The route for the 2011 Tour de France has been announced, with several fearsome mountainous stages providing a celebration of a century of racing in the French Alps.
The 2011 edition features just 64 time trial kilometres and the return of the team time-trial with the most significant battles set to take place in the mountains.
The Tour will return to the massive Col du Galibier - at 2645m the highest finishing point in the history of the famous race - and the iconic L'Alpe d'Huez, scene of Carlos Sastre's decisive attack in 2008.
The Grand Départ is all set for 2 July 2010 setting off from the Vendée region of Western France.
A relatively flat opening few days takes the riders to the South, but from there the climbers will come to the fore as the Tour reaches first the Pyrenees and then the Alps, before heading back to Paris.
As Tour director Christian Prudhomme admitted in revealing the route, the mountainous third week will be "crucial".
After visits to Britain and the Low Countries in recent years the 2011 Tour will cross France's borders only once, with a visit to the Italian Alpine stop of Pinerolo on Stage 17.
In addition, the team time-trial returns to the Tour de France after an absence in 2010: Prudhomme said it was a course "clearly made for specialists", although the 23km distance may limit the damage for teams who get it wrong.
In the context of the current scandal surrounding champion Alberto Contador, the organisers took the chance to highlight cycling's 'merciless fight against doping', while Prudhomme said he hopes for a swift resolution to the questions over Contador's positive test for clenbuterol.
"I'm not going to say that everything is fine. I'm not blinded like an ostrich," Prudhomme said. If Contador appears in 2011 he is sure to enjoy the mountainous end to the race, which promises to be decisive.
See the official route map here
The 2011 Tour de France stages:
July 2, stage 1: Passage du Gois-Mont des Alouettes, 191km
July 3, stage 2: Les Essarts-Les Essarts, TTT, 23km
July 4, stage 3: Olonne-sur-Mer-Redon, 198km
July 5, stage 4: Lorient-Mûr-de-Bretagne, 172km
July 6, stage 5: Carhaix-Cap Fréhel, 158km
July 7, stage 6: Dinan-Lisieux, 226km
July 8, stage 7: Le Mans-Châteauroux, 215km
July 9, stage 8: Aigurande-Super Besse Sancy, 190km
July 10, stage 9: Issoire-St-Flour, 208km
July 11, rest day at Le Lioran/Cantal
July 12, stage 10: Aurillac-Carmaux, 161km
July 13, stage 11: Blaye-les-Mines-Lavaur, 168km
July 14, stage 12: Cugnaux-Luz Ardiden, 209km
July 15, stage 13: Pau-Lourdes, 156km
July 16, stage 14: Saint-Gaudens-Plateau de Beille, 168km
July 17, stage 15: Limous-Montpellier, 187km
July 18, rest day at province of Drôme
July 19, stage 16: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux-Gap, 163km
July 20, stage 17: Gap-Pinerolo, 179km
July 21, stage 18: Pinerolo-Galibier/Serre-Chevalier, 189km
July 22, stage 19: Modane-Alpe d’Huez, 109km
July 23, stage 20: Grenoble-Grenoble, ITT, 41km
July 24, stage 21: Créteil-Paris/Champs-Elysées, 160km
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