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Stages & Results

Thomas Voeckler (Brioches la Boulangere)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Stage 10 - Wednesday July 14: Limoges - St Flour, 237 km

A massive stage across the Massif Central is on the menu for Quatorze Juillet with not a meter of flat all day. This stage was used for L'Etape du Tour a few days ago and the most optimistic time schedule for Stage Ten calls for six and a half hours of racing across the unrelenting climbs of Cantal. One Cat 1, two Cat 2 and five Cat. 3 ascents are on Wednesday's program, which is expected to be run as Quatorze Juillet stages always are, in front of huge crowds out to celebrate France's national fête du velo on France's national holiday.

Full results, report & photos, Live report

Thousands of fans
Photo ©: Jon Devich

Stage 9 - Tuesday July 13: St Leonard de Noblat - Guéret, 160.5 km

A short, easy stage, today's race begins in Raymond Poulidor's home town of St Léonard de Noblat, warming the riders up for the mountain stages that are to come. The stage is short and the roads are rough, the only difficult thing they will encounter today. The sprinters have one of their last chances to score as they head into Guéret, the climbers will now get a chance to fly their colours.

Full results, report & photos, Live report

Lance Armstrong

Rest Day #1 - July 12

It's been a tumultuous first week at the Tour as over half the peloton has hit the deck and the next generation has emerged on to the podium. As the riders take a well-earned break Chris Henry looks back at nine stages of boom-crash opera.

Breton flags
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Stage 8 - Sunday July 11: Lamballe - Quimper, 168 km

This stage is not what one would class as easy, having many small and sharp hills, including four classified climbs. The race begins at Lambelle, winding its way around the local countryside across Brittany. After completing 149km, the riders will drop down towards Briec and then it's all downhill from there, save for the finish. The finishing straight is only about 320 metres long, and the race ends right in the centre of Quimper. The last time the Tour finished in Quimper, back in 1991, it was Australian Phil Anderson who stole the limelight, finishing six seconds in front of the peloton.

Full results, report & photos, Live report

Brioches La Boulangere (Brioches)
Photo ©: Jon Devich

Stage 7 - Saturday July 10: Chateaubriant - Saint Brieuc, 204.5 km

Starting at Chateaubriant, the riders will deal with a few climbs before climbing the catagory 4 Cote de Dinan, then heading towards the sea and Cape Fréhel. Just 5 kilometres from the finish line, the road takes the riders through the town of Yffignac, birthplace of Bernard Hinault. The finish is located just outside Saint Brieuc, a few miles away from where the prologue was held in 1995.

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Tyler Hamilton
Photo ©: Sirotti

Stage 6 - Friday July 9: Bonneval - Angers, 196 km

Today's stage is mainly flat from the start at Bonneval, following the same roads as the Paris-Tours Classic before turning off towards Angers. Angers has not hosted a Tour finish since 1979, when Jan Raas won the stage. It did host the first prologue time-trial that took place in 1967 however, won by Jose-Maria Errandonea.

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Lance Armstrong (US Postal Service)
Photo ©: CN

Stage 5 - Thursday July 8: Amiens - Chartres, 200.5km

With only one categorised climb, today's course isn't too hard. Starting in Amiens, this stage is almost the reverse of the Bonneval-Amiens stage, won by Mario Cipollini in 1999. The finishing straight in Chartres, measures about a kilometre in length. This is the first time Chartres has ever hosted the finish of a Tour de France stage.

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Photo ©: Jon Devich

Stage 4 - Wednesday July 7: Cambrai - Arras TTT, 64.5 km

Starting at Cambrai, this year's Team Time Trial is a fairly flat course, heading southwest towards Metz-en-Couture (km 19) then west to Ayette (km 49) and finishing with a northerly run into Arras.

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Photo: © Luc Claessen

Stage 3 - Tuesday July 6: Waterloo - Wasquehal, 210 km

Another stage based on a reasonably flat course. Starting in Belgium, the race will pass through the finishing straight of the Tour of Flanders in Meerbeke, before moving through Grammont, but without climbing the famous Muur.

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Photo: © Elmar Krings

Stage 2 - Monday July 5: Charleroi - Namur, 197 km

Out in the hills again, with the riders heading into France for 50 kilometres, before heading back towards Namur in Belgium on a different route to the previous stage. For an easier ride today, the riders can hope for a still day as the roads are narrow and the straights are long.

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Photo: © Olympia

Stage 1 - Sunday July 4: Liège - Charleroi, 202.5 km

Sticking to the valleys in this stage, the race sweeps into the country, passing through the area made famous by the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race, showing off beautiful tourist attractions such as Roche en Ardenne and Durbuy, the smallest village in Belgium. The riders will circle Charleroi on the outer Boulevards before finishing on a 1,700 metre long straight in the southern part of the city. The course isn't flat like the prologue, and riders that are used to riding short sharp hills will be closer to the top ten today, with five categorised climbs to contend with.

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Photo: © CN

Prologue - Saturday, July 3: Liege ITT, 6.1km

The action starts with the prologue, beginning in the centre of Liège before winding along the River Meuse and then passing the Palais des Princes Eveques. It's the first time Liège, in bike-mad Belgium, has hosted a Tour start; organisers expect a massive and enthusiastic crowd.

Full results, Live report, Course profile