Tour de France facts

By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published July 6, 2007

Tour de France

When: Saturday-July 29

Race profile: The prologue followed by 20 stages, covering a total distance of 3, 550 kilometers (about 2, 206 miles) and ends in Paris along the Champs-Elysees.

Participants: 21 teams of nine riders each.

Riders to watch: Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana); Carlos Sastre (CSC); Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne); Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto); Andreas Kloden (Astana); Levi Leipheimer (Discovery); Denis Menchov (Rabobank).

Can't-miss days:

The Prologue (7.9 kilometers or roughly 4.9 miles) on Saturday. The individual time trial rolls through the streets of London, marking the first time the Tour has been there. Fabian Cancellara is the one to beat, but the fan favorite will be Olympian Bradley Wiggins, a native of London.

Stages 7-9 on July 14, 15 and 17. Welcome to the Alps and the real start of the race for the overall winner. Stage 9, after the first of two rest days, is one of the shortest stages (159.5 kilometers or about 99 miles) but features a pair of beyond-category climbs, the Col de L'Iseran and the Col du Galibier.

Stages 14-16 on July 22, 23 and 25: More mountains, this time the Pyrenees. Stage 14 ends with a steep climb to Plateau de Beille, Stage 15 has five classified climbs and, following a rest day on July 24, the riders have 218.5 kilometers (almost 136 miles) with four classified climbs including perhaps the toughest of the race, the Col de Larrau.

Stage 19 on July 28: Another individual time trial (55.5 kilometers or roughly 34.5 miles) on the penultimate day. In recent years, whoever has worn the yellow jersey after the final time trial has been tough to catch.

[Last modified July 5, 2007, 17:57:57]