Loudenvielle > Plateau de Beille 198km Welcome to one of the hardest stages you’ll ever see in your life. 198km of racing and 4936m of climbing, this is as hard as it gets in professional cycling. Today showed that Pogačar is still stronger than Vingegaard, but this is a stage that would normally favour the Dane, but there’s no guarantee it will this year. 

Pau > Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet 152km Back to the mountains we go. There are four big mountain stages left in the race, this is the easiest of them, but it still has over 4000m of climbing in just 152km. After what happened on Wednesday, no one really knows how the big teams will approach this day, there’s uncertainty in the air. Will UAE ride hard again? Is it time for Visma to try and take control? After such an exciting race, are we due a damp squib? 

Agen > Pau 165km Of all the sprint stages, this is the one which gave the break a chance. We’re 12 stages into the race, legs are heavy, and riders are starting to feel tried. Not only that, but it’s been quite a hot race, this adds to the feeling of fatigue most are currently experiencing. Then we have the route, it’s a lumpy start and finish, which makes things hard to control. It’s all to do with which teams are willing to chase the break, Alpecin will need help, they won’t be able to do it all by themselves....

Aurillac > Villeneuve-sur-Lot 204km In most grand tours you get a sprint stage where the peloton makes a mess of the chase, we’ve not had one yet this year, could this be the day? One issue is the lack of riders wanting to go in the break, this race has been a bit of a disaster in terms of the sprint stages being entertaining, hopefully we get a strong group of 5 riders who want to race.

Évaux-les-Bains > Le Lioran 211km Welcome to a classic Tour de France breakaway stage. Too hard for the sprinters, not hard enough for the GC men, it’s a day for the breakaway artists of the peloton and one that suits riders who don’t mind a bit of distance.. This is a day many will have marked in their road books, to win you need to be out of the GC picture and a bloody good climber to cope with the finale. As everyone in the bunch knows the break is 99% certain to win, the fight to get in the...

Orléans > Saint-Amand-Montrond 187km Everyone has had a rest day, take stock and breath. It’s now back to work and the second week begins with a standard sprint stage. The first week was wonderful, it delivered hugely significant moments for the sport, Cavendish broke the record, and Biniam Girmay became the first black African rider to win a stage. Fingers crossed, week 2 can continue to deliver historic moments.

Troyes > Troyes 199km The gravel stage, the more I look at it the more I think it’s a fugazi, a fake. I love Paris-Tours, I think it’s a great race, but one of the reasons is the placement of little climbs just before the gravel sectors. This stretches out the peloton and the gaps can grow once on the gravel; I don’t see this in this stage. It cannot be compared to Strade Bianche, it’s a million miles away in terms of difficulty, this day lacks climbs and descents on the white stuff.

Semur-en-Auxois > Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises 184km In the last two sprint stages you could barely convince someone to jump in the break, that will not be an issue in this stage. This is the first of the complicated sprint days, one where the breakaway will sense a chance of fighting for the win, mainly due to the amount of climbing in the opening half. However, it’s also a day that suits some sprinters very well, the peloton will chase, which means we should be in for a cracking stage.

Nuits-Saint-Georges > Gevrey-Chambertin 25.2km ITT Another big day in the battle for yellow, the first of the time trials. It’s 25km and has 305m of climbing. Time to see what level Vingegaard is at, there’s no hiding place against the clock.

Mâcon > Dijon 164km Project 35 is complete, and history has been made, what a moment for Cavendish, his family, friends and fans. Today’s sprint was reminiscent of him at his very best, can he take more wins? Astana will head into this stage full of confidence, they’ll sense a chance of going for another win, it’s up to everyone else to try and stop them.