Tour de France Stage 15 Preview - Foix to Loudenvielle - 196km
Tour de France Stage 15 Preview
Foix to Loudenvielle
196km - Mountain Stage
Start time: 11:15 a.m. (5:15 a.m. U.S. EST)
Estimated Finish time: 5:11 p.m. (11:11 a.m. U.S. EST)
LIVE TOUR TEXT by Cycling News
STAGE 15 MAP
COURSE: Not a mountaintop finish, but this stage features five difficult Pyrenean climbs, including one new to the Tour, the frightening hors categorie Port de Balès. This is a very narrow, twisting 19km uphill, with the last 10km having an average grade of almost 10 percent and a maximum pitch of 14 percent. It precedes the 10.5km climb of the Col de Peyresourde just before the last, fast downhill to the finish.
HISTORY: Two stages of the Tour have terminated at Loudenvielle. In 1997, Frenchman Laurent Brochard escaped from an elite group on the descent into Val Louron to finish 14 seconds ahead of teammate Richard Virenque, Italian Marco Pantani and German Jan Ullrich.
In 2003, Italy’s Gilberto Simoni took the win in a tight sprint with Swiss rider Laurent Dufaux and Virenque, while sixth-placed Vinokourov went within seconds of taking Armstrong’s yellow jersey after a sizzling attack over the Peyresourde.
FAVORITES: This is perfect terrain for another battle royal between the GC contenders, although a long-distance breakaway has a good chance of succeeding. Potential winners of the stage include Fränk Schleck (CSC), Tadej Valjavec (Lampre) and Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis). Another rider that you can not count is Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel). He has to make his move soon and this stage really suits his climbing style.
STAGE 15 PROFILE
2007 Tour de France Stages in Google Earth [Google Earth File. You must have GE installed.]
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