 There are a number of key stages as Armstrong bids to win again |
Tour de France contenders can lose the race through a single bad day in the saddle, dropping five minutes on their rivals for the win and effectively scuppering their chances.
Unsurprisingly the Alpine and Pyrenean stages are where the bigger gaps will start appearing between the top 10.
BBC Sport gauges the opinions of some of the top riders to find out where they believe the Tour will be won and lost.
FLOYD LANDIS - STAGE 10
When you look at the first really killer mountain stage, you say to yourself "do I have the legs for it?"
The mind says "yeah sure" because you've tackled endless mountains before and, in my case, I managed to fly up a few on last year's Tour.
But you have no idea until the pain of it really sets in.
The initial climb to Cormet-de-Roseland will give you some idea and then there's a bitch of a mountain up to Courchevel.
That's when everyone will be attacking to check what Lance Armstrong has got in the tank. That almost decides how you're going to fare for the tour.
ALEXANDRE VINOKOUROV - STAGE 11
With a lot of tired legs from the previous day's exertions, the Courchevel to Briancon stage will see a variety of attacks from the major climbers.
You've got three really big climbs - the Col de la Madeleine, the Col du Telegraphe and the Col du Galibier.
To me, they just get worse and worse.
There's quite a gap between the last climb and the stage finish for that day - about 40km - but, if you've had a bad day in the saddle while your rivals are flying, that's your Tour aspirations over.
IBAN MAYO - STAGE 14
For much of the route from Agde to Aix-3 Domaines, it's a fairly standard stage that might suit a breakaway rider.
But in the final 45km there are two big climbs - a hors categorie (without category) and then first category to finish.
They're relatively short, sharp bursts and should play into the hands of the more explosive climbers.
For Euskatel that's good as we see it as one of our strong areas, particularly as we'll be getting a lot more support through the Basque region.
IVAN BASSO - STAGE 20
For any gains you might have made in the mountains, that can always be wiped out by guys like Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich in an instant in the time trials.
This 55.5km route in St Etienne is a fairly standard contre la montre [the French term for time trial].
Ever since the Pyrenees, riders will have been focusing on this specific stage, seeing where the slightest time can be made up on every corner and slight climb.
For me, the time trials have never been good and I can lose up to three minutes on the main guys but this is something I've worked on heavily. Hopefully, that work will be realised.
LANCE ARMSTRONG - THE TWO TRIUMVIRATES
T-Mobile are undoubtedly are biggest rivals throughout the route and they have a formidable line-up for the race.
It is their triumvirate of Jan Ullrich, Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Kloden that could decide this race.
But that said, our Discovery Channel team have a triumvirate of its own with me, Paolo Savoldelli and Yaroslav Popovych.
Add Jose Azevedo to that and it should be some tussle whatever the stage.
MMIX
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