Below is a brief description of each of our feature stages from the official website of this years tour de france www.letour.fr
Stage 8 Monday 12th July 2010
Station des Rousses 
Morzine-Avoriaz
189 km
Avoriaz back at the summit of the sport
This is where the mountains start. There will be a high altitude finishing line at Avoriaz and even if the gaps are not big, Contador should still go on the offensive. He could even get his hands on the Yellow Jersey, but will his team be able to defend it every day? In 2003, Richard Virenque attacked on the Col de la Ramaz pass to win the stage that finished in Morzine and pick up the Yellow Jersey. To find a stage with a finish at Avoriaz, you have to go back sixteen years to 1994. Latvian Piotr Ugrumov, who was the Tour’s runner-up that year, triumphed before winning the following day’s stage as well.
Stage 9 Wednesday 14th July 2010
Morzine-Avoriaz Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
204.5 km
A final descent that can hurt
After the first rest day, which the riders will have to get out of their system, this is the main Alpine stage, with the Col de la Colombière pass via Le Reposoir, the Col des Aravis pass, Les Saisies and the Col de la Madeleine pass. If Contador has lost five minutes on the cobbles, it is not unimaginable that he will be clawing them back a little every day on this sort of terrain. However, there is no summit finish, because there would have been too many on this Tour. We preferred to diversify the route more to avoid riders waiting for the summit finishes to open up the gaps. The favorites might not want to attack to avoid finding themselves alone on the flat, which means a big battle is an unlikely scenario. That said, those who are not good downhill riders could lose Le Tour in the finish to this stage.
Stage 11
Friday 16th July 2010
Sisteron Bourg-lès-Valence
184.5 km
Some respite for the sprinters
We could have decided on another very tough stage in the Alpine foothills, which would have led to more struggles for the ascendancy, but that would have been pointless. The riders will have had three or four significant days at the start of the race, before encountering four fairly difficult days. As a result, this route, which sets off from Sisteron (with its citadel) for a finish in the Drôme, does not include any obstacles that should prevent a sprint finish, despite the presence of the Col de Cabre pass.
Stage 14 – Monday 19th July 2010
Revel Ax 3 Domaines
184.5 km
A battle between the big guns
The second week of the race will already be well underway and tiredness will be creeping in. The race will tackle the Pyrenees and the riders will start to feel it in their legs. On this stage, the finish is the hard part. The route is flat until the Port de Pailhères, a little more than 30 kilometres from the finish. The climb to Ax 3 Domaines follows straight afterwards, which could open up gaps. After the very difficult Port de Pailhères, there will be a battle between around a dozen of the big guns and it is very likely that the Yellow Jersey could change hands.
Stage 17 – Friday 23rd July 2010
Pau Col du Tourmalet
174 km
The last big battle?
After the second rest day in Pau, the riders will set out for their final battle. Well, on the face of it at least… Last year, on Mont Ventoux, what was expected to be all out combat ended up as a damp squib, with all the pretenders waiting for the others to make a move. On this stage, perhaps there will be struggle for the top if Contator is in second place with 30 seconds to make up, but if he has a five minute lead on the rest, then it is as good as over. Following the Marie-Blanque climb, we will head back down into the valley. After only three kilometres of flat, we will immediately get to grips with the Soulor, a long, long, long climb, almost 25-kilometres long! The Aubisque pass is just next to it, then the riders will head down before tackling the Tourmalet pass. At the highest point of this Tour, the Henri-Desgrange memorial trophy will be awarded.
Stage 20 – Monday 26th July 2010
Longjumeau Paris Champs-Élysées
102.5 km
The shortest flat stage for more than twenty years
The last stage of Le Tour, with its prestigious finish on the Champs-Élysées, will also be the year’s shortest, with only 102.5 kilometres on the counter. Sometimes, stages have been shorter due to restrictions imposed by adverse weather conditions, but in normal racing conditions you have to go back to 1989, to the stage between Bourg d’Oisans and Villard-de-Lans, to find a shorter one. It was only 91.5 kilometres long and was won by Laurent Fignon. He thought that the fifty seconds lead he held over Greg LeMond would be sufficient for victory in Paris, but in the end, he lost by only eight seconds.