tour de france route 2015

Tour de France 2015 route

We list the stages of the official route of the Tour de France 2015, as well as taking a look at some of the key points of the race

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The peloton on stage nineteen of the 2014 Tour de France

The 102nd Tour de France began for the 21st time outside of France, in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

>>> Your guide to the 2015 Tour de France in Utrecht (video)

Stage one was a short 13.7km individual time trial within Utrecht, which was won by BMC's Rohan Dennis in a record-breaking time .

The first week of 2015 Tour had a very classics feel to it, with stage three finishing for the first time ever on the climb that culminates  La Fleche Wallonne , the Mur de Huy. Cobbles featured for the second year in succession, although drier weather this year meant less mayhem for the front-runners than in 2014. Meanwhile, the Mûr-de-Bretagne provided a tough uphill finish to stage eight.

An unusually late team time trial on stage nine led into the first race day. After that, serious GC racing will begin after on stage 10, with the 2015 Tour's first summit finish atop La Pierre Saint-Martin, which features for the first time in the race's history.

Three days in the Pyrenees (July 14-16) were followed by a series of transition days across the southern edge of the Massif Central (July 17-19) which included a finish on the fast and punchy ‘Montee Laurent Jalabert’ above Mende.

After Alpine summit finishes at Pra Loup and La Toussuire (where Chris Froome fatefully attacked Bradley Wiggins in 2012), the penultimate day of the race was a short stage of 110km ending on Alpe d’Huez.

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As ever, the Tour finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris for the sprinters' showdown which was won, almost inevitably, by Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) as the German claimed his fourth victory of this year's race.

Tour de France 2015 stages

Stage 1: Saturday July 4, Utrecht – Utrecht (Ned) (ITT) 13.7km

Tour de France profile stage 1_2

This flat 13.7km individual time trial is the only one to feature in this year's Tour. It was won in an eye-wateringly fast time by BMC's Rohan Dennis , who claimed the race leader's yellow jersey to continue an impressive start to 2015 .

Stage one highlights:

 Stage 2: Sunday July 5, Utrecht – Neeltje Jans (Ned) 166km

Tour de France profile stage 2

This flat stage was earmarked from the start as one that could be difficult in strong winds — and the weather gave the fans ( if not the riders ) exactly what they wanted. Andre Greipel sprinted to the stage win , but the big winners were Fabian Cancellara, whose time bonus for finishing third was enough to hand him the yellow jersey, and Chris Froome and Alberto Contador , who opened up more than a minute's advantage over Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali.

Stage two highlights:

Stage 3: Monday July 6, Antwerp – Huy (Bel) 154km

Tour de France 2015 profile stage 3

Stage three's finish on the Mur de Huy climb, the climax to the course of Spring Classic La Flèche Wallonne, was always likely to be a significant moment in the early portion of the race. Chris Froome produced a memorable surge to finish second on the stage and take the overall yellow jersey.

Stage three highlights:

Stage 4: Tuesday July 7, Seraing – Cambrai (Fra) 221km

Tour de France profile stage 4

The Classics-style fourth stage featured seven secteurs of cobbles across an epic 223.5km route that's the longest of this year's Tour. It didn't quite live up to the mayhem of last year's brutal cobbled stage, but the image of Tony Martin breaking free to finally claim the yellow jersey of 2015's race put a smile on the faces of cycling fans everywhere.

Stage four highlights:

 Stage 5: Wednesday July 8, Cambrai – Amiens 189km

Tour de France profile stage 5

André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) took his second stage win of the Tour on the flat stage to Amiens, beating the likes of Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick-Step). It was another stressful day of the Tour for the riders, blighted by wind, rain and crashes.

Stage five highlights:

Stage 6: Thursday July 9, Amiens – Le Havre 191km

Tour de France profile stage 6

Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick-Step) took the win on the small climb to the finish of stage six, but the headlines went to teammate and race leader Tony Martin, who fell in the final kilometre and suffered a suspected broken collarbone.

Stage six highlights:

 Stage 7: Friday July 10, Livarot – Fougères 190km

Tour de France profile stage 7

Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick-Step) took his first victory at the Tour de France since 2013, after coming from behind to sprint past his rivals André Greipel and Peter Sagan to the line, on the final flat stage of the Tour before Paris.

Stage seven highlights:

Stage 8: Saturday July 11, Rennes - Mûr-de-Bretagne 179km

Tour de France profile stage 8

The tough category three climb at Mûr-de-Bretagne was always likely to test the GC contenders, and it was inevitable that someone would lose time on the leaders. In the event, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) lost 10 seconds to Froome in yellow as Alexis Vouillermoz took the stage win.

Stage eight highlights:

Stage 9: Sunday July 12, Vannes – Plumelec 28km

Tour de France profile stage 9

Such a late team trial was inevitably tricky for teams with riders already out of the race , and it was world champions BMC Racing who lived up to their billing as favourites with the stage win. Team Sky, however, were only a second behind, allowing Froome to hold onto the yellow jersey as the race prepares to head into the mountains for the first time.

Stage nine highlights:

Rest day: Monday July 13, Pau

Stage 10:  Tuesday July 14, Tarbes – La Pierre Saint-Martin 167km

Tour de France profile stage 10

Chris Froome stretched out a commanding lead on the first summit finish of the Tour on the new climb of La Pierre Saint-Martin on stage 10, putting minutes into all his rivals. The Sky leader attacked with 6.3km on the final climb with teammate Richie Porte coming in second behind the victorious Froome. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) remained second in GC, but his 12 second gap had become almost three minutes.

Stage ten highlights:

Stage 11: Wednesday July 15, Pau – Cauterets 188km

Tour de France profile stage 11

Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) took victory on the mammoth stage 11 taking in the climbs of Aspin, Tourmalet and Cauterets. The Pole made his move from the day's main break up the breakaway, and comfortably soloed home on the 188k route to take his third ever stage win in the Tour. Chris Froome (Team Sky) retained the yellow jersey once again, while Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) lost even more time in what's turning into a disastrous Tour for the Italian champion .

Stage 11 highlights:

Stage 12: Thursday July 16, Lannemazen – Plateau de Beille 195km

Tour de France profile stage 12

On what was widely regarded as the Queen Stage of this year's race, stage 12 was not the explosive GC battle it may have been. Joaquim Rodriguez took a solo stage victory on Plateau de Beille, a 15.8km climb that has almost 1800m of ascent, as the overall contenders all arrived together 6-47 later. Thanks in no small part to the work of Sky teammate Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey by the same margin over his nearest rivals.

Stage 12 highlights:

Stage 13: Friday July 17, Muret – Rodez 200km

Tour de France profile stage 13

Peter Sagan finished second for the fourth time this Tour as he missed out on the stage victory to Greg Van Avermaet . The breakaway was caught with less than 1km to go, and a large peloton containing most of the main sprinters hit the last climb up to the finish at Rodez.

As Van Avermaet pushed on for the finish line, Sagan sat on his wheel and many would have expected him to round the Belgian and take the win, but the BMC man proved too strong.

Chris Froome finished in sixth and comfortably retained the leader's yellow jersey.

Stage 13 highlights:

Stage 14: Saturday July 18, Rodez – Mende-Montée Laurent Jalabert 175km

Tour de France profile stage 14

A brutal climb to the finish in Mende – 3km at 10.1 per cent – gave the anticipated fireworks on a wonderfully exciting stage. A twenty-man breakaway was allowed to escape fairly early, and just when it looked as if the finale would come down to a two-way battle between Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Romain Bardet (AG2R), in slipped Steve Cummings (MTN-Qhubeka) to deliver MTN's first ever Tour stage win … on Mandela Day to boot. Behind the breakaway, Chris Froome put yet another second into Nairo Quintana, even as the Colombian moved up into second place.

Stage 14 highlights:

Stage 15: Sunday July 19, Mende – Valence 182km

Tour de France profile stage 15

German sprinter André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) took his third stage win of the 2015 race after the day's escape group were caught to set up a bunch sprint finish. Greipel won ahead of John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) to claim his ninth Tour stage victory since 2011. Froome safely retained the race lead on a day where the overall contenders were happy for the sprinters to occupy the limelight.

Stage 15 highlights:

Stage 16: Monday July 20, Bourg-de-Péage – Gap 201km

Tour de France profile stage 16

Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida) took a first Tour de France stage victory after making a solo break on the Col de Manse on stage 16, as Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) recorded a fifth second-place result of the race.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) retained the overall lead after his rivals pushed the pace on the descent of the final categry two climb, with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) claiming back a handful of seconds as he tries to restore some pride in what has been a dismal Tour campaign for the Italian.

The biggest drama came as Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) crashed off the road on the descent , with Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) running into the side of the Thomas as the Frenchman tried to overtake on a right hand bend.

Rest day: Tuesday July 21, Gap/Digne-les-Bains

Stage 17: Wednesday July 22, Digne-les-Bains – Pra-Loup (via the Col des Champs) 161km

Tour de France profile stage 17

A very mountainous day for the riders, that ended on the climb where Eddy Merckx effectively lost the 1975 Tour de France to Pra Loup. Chris Froome (Team Sky) successfully defended his 3-10 lead over Nairo Quintana (Movistar) as Giant-Alpecin's Simon Geschke soloed to victory from the day's breakaway.

The stage saw third place Tejay van Garderen (BMC) abandon the Tour after struggling with illness, while Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) lost a further two minutes on his rivals after crashing on the descent of the Col d'Allos.

Stage 18: Thursday July 23, Gap – Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 185km

Tour de France profile stage 18

The breakaway stuck it out to the end for the sixth time in the Tour's last eight stages, as Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) soloed away from his fellow escapees 40km from home atop the Col du Glandon to glory.

The Frenchman held out over the aesthetically pleasing Lacets de Montvernier climb to take a famous victory ahead of compatriot Pierre Rolland (Europcar).

Meanwhile Chris Froome (Team Sky) wasn't called on too much by his GC rivals, holding on to his yellow jersey lead as he crossed the line with the likes of Nario Quintana and Alejandro Valverde of Movistar.

Stage 19: Friday July 24, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – La Toussuire 138km

Tour de France profile stage 19

The 19th stage of the 2015 Tour de France saw race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) in real trouble for the first in the race, as he struggled to match the pace of Movistar's Nairo Quintana on the final climb to La Toussuire, with the Colombian taking 30 seconds out of the Brit's 3-10 lead going into the final mountain stage to Alpe d'Huez on Saturday.

No-one could catch 2014 Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) on the third day in the Alps, as the Italian broke away on the Col de la Croix de Fer to solo up the final climb to stage victory .

Stage 19 highlights:

Stage 20: Saturday July 25, Modane – L’Alpe d’Huez 110km

An outstanding day's racing and a supreme display of climbing prowess saw Nairo Quintana push Chris Froome all the way - and even though the Colombian beat the Brit on the day, it was enough to seize the yellow jersey. Frenchman Thibaut Pinot won the stage and Quintana ate 1-20 minute out of Froome's overall lead - but Froome still has a 1-12 minute advantage with only the procession into Paris left in this year's race.

Stage 20 highlights:

Stage 21: Saturday July 26, Sèvres - Champs-Élysées, Paris 107km

Tour de France profile stage 21

Where else would the Tour finish? As Chris Froome enjoyed his ceremonial victory ride into Paris, the sprinters geared themselves up for one last daredevil finish — and it was Andre Greipel who claimed his fourth win of this year's Tour with a typically muscular finish.

Stage 21 highlights: 

Tour de France 2015 

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Jack Elton-Walters hails from the Isle of Wight, and would be quick to tell anyone that it's his favourite place to ride. He has covered a varied range of topics for Cycling Weekly , producing articles focusing on tech, professional racing and cycling culture. He moved on to work for Cyclist Magazine in 2017 where he stayed for four years until going freelance. He now returns to Cycling Weekly from time-to-time to cover racing, review cycling gear and write longer features for print and online.

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Tour de France Route, Stages and Results 2015

Everything you need to know about cycling in France your independent guide

2015 Tour de France route

The 2015 tour de france features some of the tour's most iconic climbs, plus takes detours through the netherlands and belgium en route to paris..

The 2015 Tour de France route.

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This is it: the 2015 Tour de France route; a route that fans of the mountains should love.

There are five mountaintop finishes, including one on the iconic Alpe d'Huez , with the mountain-heavy programme paying homage to the 40th anniversary of the polka dot jersey. 

With just 13.7km of individual time trial – the fewest kilometres in recent history (since 1947, in fact) – it'll be a Tour won in the mountains by a climber.

Sprinters haven't been forgotten, however, with the points system rejigged to give more prominence to stage wins, while fans of the Spring Classics will enjoy the 13.3km section of cobbles between the Belgian town of Seraing and Cambrai across the border in France. 

The Tour crosses Belgium, the Normandy coast and Brittany before the Tour flying south to the Pyrenees from July 14 to 16, which in 2015 are crossed from west to east. Pau, Cauterets, Tarbes, the Tourmalet and the Col d'Aspin all feature before the peloton moves to the Massif Central.

See our Tour de France accommodation page here

In the Alps, the Gap, Digne-les-Bains and Pra-Loup (via the Col des Champs) all feature, with Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and La Toussuire also back.

Don't miss the colour of the publicity caravan as it snakes its way around France ahead of the peloton. Photo: Kimberly Jansen

Here it is in words

Stage 1: Saturday, July 4,  Utrecht (Netherlands) – Utrecht (Netherlands) (ITT) 13.7km Stage 2: Sunday, July 5, Utrecht (Netherlands) –  Zélande (Netherlands), 166km Stage 3: Monday, July 6, Antwerp (Belgium) - Huy (Belgium), 154km Stage 4: Tuesday, July 7, Seriang (Belgium) – Cambrai (France), 221km Stage 5: Wednesday, July 8, Arras (Pas-de-Calais) – Amiens (Picardy), 189km Stage 6: Thursday, July 9, Abbeville (Picardy)– Le Havre (Normandy), 191km Stage 7: Friday, July 10,  Livarot (Normandy) – Fougères (Brittany), 190km

Stage 7, Livarot to Fougères

Map via lamayenneonadore.fr Stage 8: Saturday, July 11, Rennes (Brittany) – Mûr-de-Bretagne (Brittany), 179km Stage 9: Sunday, July 12,  Vannes (Brittany) – Plumelec (Brittany), 28km Rest day: Monday, July 13, Pau (Aquitaine) Stage 10: Tuesday, July 14, Tarbes ( Midi-Pyrénées ) – La Pierre-Saint Martin ( Midi-Pyrénées ), 167km Stage 11 : Wednesday, July 15, : Pau (Aquitaine) to Cauterets via Vallée de Saint-Savin ( Midi-Pyrénées ), 188km Stage 12 : Thursday, July 16, Lannemezan ( Midi-Pyrénées ) – Plateau de Beille ( Midi-Pyrénées ), 195km Stage 13: Friday, July 17, Muret ( Midi-Pyrénées ) – Rodez ( Midi-Pyrénées ), 200km Stage 14: Saturday, July 18, Rodez ( Midi-Pyrénées ) – Mende ( Languedoc-Roussillon ), 178km Stage 15: Sunday, July 19, Mende ( Languedoc-Roussillon ) – Valence (Rhône-Alpes), 182km Stage 16: Monday, July 20, Bourg-de-Péage (Rhône-Alpes) – Gap (Rhône-Alpes), 201km Rest day: Tuesday, July 21, Gap (Rhône-Alpes) Stage 17: Wednesday, July 22,  Digne-les-Bains ( Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ) – Pra-Loup ( Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ), via the Col des Champs, 161km Stage 18: Thursday, July 23, Gap (Rhône-Alpes) – Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (Rhône-Alpes), 185km Stage 19 : Friday, July 24, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (Rhône-Alpes) – La Toussuire, 138km Stage 20: Saturday, July 25, Modane  Valfréjus (Rhône-Alpes) – Alpe d'Huez (Rhône-Alpes), 110km Stage 21: Sunday, July 26, Sèvre ( Île-de-France ) – Champs-Élysées (Paris Île-de-France ), 107km

See our guide to watching the Tour de France , plus A Beginner's Guide to the Tour de France and our Must-Read Tour de France books . Click here for our dedicated Tour de France section.

Organised tours for the Tour de France

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Finding Tour de France accommodation

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2015 Tour de France route unveiled

Short time trials make it a Tour for the climbers

The 2015 Tour de France will include just 42km of time trials but seven mountain stages and five mountain finishes, making it a race for the climbers and giving French riders Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Peraud a chance of winning the legendary yellow jersey.

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The 2015 Tour de France starts in Utrecht , the Netherlands, on Saturday July 4, with a 14km time trial stage. There is no final time trial before the finish in Paris on Sunday July 26. Instead the last battle for the yellow jersey will be on the 21 hairpins of L'Alpe d'Huez in the Alps on Saturday July 25, before the riders fly to Paris. The total race distance is 3344km divided into 21 stages.

The team time trial returns to the Tour in 2015 on stage nine with a 28km contre-la-montre between Vannes and Plumelec near the Brittany coast, but the rest of the route tips in favour of the climbers, with mountain stages to La Pierre Saint Martin, Cauterets Vallé de Saint Savin and Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenees, then Pra Loup, Saint Jean de Maurienne, La Toussuiere Les Sibelles and L’Alpe d’Huez in the Alps. The final two Alpine stages are only 138km and 110km long, with race organisers hoping the racing is more intense and exciting. To try and shake up the overall classification in the first part of the race, time bonuses of 10-6-4 seconds will be awarded to the top three riders at the finish but only on stages 2-8.

The details of the full route of the 102nd edition of the Tour de France were unveiled by race director Christian Prudhomme in a packed Palais des Congress in the centre of Paris, close to the Arc du Triomphe and the Champs Elysees where riders complete the three-week Grand Tour every July.

2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali, Pinot, Peraud, plus Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano), Cadel Evans (BMC) and Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) all attended the presentation, along with UCI President Brian Cookson. Alberto Contador was absent after undergoing minor surgery on the leg he injured in this year's Tour de France, while Chris Froome was in Britain for a Team Sky get together.

Stage details

A highlights video recalled the drama of the 2014 Tour de France before the 2015 route was revealed. Then Prudhomme confirmed details of the Grand Depart in Utrecht and revealed the details of each stage.

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The opening 14km time trial will twist around the streets of Utrecht and will immediately create small time gaps and so award the first yellow jersey of 2015. The sprinters will have a chance of taking yellow on stage two to Neeltje Jans on the exposed western coast of the Netherlands. However the cross winds could spark echelons and make for a dramatic stage and see someone lose any chance of overall success.

The overall contenders will also be on edge on stage three to the top of the Mur de Huy. The double-digit final gradient will be a fight for every second and will come after a long fight for position on the roads of the Belgian Ardennes. The 2015 Tour also includes another taste of the cobbles of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix on stage four to Cambrai. This year Vincenzo Nibali set up his overall victory with an impressive ride on the pave and in 2015 there will seven sectors of pave for a total of 13.3km  of racing on the bone-jarring cobbles.

During the first week, the 2015 route cuts across northern France via Amiens, Le Havre and Fougeres, offering British fans a chance to hop across the channel to see the race and give the sprinters more several chances of success. Race organiser ASO has officially classified nine stages as flat, with extra points awarded on these days for the green jersey competition. The overall contenders will have to stay vigilant along the coast and especially on stage eight on the uphill finish on the Mur de Bretagne. Cadel Evans won here in 2011 and the short climb could spark time gaps.

The first part and the Northern section of the 2015 Tour ends with the 28km team time trial between Vannes and Plumelec. The stage is on long straight roads but ends with the 1.7km Cote de Cadoudal climb. The stage pays homage to local hero Bernard Hinault.

The mountains

The mountains of the 2015 Tour de France begin after the first rest day in Pau, with stage ten on July 14, Bastille Day, from Tarbes to La Pierre Saint Martin. The stage covers flat roads to the foot of the 15.3Km climb. The gradient then kicks in hard however, rising at over 8% until the 10km point. It could catch out someone after ten days of pushing big gears on the flat roads of the north.

The triplette of mountain stages in the Pyrenees includes a stage to Cauterets Vallé de Saint Savin, which includes the Tourmalet, and before it the Col d'Aspin, to remember the late Fabio Casartelli, who tragically died during the 1995 Tour de France. Stage 12 is along hard 195km in the Pyrenees with three nasty climbs before the finish at Plateau de Beille. It is the sixth time Plateau de Beille hosts a finish, with the 16km, 8% climb expected to cause significant time gaps.

The Tour transfers across the south of France via Rodez, Mende and Valence, with the sprinters getting a chance of success after suffering in the Pyrenees and the overall contenders again facing a nervous moment on the short but steep Cote de la Croix Neuve up to the small airstrip. It will see another fight for a few seconds.

The Alps hosts the final mountain stages of the 2015 Tour de France after the second rest ay in Gap, with a series of four decreasing in distance stages, the like of which have rarely been seen together in one edition of the Tour.

Stage 17 to Pra Loup includes the rarely used Col d'Allos followed by a difficult descent -- which brought a smile to Nibali's face during the presentation but which will scare many of his rivals. The climb to the finish at Pra Loup recalls the historic stage from the 1975 Tour, when Bernard Thevenet ended Eddy Merckx's reign and stopped him winning a sixth Tour.

The Tour de France shows a flash of innovation on stage 18 by including the Lacets de Montvernier climb. It has 18 hairpins cut into the side of the mountain that twist and turn on themselves. It is only 3.8km long but will be a spectacular moment and comes close to the finish in Saint Jean de Maurienne after the peloton has already climbed the Col du Glandon. Stage 19 is short at only 138km but includes the early Col de Chaussy, the Col de Croix de Fer and the Col de Mollard before the finish at La Toussuiere Les Sibelles.

The Alps and L'Alpe d'Huez host the final Alpine stage and the final mountain of the 2015 Tour de France. The 110km stage starts with the Col de Telegraphe and the Col du Galibier double whammy before the long descent to the foot of L'Alpe d'Huez. The crowds will no doubt be huge on the 21 bends with the Dutch corner packed as ever. The riders could be fight for overall victory and places on the podium all the way to the finish.

The riders fly to Paris before the final 107km parade stage from Sevres Grand Paris Seine Ouest to the Champs Elysees. Christian Prudhomme promised a new entry point to the centre of Paris would visit the Eiffel Tower and the Left Bank before starting the finishing circuits on the Champs Elysees. It will be the 40th time the Tour de France ends on the Champs Elysees, with the winner crowned on the podium with the Arc de Triomphe in the background.

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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters , Shift Active Media , and CyclingWeekly , among other publications.

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• Date: 26 July 2015
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• Distance: 109.5 km
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• Departure: Sèvres
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• Tour de France

Tour de France 2015, Stage 20: Route, TV schedule and more

The biggest stage of the Tour de France features the most iconic climb. Alpe d'Huez is here, and it should shake up what has thus far been an all-too-orderly race.

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Alpe d'Huez has been the most anticipated stretch of road on the 2015 Tour de France since the route was plotted last year. By putting the iconic climb on Stage 20, organizers were clearly hoping there would be multiple yellow jersey contenders ready to compete to decide the Tour. That hasn't quite happened, but it should still be an immensely competitive stage, with several riders finding form and vying for the glory of winning the Alpe.

Alpe d'Huez was first used in the Tour in 1952, and quickly became a favorite. It became a regular mountain top finish in 1976, gaining a reputation for excitement and drama. Each of the 21 hairpin turns have signs featuring the name of a former stage winner. Hundreds of thousands of fans pack the slopes. Almost all of its 28 appearances have hosted legendary performances, including Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond's arm-in-arm finish 1986 and Lance Armstrong's rope-a-dope in 2001.

For 2015 to secure its place in history, someone will need to challenge Chris Froome. At 2:38 ahead of Nairo Quintana, his place atop the final podium in Paris is all but secured. If anyone can knock him off it, it's Quintana, who has been tentative to attack at times but did manage to steal 30 seconds from Froome during Thursday's ride to La Toussuire.

Froome and Quintana should be considered the favorites to win the stage, but several other riders are also hitting their stride. Vincenzo Nibali won Stage 19 despite a bad first two weeks, and Romain Bardet took the polka-dot jersey outright (now just three points ahead of Froome) with a series of impressive climbs.

As the last true stage before Sunday's procession in Paris, Stage 20 is mandatory viewing. Even if you haven't been following the Tour, it would behoove you to tune in to see one of the great spectacles in sports.

NBCSN will show the stage from start to finish with coverage beginning at 7 a.m. ET, hosted as always by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. Live online streaming is available using the  NBC Sports Live Extra app on mobile devices, or with a subscription to  NBC's Tour de France web package .

Stage route

Stage coverage starts at 7 a.m. ET on NBCSN Announcers: Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen Mobile:  NBC Sports Live Extra app with an appropriate cable subscription Computer:  NBC's Tour de France web package is available for a fee

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2015 Tour de France Route Has Something for Everyone

Course is varied but weighted toward climbers

If Nairo Quintana dreamed up his ideal Tour de France route, it might look a lot like what organizers unveiled Wednesday for the 2015 edition. Tons of uphill finishes. A team time trial but minimal individual TT kilometers. About the only thing on the route that probably wasn’t in Quintana’s ideal route is the cobblestones. But you can’t get everything except in dreams.

The North Tour director Christian Prudhomme has become increasingly bold about spicing up the race’s first week. Where an ’80s Tour route might have seen a formulaic week of a Prologue, sprint stages and another individual time trial, the Prudhomme era has been marked by unpredictability: stages with cobbles; stages with short, sharp finish climbs; stages with tricky crosswinds.

In 2015, the race’s first week will have all three. Specialists of all kinds will eagerly await the opening stages. The 14km time trial on Stage 1 is too long to be a Prologue, but it’s short enough that a pursuit-style rider could take the first race lead. The cobbled Stage 4 may not be as decisive as this year’s edition, but there is a crucial brace of secteurs totaling 5,200 meters of cobbles that begins just 25km from the finish (it includes the 3,700-meter de Viesly a Quievy secteur, normally rated three stars out of five for difficulty when used in Paris-Roubaix). It’s ideal for riders who excel at Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.

There are two short but wicked uphill finishes that favor riders who fight for victory in the Ardennes Classics (like Liege-Bastogne-Liege): Stage 3, which finishes atop the Mur de Huy climb used in Fleche Wallonne, and Stage 8, which finishes on the Mur-de-Bretagne.

Watch these types of tricky stages in particular. While all eyes will be on riders like Simon Gerrans or Philippe Gilbert, an overall contender could easily show his cards early. This year, it was eventual winner Vincenzo Nibali, with a crafty solo win on Stage 2; in 2011, on the Mur-de-Bretagne, eventual overall winner Cadel Evans edged out Alberto Contador for the win.

The excitement doesn’t stop with the terrain; geography also plays a role. Several stages (2, 6, and the team time trial on Stage 9) will feature tricky sections along the coast where crosswinds could rip the pack to pieces.

To be sure, there are stages made for the sprinters (4, 5, and 7 look most promising) but almost none of the first seven road stages are straightforward. It will be nervous, tactical racing and, given the fact that all of the time trials are in the first section of the race, riders will be happy to make it to the first rest day in Pau still in contention.

The Pyrenees There are three Pyrenean stages, all of them with uphill finishes and two of them on major climbs. It’s here that the Tour will start to be won, rather than lost (as in the race’s first week).

It’ll be a rough adjustment. Stage 10 is a classic trap stage: a long, flat drag followed by a single climb to a summit finish. While there’ve been climbs in the opening stages, there has been nothing like the 15-kilometer, 7.4 percent (average) climb of the Pierre-Saint-Martin. A day like this, where riders make an abrupt transition to the high mountains, always sees at least one contender suffer an inexplicable power failure—what the French call le jours sans.

If riders get through that and Stage 12’s finish on the steady grind of Plateau de Beille, they’ll still face a tough challenge on Stage 14, with a finish climb of the Cote de la Croix Neuve in Mende. (Geography hounds: We know Mende is in the Massif Central, not the Pyrenees, but we’ve gotta put this stage in some section or other.) The last time the race visited, in 2010, Alberto Contador took the win. Gaps here won’t be significant, but it’ll hurt.

The Alps The past few years, Tour organizers have weighted either the Alps or Pyrenees for difficulty and left the other feeling somewhat light. Not this year, as both ranges feature prominently.

For the Alps, it’s the back-to-back summit finishes of la Toussuire (Stage 19) and the fabled Alpe d’Huez (Stage 20) that could decide the race. Despite the Tour’s efforts to back weight the race’s most crucial moments, we’ve seen some editions where the race was largely decided by this point, leaving the suspense to be largely about stage wins.

That could happen here. Or it could be a drag-out fight between as many as five closely grouped competitors. Whoever emerges in yellow atop Alpe has only a lengthy transfer and ceremonial stage into Paris to deal with before the final podium.

The Sprints It’s worth noting a major change in another jersey competition. Organizers adjusted the points totals for the nine flat stages of the race to better reward stage winners in the battle for the green jersey. In 2014, a stage winner got 45 points, but the second- and third-place finishers got 35 and 30 points, respectively. That meant Peter Sagan, who finished in the top five every day in the race’s first week, built an unassailable lead due to his consistency.

In 2015, points for the top three finishers on flat stages will go 50-30-20. That boosts the chances of pure sprinters in the points competition, such as Marcel Kittel, who won four stages of the 2014 Tour but finished fourth in the points competition.

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Tour de France 2015 Route stage 16: Bourg-de-Péage – Gap

Gap is a frequent host of the Tour de France, but departure place Bourg-de-Péage is rather inexperienced in that respect. Only one start until this year with a 2010 Tour de France stage leading to Mende, a race won by Joaquim Rodríguez.

Gap is rich in history, both Tour-wise and in real life. Galicians once founded the town and when the Romans took over 14 before Christ they called it Vapincum. Napoleon was another one to leave his traces. After returning from exile at Elba he travelled the famous Route Napoléon to the town at the foot of the Alps.

After leaving Bourg-de-Péage the rolling roads are slightly though steadily rising. With around 120 kilometres done the gradients get higher and after a 9.1 kilometres climb Col de Cabre is crested, a 2nd category ascent at 4.6%. Following the drop it’s back to the routine again – slightly rising on rolling roads. After 170 kilometres in the saddle the ascent to Gap is not yet the sign to launch the finale since Col de Manse is on the menu after passing through the town with the peculiar sounding name for the first time. The 8.9 kilometres climb at 5.6% is crested with 12 kilometres left.

Cycling fans are treated big time in Gap, with today’s finish and the departure of stage 18 in three days. Are we talking a mountain stage then, chances are today will see an escapee heading for glory. As per usual in Gap. In 2011 it was Thor Hushovd bringing an early flight home and two years ago it was Rui Costa doing the same. The to be World Champion left his companions while climbing the Col de Manse and widening the gap in the descent, he was off for glory.

Race results/race report stage 16 Tour de France 2015.

Tour de France 2015 stage 16: Route maps, height profile, and more

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