Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France, will be headlining the 58th edition of the Circuit de la Sarthe cycling which starts Tuesday from Sable-sur-Sarthe (Sarthe) , where the French Pierrick Fedrigo, recent winner of the Criterium International is one of the favorites for overall victory.

This will be the 4th participation Armstrong (RadioShack) to the stage race without major difficulties, which runs from Tuesday through Friday at the departments of Sarthe, Maine et Loire, Mayenne and Loire-Atlantique for a total of 640.5 km.

In view of the Tour de France, and even if he will play for a distance closer to that of a prologue (6.8 km), the cons, the individual time trial in Angers scheduled Wednesday afternoon will the appointment of the most important week for the Texan, who has been to his advantage in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders (27th).

In the absence of last year’s winner, French David Le Lay (AG2R), who is training BBox this probably the best guarantee of victory, with Pierrick Fedrigo, winner of the Criterium International, and Thomas Voeckler , winner of the Circuit de la Sarthe in 2008.

The veteran Christophe Moreau (Caisse d’Epargne) will also be taking part.

On Tuesday, the first step connects Sable-sur-Sarthe Varades
(Loire-Atlantique) on 184.6 km.