Even though I’m posting this as I watch the Christian Prudhome announce it live, it’s late. Seems that it’s not the Tour de France unless the route is leaked at least one day in advance, and that’s just what happened again this year. Karsten kindly sent me this yesterday around noon.

Not exactly a tour of France, with that gaping hole in the middle, but an exciting one, nonetheless. It looks like it’s going a bit of a climber’s Tour, with something like 7 summit/hill finishes. Other highlights include:

• No prologue again, but a 17 km ITT instead.
• 13 km of pavé in Belgium
• Finish on the Mur de Bretagne
• Le peloton will cruise up the Gorges du Tarn (where John and I happen to have a tour!)
• The Etape du Tour, by the way, will be the Toussuire stage, and will be held on Sunday, July 19th.