The 2010 Tour de France runs from Saturday July 3rd to Sunday July 25th 2010. The 97th running of the penultimate bicycle stage race will consist of 1 prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,600 kilometres.
Stage Profiles Summary:
- 1 prologue,
- 9 flat stages,
- 6 mountain stages and 3 summit finishes,
- 4 medium mountain stage,
- 4 individual time-trial stage (59 km).
Distinctive Features of 2010 Course:
- le Tourmalet climbed twice
- a hint of the Classics and cobblestones
- 2 rest days
- 23 Category 1,  2 and Hors Categorie level mountain passes
- NO team time trial!
Hit ‘more’ for a stage-by-stage list, elevation profile maps and descriptions…
The 2010 Tour de France races through 11 new stage towns: Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, Bourg-de-Péage, Bourg-lès-Valence, Gueugnon, Longjumeau, Pamiers, Pauillac, Sisteron, Station des Rousses, Tournus, Wanze (Belgium).
The stages through Belgium and several in France bring cobbles back to the Tour for the first time since 2004, putting riders over a total of 13.2 km (8.2 miles) of bumpy roads.
STAGE LIST:
| PROLOGUE – 7/3 – Rotterdam – 8km:
Reintroduces the prologue time trial, which was missing from the previous two TdF’s. |
| STAGE 1 – 7/4 – Rotterdam to Bruxelles – 224km:Rotterdam’s second visit by the TdF, but its first Tour start.  A flat, plain stage.
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| STAGE 2 – 7/5 – Bruxelles to Spa – 192km:
A hilly stage starting from 11-time Tour host Bruxelles, capital of Belgium. |
| STAGE 3 – 7/6 – Wanze to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut – 207km:A flat stage, it’s the first Tour visit to Wanze and the first stage of the race to put riders on cobblestones, including the Haveluy sector just 10k from the finish at the Arenberg Trench, the backdrop for the Paris-Roubaix.
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| STAGE 4 – 7/7 – Cambrai to Reims – 150km:
A rolling stage that finishes in windy plains into the capital of Champagne. |
| STAGE 5 – 7/8 – Épernay to Montargis – 185km:A Sprinter’s stage, the pack will roll through the hills of the Champagne region.
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| STAGE 6 – 7/9 – Montargis to Gueugnon – 225km:The longest stage of the 2010 Tour de France, it finishes into new town for the Tour.  A couple of mild inclines could make for some breakaway attempts and team tactics play.
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| STAGE 7 – 7/10 – Tournus to Station des Rousses – 161km:Medium mountain climbs fill the gaps between two first-time Tour host cities, including an ascent up the southern slopes of La Coix de la Serra (1,049m / 3,441 ft) and ending with a 1,140m climb to the summit finish at Les Rousses.
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| STAGE 8 – 7/11 - Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz – 189km:The first big mountain stage adn the entry into the Alps.  Only climbed twice in the Tour’s history, the riders will crest the Ramaz pass before a 40km dash for the high altitude (1,800m / 5,900 ft) finish in Avoriaz.
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| REST DAY – 7/12
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| STAGE 9 – 7/13 - Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – 204km:Four climbs on queue, ending with the Madeleine pass just 30km from the finish.
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| STAGE 10 – 7/14 - Chambéry to Gap – 179km:It’s Bastille Day, and the French will be hoping for a win over the mildly mountainy stage.
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| STAGE 11 – 7/15 - Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence – 180km:Another stage with two first-time hosts, it’s a relatively flat stage with the exception of the Cabre pass.  Look for teams to keep their sprinters near the front.
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| STAGE 12 – 7/16 - Bourg-de-Péage to Mende – 210km:Laurent Jalabert enjoyed a Bastille Day win in Mende in 1995 by owning the Causse climb, which has been renamed the Jalabert climb.  Riders will ascend it before finishing into the airfield in Mende.
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| STAGE 13 – 7/17 - Rodez to Revel – 195km:With only a few “warm up” climbs scattered throughout the stage, riders will be trying to outdo one another on the climb in Saint-Ferréol.  At just 6km from the finish, the first person up could well take the stage.
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| STAGE 14 – 7/18 - Revel to Ax-3 Domaines – 184km:In celebration of the 100 anniversary of the Tour’s first foray into the Pyrenees, this first-of-four Pyrenean stages  will take riders over two “modern” (ie. introduced during the 21st century) climbs: The Port de Pailheres and Plateau de Bonascre in Ax-3 Domaines.  In 2003, Carlos Sastre jumped into the limelight by taking his first ever stage win on the top of Plateau de Bonascre.
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| STAGE 15 – 7/19 - Pamiers to Bagnères-de-Luchon – 187km:The Tour’s very first Pyrenean finish in 1910 was in Luchon (now called Bagnères-de-Luchon), and has since returned there 50 times over the race’s history.  This stage will bring riders to the breaking point as they climb the Port de Balés (1,755m / 5,758 ft) for only the second time in the Tour’s history.
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| STAGE 16 – 7/20 - Bagnères-de-Luchon to Pau – 196km:Eddy Merckx first conquered the Peyresourde-Aspin-Tourmalet-Aubisque series of mountain climbs in 1969 as he destroyed his competition with a solo victory.  His stage win led to the first of his five TdF victories, and in 2010 riders will get to “enjoy” this piece of history all over again before heading into Pau for the second and final rest day.  My quads hurt just looking at this:
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| REST DAY – 7/21
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| STAGE 17 – 7/22 - Pau > Col du Tourmalet – 174km:The well known Col du Tourmalet puts riders right back into the big climbs after a day off, and riders will climb the steepest side leading up from Barèges.  But that’s OK, they get to warm up on two smaller passes 1/3 and 2/3 through the stage. The stage finishes on the 2,115m (6,940 ft) summit of the Col.
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| STAGE 18 – 7/23 - Salies-de-Béarn > Bordeaux – 190km:A flat day after the big summit finish, the race enters Bordeaux for the 80th time, the second most visited city behind Paris itself.  Sprinters, if they’ve made it through the mountains, should rule the day.
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| STAGE 19 – 7/24 - Bordeaux to Pauillac – 51km:A relatively long 31.7 mile individual time trial on the final day of real racing should add some excitement and if the racing is anything like recent events, may well help decide the ultimate winner.
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| STAGE 20 – 7/25 - Longjumeau > Paris Champs-Élysées – 105kmRiders will take a high-speed train from the Time Trial to Longjumeau for the shortest (non TT) stage of the Tour.  Leaving from a new stop for the Tour de France, riders will have a flat stage to prep their legs for the final laps around the Champs-Élysées.  Green Jersey contenders and those with anything left in their legs will be looking to take the glory.
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The official LeTour.fr website has individual stage histories and information about each host city and town.  Full stage info will not be updated on their site until June, but we’ll keep you posted with any changes, news and updates.
