By Cuinn Huber
Every year the Tour de France puts on the most spectacular spectacle on two wheels. This upcoming year is set up to be no different. The route this year is set to be the one of the most diverse in recent years. There are two time trials, six flat stages, seven medium mountain stages and last but not least six high mountain stages including a summit finish up the famous Alpe d’Huez. It’s not just the diversity in the stages that will make this upcoming race great, it is also what will be in those stages. The first stage is a 13 kilometer or eight mile Individual time time trial around the streets of copenhagen. Rarely does the race start with a time trial anymore but when they do it allows the athletes to be tested on an individual level to see how good of shape they really are in. The race will then conclude with a 40 kilometer or 25 mile time trial which will again test the individual strength of every athlete this time at the very end of the race. The mountain stages will also be very exciting, in particular the first one on stage seven which will finish at the top of La Planche de belle filles. The five and a half mile climb to the finish will have gradients as steep as 24 percent. This is an opportunity for athletes who want to win the race to put minutes into their rivals in the space of only a few miles. All of this put together will create one of the most spectacular races of the 21st century.