The Tour de France, known as Le Tour or Le Grande Boucle in its native country, will finish its final stage on July 25, culminating with its famous final stretch along the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France. In what may surprise most sports fans, 15 million people attend the bicycle road race, giving it the 3^rd largest in-person viewership among sporting events, behind only the Olympics and the World Cup. The Tour de France is second to none in cumulative attendance among events held annually.This year’s Tour is particularly significant as the all time winningest Tour de France cyclist, American Lance Armstrong, has announced it will be the final year he competes in the sports most fabled race. Armstrong is a 7 time winner, trying to improve on his already record holding mark with an 8^th yellow jersey finish this year. For years he was simply unbeatable, winning an unprecedented 7 consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005, a feat made even more impressive considering it was on the heels of his battle with cancer in 1998.Like legends in other sports before him, Armstrong has already retired once, announcing his retirement after the 7^th victory, only to come back and make a run at last year’s Tour. He did indeed work his way back into Tour competition shape, finishing 3^rd overall, just under 5 and a half minutes behind victor and Astana teammate, Spaniard Alberto Contador. Now racing with Team RadioShack, Armstrong is 38 years old and 5 years removed from his last yellow jersey, hardly a safe bet to extend his record to 8. Of course, the betting man should always be cautioned towards betting against Lance Armstrong. Cantador, who is still just 27 years old, is the early favorite to defend his 2009 Tour victory a make a run at the 2010 title.

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