Lance Armstrong, Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins All Set for 2010 Tour De France

It was never really in doubt, but the Amaury Sports Association—the organizers of the Tour de France—has finally confirmed that Team BMC, Team Radioshack, and Team Sky will be racing in the 2010 iteration of Le Tour.

With those teams, of course, come the big names of 2009 World Champion Cadel Evans, seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong, and Brit superstar Bradley Wiggins, who finished fourth in the 2009 Tour de France.

Evans got to the point where it was simply not possible to continue with the basket case that was Silence-Lotto. He took a huge risk joining BMC, a non-Pro Tour team—a team not guaranteed a start in the biggest race of all.

Team BMC also brings along former world champion Alessandro Ballans and stalwart George Hincapie to help Evans through the mountains.

Hincapie is the super domestique who was at Lance Armstong’s side in each of his seven victories. Big George is nowhere near as young as he used to be at his peak, but his experience should prove invaluable.

Not that Evans has had that much success with former Armstrong sidekicks. The much vaunted inclusion of Yaroslav Popovych—now back with Armstrong in Team Radioshack—into Silence-Lotto proved disastrous, as Popovych went AWOL whenever the terrain got hilly.

Team Radioshack, too, will be prominent in the 2010 Tour.

Led by the incomparable seven-time tour winner and 2009 podium finisher Armstrong, it is a team that will be looking to stamp its authority early in the race, if for no other reason than the feud with former "teammate", Astana’s Alberto Contador.

There were some big statements made after last year’s Tour—by both Armstrong and Contador—so there are scores to be settled. Their personal battle will be one of the big draws in what is shaping up to be a compelling race in 2010.

Team Sky, with Wiggins at the helm, is unlikely to challenge the big boys, but the British-based team shouldn’t be overlooked to shape the outcome of individual stages.

The rest of the field will be filled out with Pro Tour regulars, with no notable exceptions. There are only three months until it gets underway, and I can’t wait.

The full lineup of starters is: AG2R La Mondiale, Astana, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Caisse d'Epargne, Cofidis, HTC-Columbia, Euskaltel, Francaise des Jeux, Footon-Servetto, Lampre, Liquigas-Doimo, Milram, Quick Step, Rabobank, Saxo Bank, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Garmin-Transitions, Katusha, Cervelo Test Team, RadioShack, Team Sky, BMC.