96th Tour de France - Parcours Preview Part 1
Featuring 21 stages, totalling 3,500 kms and calling in on two principality's and five countries, the 96th Tour de France is a cosmopolitan affair that includes 63 classified climbs and 93kms of time-trialing.

It's what we've all been waiting for...welcome to part one of the Daily Peloton's guide to the route of the 2009 Tour de France.

Saturday July 4th: Stage 1; Monaco - Monaco 15km Time Trial
Ah, the glamour, the yachts, the fine wine. Monte Carlo awaits the 180 strong peloton as the Tour de France puts on its glad rags and visits the small principality for the Grand Depart of its 2009 edition. Not that the riders will have any time for enjoying the party scene as they prepare for what is a very testing start to the Tour.

Monaco may present a visually pleasing backdrop to the beginning of the race, but this will be no joyous jaunt around streets more used to Formula One motor cars speeding across their tarmac than Lycra clad cyclists.

The route takes the riders out of Monaco into the hills behind the Mediterranean. The first 7.5kms are essentially uphill culminating in a 4th category summit, the Côte de Beausoleil. From here comes a fast descent, a technically difficult hairpin with 4km to go and a flat run in along Monaco's famous sea front passing landmarks such as the Monte Carlo Sporting Club and the Casino.

It's an unusually tough start to the race and one in which there will no place for hiding. Unusually it may not suit the pure time-trialling specialist and may instead favour a climber who can also time-trial. Alberto Contador may do well and following his impressive climbing in the Giro, so could Garmin-Slipstream's Bradley Wiggins.

Monaco WikipediaTM Fact(?): Monaco's flag is identical in design to that of Indonesia's, except in relative dimension between height and width.

Sunday 5th July: Stage 2; Monaco - Brignoles  187km
After overnighting in Monaco the riders depart the principality for the last time, skirting the Med and heading into Nice, where the race's first sprint takes place, before turning inland. The stage takes in four classified climbs but with the last of these, the Col de l'Ange, coming some 60kms before the finish, this stage is nailed on to end in a sprint, meaning we should get an early indication of whether anyone has the legs to beat Mark Cavendish in a straight dash to the line.

Brignoles WikipediaTM Fact(?): Brignoles' famous sons include Saint Louis of Toulouse, born in 1274 and actor Jean-Baptiste Maunier, born in 1990.

Monday 6th July: Stage 3; Marseilles - La Grande Motte, 196km
The riders will wake to sea views for a third successive day as the Tour continues to stay close to the Mediterranean coastline. Stage 3 takes the peloton from the heart of France's second city, Marseilles and heads due north before turning west, taking the riders across the marshy terrain of the Camargue to the coastal town of La Grande Motte.

Two classified climbs feature but the biggest hazard on this stage will be the wind. If the mistral is blowing with any anger the favourites will need to be vigilant because gaps can easily form and time lost, just ask Christophe Moreau, whose 2007 Tour ambitions were thwarted in this area. Any breakaway attempt will be likely to fail in those winds and so for the second day running we should be in for a sprint finish.

The Camargue WikipediaTM Fact(?): The Camargue is a haven for wildlife with over 400 species of birds and the famous Camargue Bull and white Camargue Horse. Riders should take note to smear themselves with insect repellent as it is also the home of France's most notorious mosquito, assuming of course insect repellent isn't on the restricted products list.

Tuesday 7th July; Montpellier - Montpellier 39kms Team Time Trial
Only four days in and already we have the second Time Trial of the Tour, only this time it's a team affair. Yes, that's right, the Tour Team Time Trial is back on after a three year absence, and gone is the convoluted timing system that reduced a team's losses on the GC and blighted the 2005 version. Thankfully the Tour seems to have accepted that if you're going to have a Team Time Trial it has to properly count. All of this means that teams with ambitions in the general classification need to show up here, because any lost time on stage four is lost time on the GC.

The stage is pretty much flat, with no classified climbs and is also short, factors that, when combined, should ensure no team loses too much time. The battle for Tour Team Time Trial honours should come down to a straight fight between Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia-Highroad, with Garmin looking to avenge the defeat Columbia inflicted on them in this year's Giro d'Italia.

The Team Time Trial WikipediaTM Fact(?): The 2005 Tour saw the fastest Team Time Trial ever recorded in the Tour de France when Lance Armstrong's Discovery Team rode a 67.5kms route at an average of 57.324km/hr. However, Team CSC were effectively awarded the same time as bizarre rules meant that anyone finishing within 30 seconds of the winners would get the same time reflected on the GC. The DP, possibly alone, wonders how the result of the 2005 Tour may have turned out had this odd rule been extended to all the stages...answers on a postcard please.

Wednesday 8th July: Stage 5; Le Cap d'Agde - Perpignan, 196.5kms
Another flat stage, another day on the coast, another day of potential wind affected results. By the end of stage 5, the peloton would have pretty much traversed the whole of the Mediterranean coast of France and with the Tour's first mountains looming large on the horizon, just 48 hours away, the main contenders will be content to sit this one out in the relative comfort of the bunch, protected from the wind.

The stage features a couple of category four climbs early on but the last 75 kilometers are as flat as they come. That the centre of Perpignan should see another sprint finish is all but guaranteed.

Le Cap d'Agde WikipediaTM Fact(?): Cap d'Agde is home to a famous Naturist resort established in the post years by the Oltra family. Here's hoping the peloton will be able to keep their eyes firmly on the road ahead.

Thursday 9th July: Stage 6; Girona - Barcelona, 181.5kms
Stage 6 and, just for a change, a stage that skirts the Mediterranean coast (surely the riders will be getting sea sickness by now), although to be fair we are now on the Spanish coast. Well they say variety is the spice of life....

Stage 6 should suit a rider happy over rolling terrain. There are five climbs on the route, nothing worse than a category three, but crucially the finish in the city of Barcelona is on the Montjuic climb, meaning if there is a dash for the line it will be a more of a grind than a sprint.

The Catalan crowds should be out in force for this one and will hope to create a frenzied atmosphere to greet the Tour on one of its rare forays into Spain, this being only the 12th time the race has visited its near neighbour.

Girona WikipediaTM Fact(?): This won't be the first time Girona will have been placed under siege by visitors from France, although it will probably be the most joyous. The city has suffered some 25 sieges during its history, perhaps most notably in 1809 when it was taken by 35,000 Napoleonic troops.

Friday 10th July: Stage 7; Barcelona - Andorra Arcalis, 224kms
Less than a week in and the mountains arrive with the first Hors Category climb of the race. Not only does this stage introduce the peloton to this Tour's mountains but it is also the longest stage of the race at 224kms.

Early on the riders crest and descend the fourth category Cote de Montserrat, from then on it is virtually a non stop drag up towards the Pyrenees. The peloton's legs get their first real test on the category one Col de Serra-Seca, a climb of over 7.5kms to 1,160 metres, they then climb higher, to 1,249 metres on the Port del Comte before plummeting back down to 560 metres. And then the fun begins.

The Hors Category Arcalis climb is officially listed at being 10.6kms in length, with an average gradient of 7.1%. In reality though the climbing to Arcalis starts with still over 40 km to go until the finish. With so long still to go in the race it is unlikely that any of the main contenders will look to gain time here, rather just content themselves with making sure they don't lose any to their rivals. This stage then could be a pure climber's best shout for a win.

Andorra WikipediaTM Fact(?): Want to maximise your life expectancy? Best move to Andorra then. Andorrans enjoy the highest average life expectancy of anywhere on earth, at 85 years.

Saturday 11th July: Stage 8; Andorre la Vielle - Saint Girons, 176.5kms
The riders leave Andorre la Vielle and immediately head upwards towards the Port d'Envalira, topping out at 2,408 metres. There follows 60 km of downhill before the road again rears up for the category two Col de Port.

The final climb, the Col d'Agnes, is a 12.4 km category one peak but comes some 40 km before the finish of the stage, meaning that the GC contenders will not be looking at this stage as one on which to gain time. Instead this is a stage that will appeal to a solo breakaway specialist who will hope to stay away on the long descent to the finish line.

Col de Port WikipediaTM Fact(?): Col is of course the French for pass whilst Port is Occitan for, er pass, meaning the Col de Port, in English, is the Pass of Pass...hmm.

Sunday 12th July: Stage 9; Saint Gaudens - Tarbes, 160.5kms
The last stage before the first rest day sees two of the Tour's most famous climbs on the itinerary. The first 48 kms are a gradual grind up to the start of the category one Col d'Aspin which summits some 60 kilometers into the stage. The Aspin has an average gradient of 6.6%, climbing to 1,490 metres before plummeting back down to the town of Saint-Marie-de-Campan. It's then a short ride along the valley to the foot of the mighty Col du Tourmalet.

The Tourmalet is a Hors Category monster, rearing up to 2,115 metres. It is one of the Tour's most iconic climbs but it's unlikely to have much of a say in the overall scheme of things in the 2009 edition, coming, as it does, some 70 kms before the stage finale. Again, the likeliest scenario is a breakaway, not containing any of the main contenders, succeeding, although it is just within the realms of possibility that the peloton could come back together, leaving any sprinters able to summon up a last drop of energy to fight it out.

Tarbes WikipediaTM Fact(?): The town of Tarbes is the birthplace of Nicolas Lopez. What do you mean who? He's the 2006 Sabre fencing World Champion of course.

So that's it up until the first rest day. Nine stages, 2 time-trials and 3 mountain stages, strangely none of which are likely to have too much say in the overall result of the 2009 Tour de France. Check back soon for Part 2 of our route preview.

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