Yesterday evening the route of the 2011 Tour de France was announced. Next year's edition will in the Vendée and spent several days there and in Brittany. As well as stages in the Vendée, the 7th stage from Le Mans to Châteauroux will pass through the Loire. Mark Cavendish won his first Tour stage here in 2008 – hopefully he can repeat the performance.
This year the riders hit the Pyrénées before the Alps with two mountain top finishes (stages 12 and 14) and two more in the Alps – at the top of the Galibier (the centenary of the first time it featured in the Tour) and L'Alpe d'Huez having climbed the Galibier for the second time.
There is a short team time trial (stage 2), no prologue and a 41km individual time trial as the penultimate stage before the traditional finish in Paris.
The points competition has been revamped with just one intermediate sprint but with the first 15 riders counting.
Already looking forward to it. Will Contador be able to start?
