The Tour de France Starts Tomorrow!

Tomorrow may be a day of mourning in Africa for the penalty kick that wasn’t, but in Rotterdam — the site of the first stage in the 2010 Tour de France — it is a day of anticipation and excitement. Incredibly, Team Strava was denied an at-large bid to this year’s Tour — general director Christian Prudhomme must not have wanted another orange kit in the peloton. We do, however, have some ideas for where to learn more about the Tour than you ever cared to know.

Websites worth checking out
Steephill.tv — Steephill has links to sites broadcasting bike race coverage, as well as great results pages, links to articles and commentary, and a fun collection of high-resolution photos of each stage.

Cyclingnews — Always a reliable source of information about all things bike racing, Cyclingnews also features live commentary during each stage (http://live.cyclingnews.com/).

Pavé Pavé Pavé — If you’re considering wagering on the tour, you should read Pavé’s detailed preview of all the teams and riders in the race.

Vélonews — Vélonews is the foremost US-based source of cycling news.

Pez Cycling News — Another solid pro cycling news source.

Cyclocosm — An interesting blog with lively commentary on pro cycling, as well as cool videos breaking down race highlights.

And of course, right here on the Strava cycling blog, where we’ll be following the highlights of the Tour de France, as well as having other cycling-related discussions. If you haven’t already, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

Tour de France climbs in Strava

Stage 15
Stage 15, the second of the mountain stages in the Pyrénees, sends the riders over the Cat 2 Portet d’Aspet and the Cat 2 Col des Ares (which looks flatter in Strava than it really is!) before going up the relatively unknown HC Port de Balès.

Stage 16
Stage 16 is the hardest day in this year’s Tour (at least on paper). The riders will face 2 Cat 1 and 2 HC climbs on their way from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Pau. First up is the Col de Peyresourde, a climb Strava lists as HC but the Tour thinks is ‘only’ a Cat 1. Next is the Col d’Aspin, with an average gradiant of over 10%! In honor of the 100th year since the Col de Tourmalet was used in the Tour, this year’s edition goes over the huge climb from both directions. The Col de Tourmalet, eastern approach comes in the middle of the stage and will likely feature a breakaway containing the leaders in the Polka Dot Jersey competition. Finally, comes the HC Col d’Aubisque, only ridden in Strava from the opposite direction.

Stage 17
In this year’s last mountain stage, the organizers set up a dramatic mountaintop finish on the western approach to the Col de Tourmalet. Before getting to the final HC climb, the riders must tackle the Cat 1 Col de Marie Blanque.