The 2011 Tour De France begins on July 2 at Passage du Gois La Barre-de-Monts, the first stage of a 21-leg event. Colorado will have two racers and one whole team competing to win the world's most famous cycling race. Tom Danielson of Durango, CO, makes his Tour de France debut and will race with the Boulder, CO-based Garmin-Cervelo team (a full roster can be found here). Also racing will be HTC-Highroad's Danny Pate, a native of Colorado Springs.
What can these racers expect at Passage du Gois? According to the race's official website, "The Passage du Gois is a causeway joining the Île de Noirmoutier and Beauvoir sur Mer on the mainland, via Barbâtre, and is submerged by the tide twice a day." It was used for part of stage 2 in the 1999 race, and an accident caused Alex Zülle to lose six minutes after a multi-racer fall occurred. Lance Armstrong beat Zülle by over seven minutes. The Passage du Gois also made an appearance in 2005 as part of an individual time trial to start the race. Danielson's teammate, David Zabriskie, won that stage in under 21 minutes.
Will any of our Colorado riders be in first when the first stage ends at Mont des Alouettes on Saturday? Tune into VERSUS at 6 a.m. MT to catch the live action. VERSUS will carry all live action, while NBC Sports will re-air coverage later in the day. Check out the complete schedule here.
Here is a complete schedule of Tour de France:
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2-Jul | Passage du Gois - Mont des Alouettes | 191.5 km (119 mi) | Flat stage |
| 2 | 3-Jul | Les Essarts - Les Essarts | 23 km (14 mi) | Team Time Trial |
| 3 | 4-Jul | Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon | 198 km (123 mi) | Flat stage |
| 4 | 5-Jul | Lorient - Mûr-de-Bretagne | 172.5 km (107 mi) | Flat stage |
| 5 | 6-Jul | Carhaix - Cap Fréhel | 164.5 km (102 mi) | Flat stage |
| 6 | 7-Jul | Dinan - Lisieux | 226.5 km (141 mi) | Flat stage |
| 7 | 8-Jul | Le Mans - Chateauroux | 218 km (135 mi) | Flat stage |
| 8 | 9-Jul | Aigurande - Super-Besse | 189 km (117 mi) | Medium-mountain |
| 9 | 10-Jul | Issoire - Saint-Flour | 208 km (129 mi) | Medium-mountain |
| 11-Jul | Rest Day | |||
| 10 | 12-Jul | Aurillac - Carmaux | 158 km (98 mi) | Flat stage |
| 11 | 13-Jul | Blaye-les-Mines - Lavaur | 167.5 km (104 mi) | Flat stage |
| 12 | 14-Jul | Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden | 211 km (131 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 13 | 15-Jul | Pau - Lourdes | 152.5 km (95 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 14 | 16-Jul | Saint-Gaudens - Plateau de Beille | 168.5 km (105 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 15 | 17-Jul | Limoux - Montpellier | 192.5 km (120 mi) | Flat stage |
| 18-Jul | Rest Day | |||
| 16 | 19-Jul | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Gap | 162.5 km (101 mi) | Medium-mountain |
| 17 | 20-Jul | Gap - Pinerolo | 179 km (111 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 18 | 21-Jul | Pinerolo - Col du Galibier / Serre Chevalier | 200.5 km (125 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 19 | 22-Jul | Modane - L'Alpe d'Huez | 109.5 km (68 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 20 | 23-Jul | Grenoble - Grenoble | 42.5 km (26 mi) | Individual time trial |
| 21 | 24-Jul | Creteil - Paris (Champs-Élysées) | 95 km (59 mi) | Flat stage |
For in-depth coverage of the race, visit out cycling blog, Podium Cafe, and our SB Nation StoryStream.