Tour de France Stage 5
Chablis to Autun
182.5km
Start: 12:50 p.m. (6:50 a.m. U.S. EST)
Estimated Finish: 5:14 p.m. (11:14 a.m. U.S. EST)

COURSE: This should be the most decisive stage of the opening week on a course that traverses the Chablis wine region and Morvan hills on its way through Burgundy. It resembles a race like Liège-Bastogne-Liège and features one Cat.2, three Cat. 3 and four Cat. 4 climbs. The narrow back roads, with their short steep climbs and twisting descents, continue all day, with a twisting 6km descent preceding the finish in Autun. This town of 18,000 has a Roman amphitheatre and a medieval cathedral among its tourist attractions.

HISTORY: Only one Tour stage has come to Autun. That was in 1998, on the third-to-last day, when a marathon, mainly flat 242km stage saw a 13-man break arrive 19 minutes ahead of the peloton. The stage winner was Sweden’s Magnus Bäckstedt, who now races for Liquigas.

FAVORITES: This difficult, hilly stage looks made for classics riders like Spain’s Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Épargne) Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner), Luxembourg’s Fränk Schleck (CSC) and Italy’s Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital). Don’t expect to see sprinters like Boonen or Cavendish getting a look in.

Climbs:
Km 39.5: Côte des Grandes-Châtelaines: 1.5km climb @ 6.7% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 52.5: Côte de Domecy-sur-Cure: 1.3km climb @ 6.2% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 58.5: Côte de Champignolles-le-Bas: 2.0km climb @ 6.5% avg. grade / 3rd Cat.
Km 86.5: Côte de Coulon: 1.0km climb @ 6.2% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 98.5: Côte de Saint-Maurice: 3.0km climb @ 5.2% avg. grade / 3rd Cat.
Km 119: Côte de Château-Chinon: 2.5km climb @ 3.8% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 135.5: Haut-Folin: 12.9km climb @ 3.7% avg. grade/ 2nd Cat.
Km 174: Côte de la Croix de la Libération: 3.4km climb @ 5.4% avg. grade / 3rd Cat.

Sprints:
Km 36: Avallon
Km 88: Montreuillon
Km 145: Bibracte-Mont-Beuvray