The focus of this stage will be the legendary Col d'Aubisque, which represents the final hors categorie climb of the Tour - the mountains aren't finished yet, but Aubisque represents the end of some 'extreme' climbing for riders. Armstrong took the yellow jersey on the back of this climb in 2002 - this occurred earlier in the race, and he went on to dominate the remainder of the Tour after hitting his competition hard in these opening mountain exchanges. In 2005 the situation may well be different, or we could find Armstrong placing a stranglehold on the overall lead leading to a seventh victory - who knows? Either way it's going to be a fight amongst the main GC contenders with a couple of strongmen thrown in; the German has been quiet since his early season success and is primed for a strong Tour performance.
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Five teams pull out of Tour of Chongming Island as UCI removes mandatory participation following Tour of Guangxi cancellation
Organisers looking for other teams to make up the numbers as teams as questions are raised over costs -
CRO Race: Carl-Frederik Bévort takes surprise first pro win in stage 2 sprint finish
Nicolas Gojković finishes second with Jaun Sebastián Molano retaining the overall lead in third -
Can anyone kick the Europeans off the top spot? – World Championships junior women’s road race contenders
Only three non-European riders have ever won the junior women’s road race -
From a 'jaded' retirement to a Montreal do-over – Mike Woods is bowing out with a fairytale home World Championships appearance
Canadian's post-retirement year has 'rekindled my love for the sport', and the stars aligned for him to end his career in Montreal as planned
