final position. Consistent performer in smaller stage races, having won the Tour of Germany, Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour of California in the last three seasons, the last with new team Discovery.

Strengths: Consistency.

Weaknesses: Wheel sucker.

Odds: 14/1

Denis Menchov (Rabobank)

2005 Vuelta champion who took the white jersey as best young rider in 2003 and followed it up with a sixth place finish overall and a stage victory last year. The Russian won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001 and two years later was 11th in the Tour de France. After winning stages in Paris-Nice and Vuelta in 2004 he switched from Banesto to Rabobank but a bug reduced his 2005 Tdf campaign to that of a bystander. He regained full fitness to take two time trials in the Vuelta that year, claiming the overall victory retrospectively after Roberto Heras' disqualification. Won his first Tour stage at Pla-de-Beret last year although dropped from third to sixth place in the final week after losing valuable time in the Alps.

Strengths: Time trialing.

Weaknesses: Stamina.

Odds: 14/1

Carlos Sastre (CSC)

Ultra-consistent Spaniard who has finished in the top 25 overall in the last six runnings of the Tour de France. The CSC team leader finished a career-high fourth in 2006, only missing out on the podium due to his vulnerable time-trialing which allowed Floyd Landis and Andreas Kloden to overtake him in the standings. Sastre proved himself as the strongest mountain rider in the peloton, beating Floyd Landis by one minute and 59 seconds and Andreas Klöden by two and a half minutes, measured in pure mountain climbing. He finished 20th on GC in 2001, tenth in 2002, ninth in 2003 - plus a victory on the mountain stage to Plateau de Bonascre on stage 13 - eighth in 2004 and 21st in 2005. He was also the runner-up in the 2005 Vuelta.

Strengths: Climbing.

Weaknesses: Time trialing.

Odds: 16/1

Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto)

Australian former mountain biker who burst onto the scene at the 2002 Giro, coming 14th in his first Grand Tour. He left Telekom for Lotto at the start of the 2005 season and finished eighth his first Tour de France that year, becoming the first Australian to place in the top ten since Phil Anderson. He bettered that by finishing fifth overall last year with strong performances in the Pyrenees and in the Alps, finishing fourth in Pla-de-Beret and La Toussuire. A consistent rider in stage races, he has finished in the top ten overall in the Dauphine Libere, Tour de Romandie and Paris-Nice this year but his overall victory in Romandie in 2006 remains his sole win in the past three years.

Strengths: Hitting form at the right time.

Weaknesses: Not a winner.

Odds: 16/1

Frank Schleck (CSC)

Luxembourger who showed his credentials by winning the legendary stage to Alpe d'Huez last year after breaking away from Damiano Cunego 1.5km from the finish to record a famous victory. That stage helped him climb from 20th to 12th and he eventually finished 11th overall to build upon a fine season in which he also won the Amstel Gold Race. Sitting with the favourites with 10km to go, Schleck broke away from the group to ride alone up the steep Cauberg hill in Valkenburg for a solo finish while team-mate Karsten Kroon disrupted the chase of the other favourites. Was third in Liege-Bastogne-Liege this year and will be looking to emulate his younger brother, Andy, who was second in this year's Giro.

Strengths: Attacking rider.

Weaknesses: Lacks Grand Tour pedigree.

Odds: 25/1

Andrey Kashechkin (Astana)

Talented Kazakh who finished 19th on his Grand Tour debut in the 2005 Tour de France where he outrode his Crédit Agricole team leader Christophe Moreau on the big mountain stages. He was second in the young rider's classification but missed out on last year's race after Astana's exclusion. He underlined his potential last year by winning a stage in at Paris-Nice before claiming his national road race and finishing third overall in the Vuelta a España just over three minutes behind team-mate Alexandre Vinokourov. He took a mountain stage into Sierra de la Pandera and showed he is also adept against the clock by taking third place in the recent Tour de Romandie time trial after a fourth place finish in the prologue.

Strengths: Talented climber.

Weaknesses: Could be third in Astana's priorities.

Odds: 25/1

Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Diminutive Spanish climbing specialist who is a throwback to the likes of Fernando Escartin and Roberto Heras.

He suffered a blood clot on his brain in 2004 but made the long, painful road to recovery and finished 31st in the 2005 Tour de France and third in the young riders' classification. He took two ProTour victories last year, on stage three in the Tour of Romandie and on stage eight of the Tour of Switzerland, but Astana's exclusion prevented him from making a second TDF appearance. His biggest pro victory to date came in this year's Paris-Nice, which he won in dramatic fashion on the race's final stage as he launched an authoritative attack on the final climb and held off Davide Rebellin in the final kilometers.

Strengths: Climbing.

Weaknesses: Everything except climbing.

Odds: 25/1