This entry is obsolete now. For the official Tour de France route click here.
Hey, this is fun. I just discovered that guessing the following year’s Tour route (officially announced in October) is much like trying to figure out what Apple will bring out to lighten my wallet just a little more, i.e there is an active community out there stirring up all sorts of rumours!
Below is a map that I totally won’t vouch for, mainly because I made some of it from my imagination. But, I took most of the info from a blog run by a guy named Thomas http://paris.thover.com/blogcategory.php?l=en&ID=18 and he apparently has a pretty good track record for his detective work from last year’s Tour. Following is the map. Some things to note first.
1. The lines in red have the rumoured start and finish towns (click on the line to view the names, stage and date).
2. The dark grey lines are mostly from my imagination, but tend to point from a rumoured finish town to the next rumoured start town, etc.
3. The squiggly lines are just me playing. I have no idea of the actual route. I just thought it would look better than straight lines.
4. Already confirmed is the Grand Depart – Rotterdam.
As I get more information I’ll post updates, but again, it’s all wild hearsay at this point.
The Vicious Cycle 
Just had a request from SKODA for Hotel accomodation on 11th July in Les gets/ Morzine – so that fits
Your place looks great. If I ever get around to buying skis again, we’ll head over your way. Suppose the cycling would be decent in the summer, though…?
My hubby and I plan to go and watch at least a week of the tour next year (2010). I need to do some bookings and really need to know when the tour will be going. Can anybody please help? We want to get a camper van and do it that way or else book a bus tour. Anybody know which would be the best way to do it?
I’d say book some things based on the rumors out there now, then change them if you need to. Otherwise, wait till Oct 14th, when the route is officially announced, and start booking quickly!
In my little experience though, you don’t need to stay close to the route if you have a car. Still, booking ahead is something you need to do. Teh camper van idea is good, but the rest of Europe seems to have the same one. Roads are narrow, parking is a pain, and you’ll be behind hundreds of other camper vans. If you go this route, get to the stage (especially mountain stages) very, very early and camp out. Avoiding cities is also a must for big vehicles, I’d say.
Alpe d’huez isn’t on the the predicted route but will almost certainly be included, since it wasn’t there in 2009 and is rarely omitted 2 years in a row.