Is he? Isn't he? Oscar Pereiro still doesn't know if he is this year's defending champ or not as the Floyd Landis doping case rumbles on.

But even if the Spaniard was the man to beat this year he has not had an ideal build-up to the race.

The 29-year-old struggled for form and fitness after last year's Tour, and then had to clear his own name earlier this year following a failed test for an asthma drug.

But Pereiro should not be completely discounted. He was in yellow for five days last year and performed impressively in 2005. He remains one of three Caisse d'Epargne men capable of victory.