Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation, today released a list of 20 teams to take part in this year's race - which will mark Lance Armstrong's return to the event he won a record seven times.
Armstrong won every Tour de France between 1999 and his retirement in 2005, and he will be looking to add another yellow jersey to his haul after recently making his comeback with Astana.
A notable absentee from the starting line-up in Monaco on 4 July will be ProTour team Fuji-Servetto who, in their previous incarnation as Saunier Duval, pulled out of last year's race when Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli tested positive for erythropoietin.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme: ‘We didn't want the presence of the team that used to be Saunier Duval in our races.
‘Our argument hasn't changed, and it won't change.’
Last year's winner Carlos Sastre will be defending his title with newcomers Cervelo TestTeam, while team Skil-Shimano will also be making their Tour debut.
Team Columbia-High Road have also been included in the list and will be hopeful of an even more successful race this year - because their rider Mark Cavendish won four stages of the last Tour, before retiring at Stage 14 to concentrate on preparations for the Beijing Olympics.
Fellow Briton Bradley Wiggins will be riding for America's other team in the race - Garmin-Slipstream.
France have five teams in the Tour - the only country with more than two.
The Tour de France teams 2009 are as follows:
AG2R La Mondiale (France)
Astana (Kazakhstan)
BBox Bouygues Telecom (France)
Caisse d'Epargne (Spain)
Cofidis (France)
Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain)
Francaise des Jeux (France)
Garmin-Slipstream (U.S.)
Lampre (Italy)
Liquigas (Italy)
Quick Step (Belgium)
Rabobank (Netherlands)
Silence-Lotto (Belgium)
Columbia-High Road (US)
Katusha (Russia)
Milram (Germany)
Saxo Bank (Denmark)
Skil-Shimano (Netherlands, ProContinental)
Agritubel (France, ProContinental )
Cervelo (Switzerland, ProContinental)
