This year’s Tour de France kicks off from the Futuroscope, a “retro-future” theme park (whatever that is), no longer with the traditional prologue but with a for-real time trial. Quite apt that organisers have dispensed with the traditional prologue, as Chris Boardman, traditional winner of it in recent years, had to pull out of the Tour last week.

Big hill sections come in the Pyrenees in Stage 10 and in the Alps in Stages 12, 14, 15, 16, 17. No Alpe d’Huez this year, but the real men and boys stuff comes in stages 14 and 15. The climb to to La Montee de Courcheval at the end of Stage 15 (17.3 km at 8.1% gradient to an altitude of 2,004m) has not been ridden since the the 1997 tour, and this should be a significant day.

Its all mouth-watering stuff, can’t wait for the contest to get going…