Lance Armstrong, Andre Greipel and Robbie McEwen will all be lining up to contest the Tour Down Under (January 19-24), the opening race of the 2010 ProTour season.
Several of the teams taking part in the stage race based around Adelaide, South Australia, have now confirmed their line-ups for the event. All 18 ProTour teams, plus the national UniSA Australia squad will take part.
The TdU is the first outing for Armstrong's new Team RadioShack, and the seven-times Tour de France winner heads up a strong seven-man team that also includes Tour de France stalwart Yaroslav Popovych and Belgian sprinter Gert Steegmans.
Columbia-HTC brings along 2008 TdU winner Andre Greipel. The German sprinter took the first stage win in the 2009 event, opening his account for an incredibly successful season which saw him end the year with the second highest number of pro wins behind Columbia team-mate Mark Cavendish.
Australian sprint ace Robbie McEwen makes his competitive return after a 2009 season blighted by injury. McEwen holds the current record for number of stage wins at the Tour Down Under, and will be in the hunt to add to his tally of 12.
World Champion Cadel Evans is also set to bring a strong BMC Racing team to the event, although the squad has yet to announce its confirmed line-up. Team Sky will also make its much-anticipated racing debut in Adelaide.
The six-stage Tour Down Under starts on January 19, and concludes on January 24. The race is precluded by the circuit-based Cancer Council Classic on January 17.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Australian sprinter Allan Davis won the 2009 Tour Down Under for the Quick Step team.
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
7 steps you mustn't forget when preparing your bike for spring
‘To find out post-accident that I would be in a wheelchair… I felt like my life was over’ - How adaptive bikes give spinal cord injury survivors their lives back
