Stage Details

Stage 12 - Friday, July 19: Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille

Distance:	198km
Start Location:	Place de la Poste, Lannemezan
Start Time:	Flying Start: 10:56 a.m. on D.939, Lannemezan exit
Description:	Course: With an estimated six hours in the saddle, four major climbs and a mountaintop finish, this could be one of the Tour’s toughest stages. It opens with 43km of flat valley roads, which may produce an early break. Then the serious stuff begins: the Col de Menté climbs 2800 feet in 9km at almost 10 percent; the Col de Portet d’Aspet 1430 feet in 4km at 11 percent; the Col de la Core 2750 feet in 14.5km at 6 percent; and the Col de Port 1980 feet in 14km at 4.5 percent. The final climb to Plateau de Beille rises 4090 feet in 16km at 8 percent. History: The one time this almost identical stage was run in 1998, Marco Pantani blitzed the field on the final climb and won by 1:26 over Roland Meier, with Bobby Julich in third at 1:33. That year, the peloton stopped at the foot of the Portet d’Aspet climb to honor the memorial of Fabio Casartelli, who died here after crashing on the descent in 1995. Favorites: There will be no Pantani this year, but others who have won at Plateau de Beille in the Route du Sud event include Armstrong (1999) and Francesco Casagrande (2001). Armstrong may not win the stage, but he will surely be the fastest of the race leaders. This is a stage that favors long breakaways, the type favored by French riders Richard Virenque and Laurent Jalabert. Maybe they’ll fight it out at the finish!