updated 2:56 p.m. ET June 29, 2007

WEEK ONE
Starts in London, with prologue time trial near Trafalgar Square. The relatively flat terrain of the first week favors sprinters. Favorites for the overall title stay tucked in the main pack, safely away from the front riders nervously jostling for position.

WEEK TWO
With the race going clockwise around France, riders reach the mountains quickly with the first of three Alpine stages on July 14 — a 122.1-mile trek from Bourg-en-Bresse to Le-Grand-Bornand. The following day has the first of three uphill finishes up to the ski resort of Tignes. The hardest Alpine stage is on July 17, taking in famed climbs such as the Col de l’Iseran and Col du Galibier. The second week ends with the opening time trial, 33.5 miles around Albi.

WEEK THREE
More tough climbs, in the Pyrenees, and another time trial on the penultimate day.

Stage 16 on July 25 is considered the toughest: 135.2 miles rising to a finish up the Col d’Aubisque.

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“It reaches a crescendo in the Pyrenees,” Tour race director Christian Prudhomme said when organizers unveiled the 2007 route. “If the rider in the yellow jersey is not ready, then he’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

That stage comes after a rest day preceded by another tough leg from Foix to Loudenvielle — featuring the Col de Portet d’Aspet and the Port de Bales.

“It never stops climbing,” Prudhomme said. “It just gets steeper and steeper.”

The Tour finishes in Paris, on the Champs-Elysees.

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