Prudhomme excited by vintage Tour field

Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme believes the quality of challenger to reigning champion Alberto Contador will make for the most openly competitive race in years.

The 97th edition of the world's toughest bike race begins with a prologue in Rotterdam on Saturday and, if predictions hold true, will end in Paris on July 25 with Contador having defended his yellow jersey.

In between, however, there are stages where tough wind conditions (stage one) and the cobblestones of stage three make the race treacherous, well before the peloton arrives in the Pyrenees mountains for a third week of decisive racing.

On paper the hilly profile of the race looks tailor-made for Contador, the talented climber who won in both 2007 and 2009.

But with the presence of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong for the last time, and three or four other potential in Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Ivan Basso and Bradley Wiggins, Prudhomme believes the Spaniard won't have it so easy.

"Contador's the favourite obviously, but there's a lot of potential winners spread out among the rival teams," Prudhomme said.

"There's Contador, Armstrong, the Schleck brothers (Andy and Frank), Evans, a strong Liquigas team supporting Basso, Wiggins with a new Sky team - guys who are spread out in different teams which, I hope, leads to different attacking strategies."