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[cyclist]

July 12 Stage 10: Aurillac to Carmaux, 158km (98 miles)
 
After the first rest day, the Tour will continue with another stage in the Massif Central, but on a more rolling than hilly course. After the intermediate sprint at Maurs early in the day, expect multiple attacks over this stage’s four categorized climbs, the last of which, 10km from the line, offers a chance for a strong rider to break clear of the pack.
 
THE SCOOP: Everyone will have to be wary of the final kilometers into the old coalmining town of Carmaux. The two 90-degree corners and three curving turns in the final kilometer, following a fast 3km downhill run into town, will present extra challenges for the sprinters and a high chance for crashes.
 OVERALL RATING: **
 

[cyclist]

July 13 Stage 11: Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur, 167.5km (104 miles)
 
Despite this stage coming halfway through the Tour on a course through the hilly Tarn-et-Garonne area, between the Massif Central and the Pyrénées, it’s made for sprinters. Both the intermediate sprint at Gaillac (85km) and the finish at Lavaur two hours later are on straight, wide streets after long downhill runs.
 THE SCOOP: After this one, only two other stages give sprinters a chance of winning (at Montpellier in four days’ time and in Paris), so expect Cavendish, Farrar and Petacchi to be battling for the green jersey points in Gaillac and the stage win in Lavaur.
 OVERALL RATING: *
 

[cyclist]

July 14 Stage 12: Cugnaux to Luz-Ardiden, 211km (131 miles)
 
After a rest day and two relatively simple stages, this first excursion into the high mountains of the Pyrénées will come as a shock to most of the field. It’ll be six hours long with almost 13,000 feet (3,900 meters) of elevation change, ending with three giant climbs: the 10km Cat. 1 Hourquette d’Ancizan as a warm-up; the familiar 17km hors-cat (above-category) Tourmalet; and the 13km hors-cat finale to the mountaintop finish at Luz-Ardiden.
 
Being July 14, when they celebrate Bastille Day in France, the home fans will be hoping for a French stage winner. In fact, since World War II, only 15 French riders have won a Tour stage in 64 attempts. The last one to do so was David Moncoutié, six years ago; but with the yellow jersey on the line the big guns will be shooting for this prestigious victory.
 
THE SCOOP: Whereas Lance Armstrong vigorously targeted the first mountaintop finish in his seven winning Tours, three-time winner Contador has yet to win such a stage. There’s a chance the Spaniard will be left with very few teammates by the final climb, which would give multi-leader teams such as Garmin-Cervélo, Leopard-Trek and RadioShack an opportunity to send riders in early breakaways and force Contador’s men to chase rather than set up the defending champion for a late attack.
 OVERALL RATING: *****
 
 

[cyclist]

July 15 Stage 13: Pau to Lourdes, 152.5km (94.8 miles)
 
With the general classification fully established at Luz-Ardiden, the main contenders will be happy to have an easy day before the even more important third Pyrenean stage coming up. And though this stage climbs the more difficult side of the mythic Col d’Aubisque, a breakaway of riders low on the GC totem pole will almost certainly be well clear before then. Only 13km separates the end of the Aubisque descent from the finish in Lourdes, so a solo rider escaping on the downhill could easily win the stage. If not, two sharp downhill turns in the last kilometer might influence an eventual group sprint.
 
THE SCOOP: The Tour has only once held a stage finish in the pilgrim city of Lourdes. That was in 1948 after a mountain stage over the Aubisque and ended in a three-man sprint taken by that year’s eventual winner Gino Bartali of Italy ahead of two French riders, defending champion Jean Robic and a future champion Louison Bobet.
 OVERALL RATING: ***

[cyclist]

July 16 Stage 14: St. Gaudens to Plateau de Beille, 168.5km (104.7 miles)
 
This is one of the two toughest stages of the 2011 Tour de France, with seven major climbs, almost 16,000 feet (4,800 meters) of elevation gain and a finish atop the 16km-long Plateau de Beille that has several 10-percent pitches in its opening half. The stage is almost a blueprint of the one in 2004 when Levi Leipheimer said: “It was probably the hardest stage I’ve ever done. Little by little I ran out of gas. I was completely empty (at the end).” Leipheimer was stronger in 2007, the last time a stage finished here, conceding only 40 seconds to Contador and gaining 1:12 on Andreas Klöden and Evans.
 
THE SCOOP: There have been only four stages to the remote Plateau de Beille, a Nordic ski station; all four have been won by the man who’d go on to win that year’s Tour: Marco Pantani in 1998, Armstrong in 2002 and ’04, and Contador in ’07.
 OVERALL RATING: *****

[cyclist]

July 17 Stage 15: Limoux to Montpellier, 193km (120 miles)
 
Usually, the third Sunday of the Tour, is devoted to a major mountain stage or time trial, but this year’s stage is a mostly flat run out of the Pyrénées and through the Languedoc vineyards to Montpellier. The sprinters’ team will be working hard to control the early attacks — that will likely consolidate before the race passes the medieval fortifications of Carcassonne’s La Cité, 25km into the stage. And as there’s no racing the next day, the best sprinters’ teammates will be prepared to work hard for their man.
 
THE SCOOP: The sprinters’ goal is usually to wait and catch the breakaway in the final 10km but with this day’s intermediate sprint at Montaignac, only 46.5km from the finish, that’s where the peloton will probably regroup. Less than an hour later, after racing on 10km of wide boulevards through the Montpellier suburbs, the final sprint should be fast and spectacular.
 OVERALL RATING: *
 

[cyclist]

July 18 Rest day in the Drôme region
 
Teams will stay two nights at hotels in a dozen towns between Valence and Orange in the Rhône Valley, with Team RadioShack the only one sleeping at the next day’s start in St Paul-Trois-Châteaux.

[cyclist]

July 19 Stage 16: St. Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Gap, 162.5km (101 miles)
 
This stage has a sting in the tail in the form of a 20km finishing loop that climbs the opening 4km of the Col Bayard (with some 10-percent pitches) before veering off to the Col de Manse summit, which is 1,640 feet (500 meters) above the finish in Gap. The descent via La Rochette is tricky and steep — where, in 2003, Joseba Beloki fell and sustained career-ending injuries and Armstrong cyclo-crossed down the mountainside to avoid crashing.
 
THE SCOOP: Even though a breakaway will probably stay clear to contest the stage win, some GC contenders will almost certainly attack on the Bayard-Manse climb that summits only 11.5km from the finish.
 OVERALL RATING: **
 
 

[cyclist]

July 20 Stage 17: Gap to Pinerolo (Italy), 178km (110.6 miles)
 
This first of three stages in the Alps heads into Italy via the Cat. 1 climb to Sestriere, but this is more than 60km from the finish, so the real action won’t take place until the brutal Cat. 2 Colle Pra Martino. On a narrow, very twisting back road, this 6.7km climb averages 6.2 percent, but it has a 12-percent section just before a summit that’s only 7km from the line in Pinerolo. The 3km-long, switchback descent averages a vertiginous 15 percent and that’s where the stage can be won and lost.
 
THE SCOOP: The Pra Martino climb was used in a Giro d’Italia stage to Pinerolo in 2009 when, of the riders doing this year’s Tour, the best were Ivan Basso, Levi Leipheimer and Damiano Cunego.
 OVERALL RATING: ***
 

[cyclist]

July 21 Stage 18: Pinerolo to Col du Galibier, 200.5km (125 miles)
 
This stage heads back into France over the mighty hors-cat Col Agnel, which at 9,002 feet (2,744 meters) is the highest mountain pass this year. The Tour has never crossed the Agnel from the Italian side, which is a climb of almost 24km, averaging 6.6 percent, but most importantly averaging 10 percent for the final 9km! The peloton will split dramatically here before a sharp descent, and this should herald multiple attacks on the following Col d’Izoard (almost 15km at 7.1 percent). Another technical downhill ends in Briançon, where the race covers a dozen kilometers in the valley before the 23km-long haul to the finish on top of the Col du Galibier — that was first scaled in the Tour 100 years ago. The stage totals a gargantuan 17,000 feet (5,180 meters) of climbing!
 THE SCOOP: Besides marking this alpine centennial, at 8,678 feet (2,645 meters) above sea level, the Galibier is the highest summit finish in Tour history; and though the gradient on this southern approach averages only 5-percent, it gradually steepens to end with a 12.5-percent kicker to the line!
 OVERALL RATING: *****