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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Paul Seixas chases down World Champion Brandon McNulty at Tour de France Saitama Criterium to close out 2026 season with a win
French superstar goes solo in final lap of exhibition event to delight fans in Japan on Sunday -
Reports suggest XDS may withdraw sponsorship of the XDS-Astana team before the scheduled 2029 date
The Chinese bike manufacturer joined the team in 2025 -
Michael Vanthourenhout back on rollers after crashing out of Superprestige Merksplas
Belgian dropped to sixth overall and ‘can now forget the classification’ - video -
‘I’m excited to be part of that story’ - Florian Sénéchal joins Unibet Rose Rockets
Friend Philippe Gilbert encouraged the move to the French-registered team
