(We are looking for translations in ALL other languages. Please submit your translation with the stage no. and language in the subject title. If you don't see your preview posted within 12 hours then please resend your preview as an attachment if you didn't already do so because we've had problems with some inline character sets like German.)
The stage 17 finishing climb to Peyragudes has never been used by the Tour de France before, but the 2010 Route du Sud, a 2.1 UCI race held in the Pyrenees each year, held a mountain time-trial stage won by David Moncoutie who recently crashed out of this year's Tour de France
July 17 update: If any climber has unfinished business before the long final time-trial then this is their last chance. Stage 17 is the final mountain stage for this year's race and it ends with just the third summit finish.
Starting from the stage 16 finish host in Bagnères-de-Luchon, Stage 17 is a 144 km loop through the Pyrenees taking in five categorized climbs along the way including the cat 1 Col de Menté (9.3 km @ 9.1 %) near the start and the difficult HC climb to Port de Bales (11.7 km @ 7.7 %) and cat 1 summit finish to Peyragudes (15.4 km @ 5.1 %) at the finish. Port de Bales is a recent addition to the Tour and Peyragudes has never been climbed before at the Tour. Here's the combined Port de Bales and Peyragudes profile, the last 44 km.
Andy Schleck chasing the GC group after dropping his chain on Port de Bales while wearing the Yellow Jersey at the 2010 Tour de France
You may recall that Port de Bales was the climb where Andy Schleck dropped his chain and lost 39 seconds to Alberto Contador in 2010 that prompted the debate able whether Alberto Contador should have waited for him. The 15 km climb to Peyragudes actually includes the 9.5 km climb of Col de Peyresourde which the Tour did the previous day, but instead of going over the top, stage 17 will turn up to the ski resort at Peyragudes where the 2010 Route du Sud (2.1) held a mountain time-trial won by David Moncoutie. Peyragudes was also the site of one of the James Bond movies. — Steve
Email This • 
Mail This • 
Tweet • • 
• 
View Stage 17 in Google Earth (kml file) or Export the Stage 17 GPX file
3D Tour
Streetview
