But first each must undergo the organisation's health checks, meet the media and put finishing touches to their training.

Last year's winner Lance Armstrong (right) and team-mate Tyler Hamilton check over their machinery

Marco Pantani (right) leads his Mercatone Uno team on a formation training run

German Jan Ullrich shows little sign of his rumoured weight problem at his health check

Armstrong and his US Postal team-mates with Futuroscope's modern architechture in the background

Medical staff supervise while Richard Virenque goes through his check

The world's media look on as Armstrong undergoes the tests

Erik Zabel sees the funny side as he is hooked up to the monitors