[ritchiebaby]

Tomorrow's first stage will leave Brest in Brittany in what is described as a hilly 197.8km stage - certainly more molehill than mountain, but molehills have steep sides and one of these could catch someone out, especially right at the end. I'm not expecting anything too dramatic with the main contenders, but as the course follows the line of a drunken man leaving the pub by the back door for a fag, getting lost and coming back in the front door, he could be bothered by the wind. It will come in to the peloton from all sides during the stage and could lead to a lot of stretching out by some of the riders, who will have to expend a lot of energy to get back into a good position.

Sunday's second stage will follow roughly the same terrain from Perros-Guirec with a tricky steep finish, but will be roughly North-west to South-east in direction following a gentle curve on the map.

As usual, the race is comprehensively covered by ITV4 with daily live coverage and highlight programmes. It starts on Saturday at 10.45am with highlights at 7.00pm. For those interested there is a shorter version of each stage for women called La Course which is also televised live on ITV4 at 9.00am with highlights at 8.00pm.