Ahh, July is upon us — and for every professional cyclist, July is synonymous with the Tour de France.

Whether you are in it racing the bike race of all bike races or you are glued to the Internet and TV coverage like myself, there is really no way to escape the captivating performances, the gorgeous French countryside, and the pure passion that embodies all that is cycling.

Regardless of how far I make it in this sport, deep down inside there will always be the cycling fan that created my love for this sport. I love racing my bike, I love everything that is cycling and that is why I have made it my life.

So, even though I have raced against all the guys that I am watching on television, I still feel like a giddy 14-year-old-girl who can’t seem to turn away from all the action.

The Tour de France is the most unpredictable and intense race of the year.

With almost 200 competitors trying to win something — whether it be the overall, a stage win, the team classification, the mountains, the sprint, or the best young rider jerseys — there is something to hunt for each and every day.

With so many chances of publicity and glory on the line in the biggest race of the year, not one of those 200 guys wants to hold back.

This year is extremely special for me as I watch the Tour.

I sit here healing up — quite well I might add — from an accident I had about three and a half weeks ago, watching my team race its first Tour de France.

I get a great sense of pride watching my teammates have success at a race of such grandeur.

Crashing is never fun, breaking bones is even less fun, and having to forego a chance at success is even more disappointing — but this time is hasn’t affected me the way it has in the past.

I know that I am on the world’s greatest teams, I know that I will have other chances, and right now I will just have to get my fill vicariously through all our guys at the Tour.

I know some of you are following our team, but I know a lot of you aren’t.

First off, we have a new name as we found a title sponsor to take over for the next two and a half years.

Instead of Slipstream-Chipotle, we are now backed by the navigation experts at Garmin and are now dubbed the Garmin-Chipotle professional cycling team.

In the first seven days of the Tour, our team has had more success than we could have asked for.

Twice we’ve had riders in the Top 3 on stages, and with an impressive team approach we have two guys in the Top 10 — fourth and seventh overall.

Because of the team effort we’re leading the team classification, a prize in which they take the times of the best three riders of each team, and the ones with the lowest accumulative time leads that competition.

The 2008 Tour is only one week young, and there are two more to go — which I promise you will not disappoint in anyway and will bring forth more memories and excitement than any other sporting event could even dream about.

If you want to now what I am talking about, watch the Tour on the Versus channel every day, or better yet follow it on our Web site at www.slipstreamsports.com.

What I wanted to do as I wrote this article is give you the 101 on the Tour, but as I realized that would once again be trying to explain the entire sport in one sitting it is nearly impossible.

Instead, what I want to do is make this more interactive.

I want to hear what you have to say. I want to hear your questions, comments, criticisms, and more importantly get your virtual high fives via e-mail and respond to you in my next column.

A “Q & A,” you might say?

Possibly, but let’s look at it as more of a conversation.

I encourage you to watch a stage of the Tour, or go to our Web site, or even just go look at a bike and ask or tell me something about them.

In my next column I will attempt to respond to as many of your questions and comments as possible.

Please send your e-mails with the subject line “A conversation with Lucas” to napasports@napanews.com and don’t forget to leave your name.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say, whether it be a question about cycling or what you want to read more about in the future.

This will help me grow as a writer and as a rider, so please type away.

I can’t wait to see what you have to say.

Thank you in advance!

Editor’s Note: Napa native and professional cyclist Lucas Euser, who is living and training in Girona, Spain, writes a column for the Register every other Friday.