Tour de France Stages Preview

With the Tour de France just over a week away from starting, I'm going to do a series of previews of what to expect in the Tour de France.


The first one is a preview of the stages of the tour de france, what to expect on each one and where the best action will be.


Stages for Sprinters
Stage 2 - Vise - Tournai
Stage 4 - Abbeville - Rouen
Stage 5 - Rouen - St Quentin
Stage 6 - Epernay - Metz
Stage 13 - Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux - Le Cap d'Agde
Stage 15 - Samatan - Pau
Stage 18 - Blagnac - Brive-la-Gaillarde
Stage 20 - Rambouillet - Paris Champs Elysees


Stages for Puncheurs (Punchy climbers)
Stage 1 - Liege - Seraing
Stage 3 - Orchies - Boulogne Sur Mer


Stages for Climbers
Stage 7 - Tomblaine - La Planche des Belles Filles
Stage 8 - Belfort - Porrentury
Stage 10 - Macon - Bellegarde sur Valserine 
Stage 11 - Albertville - La Toussuire LesSybelles
Stage 14 - Limoux - Foix


Stages for Time Trialists
Stage 9 - Arc et Senans - Besancon (41.5km)
Stage 19 - Bonneval - Chartres (53.5km)


Stages for breakaways
Stage 12 - St-Jean de Maurienne - Annonay Davezieux
Stage 16 - Pau - Bagneres-de-Luchon
Stage 17 - Bagneres-de-Luchon - Peyragudes


I've separated the stages in to who I think they will suit. Although, stage 13, 15 and 18 I've listed as sprinters stages, they could equally be breakaways as they are not straightforward flat stages.


Where the Tour will be won
The time trials will be key, with nearly 100 km of time trialling compared to just 42.5km individual and a team time trial of 23km.


Last year the first 20 were separated by 2mins 41secs. This means that time gaps between time trialists like Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins and climbers like Robert Gesink could be 5 minutes.


With only two high summit finishes on stage 11 and 17 and one mid mountain summit finish stage 7, the Tour certainly favours the time triallists, especially without protagonists such as Rodriguez, Contador and Andy Schleck. The time gaps in the mountains are unlikely to be as high as without them.


Stage 7 is going to be a key one. This will be where the key contenders will come to the fore and we will see who the challengers for the yellow jersey, podium and top 10 will be.


Sprinters
On paper the sprinters have 8 chances to win a stage, however it is not that simple. Many of the stages have sharp climbs close to the end, stage 3 and 4 being the case and point. These could be a perfect springboard for an opportunist to get away. This could stretch the resources of Lotto-Belisol and Team Sky especially. Team Sky will have to try to measure their resources to ensure their is enough support for both Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins.


Even though the stages are not necessarily as exciting as previous years, it is the racers not the stages that make a great tour. I think this Tour is going to be as tight as ever and hopefully as exciting as ever.


I can't wait!