The 2012 Tour de France will begin on Saturday, June 30 and run until Sunday, July 22. The most famous and grueling bicycle race in the world will have two riders representing the Northwest. Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, WA rides for Garmin-Barracuda, while Chris Horner of Bend, OR rides for Radioshack-Nissan Trek.

John Henderson of the Denver Post runs down the strong Garmin team of which Farrar will be a part. The lead rider in the team is Ryder Hesjedal, who is coming off winning this year's Giro d'Italia for Garmin. The team is hoping to continue riding this momentum behind their world-class cyclist and pick up another Grand Tour win.

Horner's Radioshack team, as VeloNation points out, is not doing quite as well. While Horner was called up to be a part of the team, Tour of Luxembourg winner Jakob Fuglsang has been informed that he will not be a part of the squad. Fuglsang, understandably, is not pleased.

"Of course I'm disappointed with it and I think I should have a place on the team," he said. "If you look at my form and my results, I cannot see that there are nine riders who are better. It's not because of my condition or that the results have not been there; I feel in good shape and I think I have also shown some good results in the Tour of Luxembourg and the Tour of Switzerland."

There are rumblings that all is not well with the Radioshack-Nissan Trek team. Hopefully these rumblings do not bode ill for Horner in the Tour itself.

For lots more information regarding the 2012 Tour de France, please visit SB Nation's cycling blog, Podium Cafe.