Some of the biggest names in the sport will not be at the start of the Tour de France on July 3rd in Rotterdam.

Belgian big-boy Tom Boonen will not be contending for the sprint wins. Tommeke has a bum left knee, a knee he first hurt in an unfortunate accident during the closing circuits of the Tour of California race last month in Sacramento. Quick Step boss Patrick Lefevere hasn't said who will replace Boonen on his squad for the Tour.

Cervelo lost one of their big guns, too. Heinrich Haussler is out with a bad knee, to. He hurt his knee in a crash this spring, and it flared up again at the recent Tour de Suisse. Daniel Lloyd has been named to replace Haussler for Cervelo at the Tour.

Joining them in support will be Brent Bookwalter, Alessandro Ballan, Mathias Frank, Steve Morabito and Mauro Santambrogio.

The start of the Tour de France is creeping up on us, but before we turn our backs on Italy, we want to share a few more memorable moments from this year's Giro d'Italia.

The daily podium ceremony is one of the highlights of every stage. It's a choreographed presentation, with a certain sequence and ceremony to everything.

It's one thing to watch overall leader David Arroyo receive his Maglia Rosa if you're watching from in front of the stage...it's another thing to be camped out on the side, as the race leader sprays the ceremonial prosecco as far as possible.

Check out the following CycleTo video...you can almost feel the shower of Italian bubbly in your face.

Last month, on the stage that ran from Visalia to Bakersfield, Lance Armstrong crashed-out of the Tour of California. We've obtained some great video, shot right after Lance hit the deck, showing the aftermath of that mishap.

SRAM neutral service mechanic Eric Brandt was wearing a helmet camera while he rode on the back on the SRAM moto, and his camera was rolling as he and driver Rob Eva approached Armstrong.

They got there right after the crash. Lance's front wheel hadn't stopped spinning, and you can see him sitting dazed and confused in the road.

You get the up-close view of the mechanics changing the wheels, checking the chain and derailleur and making sure that the bike can carry on in the race. You also see RadioShack team boss Johan Bruyneel holding Lance under both arms, and helping him get up off the ground. The last part of the video shows Lance's RadioShack teammates waiting for him up the road.

Take a look at Eric's amazing footage, in the following CycleTo video.

This one is pretty ugly. In the closing meters of Stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse today, it was an all-out sprint to the line among some of the top names in the sport. But then something happened, and all Hell broke loose.  Bodies and bike flew every-which-way, as riders hit the ground...and each other...hard.

Lampre's Alessandro Petacchi won the stage, but he didn't celebrate the gift that was given him when the contenders hit the deck. Mark Cavendish, Heinrich Haussler,  Gerald Ciolek, and Tom Boonen all went down, and from the looks of the video replay, Cavendish caused the crash by not holding his line and cutting into other riders.

...but you make the call. See it for yourself, in the following CycleTo video.

Oakley "Jawbone" glasses are pretty damn cool...the same glasses with the special Transitions lenses are even better!

Even Fausto Coppi looks great in the special Oakleys with the Transition lenses.

The folks at Transitions, the official sponsor of the Garmin-Transitions pro team, gave us a pair of these team-issue optics, and we'll be giving them away to one lucky CycleTo-er. For more information, and to sign-up for this new CycleTo freebie, go here.

We witnessed a whole lot of things during out time in Italy at the Giro...things that you'd never see in America...and this has to be one of the most unique.

On the cold, rainy, cloudy day that the race rode up and over the legendary Mortirolo, hundreds and hundreds of people made the trek to the top of the pass to watch the riders race past..

They waited for hours and hours, just to catch a few precious seconds of their heroes. How did they pass the time, and do their best to stay dry, before the big moment? We found the most popular place high up on the Mortirolo, in the following CycleTo video.

Bad weather, long transfers, and general chaos made for less-than-ideal conditions for the guys who had to get out there and battle on their bikes every day.

So, how would they change it, if they could? We talked to Aussie Matthew Lloyd, the winner of the green climber's jersey at the Giro. He gave us a piece of  his mind, and some suggestions on what they could do differently, in the following CycleTo video.

There is a little bit of Kevin O'Donnell in each and every one of us.

Kevin is a NorCal cyclist and masters road racer. During the last week of the Giro d'Italia, Kevin worked as my driver, confidant and drafting partner in Italy.

In return, I promised to let him ride his DeRosa rental bike as often as possible along the route of the Giro.

Exactly one week ago, on a cold, windy and wet day, Kevin climbed up the back side of the legendary Passo del Mortirolo. He attacked the Mortirolo from the so-called "easy" side, the side that the racers in the Giro would descend on their way down to the finish of Stage 19.

But this was hardly "easy"...even for an experienced hill climber like O'Donnell. Listen to what it was like to master the Mortirolo for a semi-normal person, someone like all of us, in the following CycleTo video.

Watching a race from the side of the road is one thing...actually being on the road, and in the race, is a whole different experience.

Team Katusha directeur sportif Claudio Cozzi gave us a seat in the car that would follow Italian pro Luca Mazzanti through the streets of Verona in the final race of the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

Mazzanti, a stage winner at the 2005 Giro, was not expected to contend for the TT podium in Verona. He finished 2:43 behind race winner Gustav Erik Larsson, but anyone who can survive three grueling weeks of racing across Italy and still muster the reserves to finish a short, tough TT get's a major "complimenti" from us.

You can watch the video of Mazzanti's TT start, and experience what it was like to be out on-course with him, here. And for up-close images of Mazzanti from inside the Katusha car, and a view of the rabid race fans in Verona, check out the following CycleTo photo album.