The Tourmalet.

 Pau to Col du Tourmalet, 174 km

And so here we are, the Queen stage on the climb that has been used more than any other in TdF history - The Tourmalet.  Since 1947  the Tour has crossed the summit 47 times, with only one summit finish in 1974. The 2010 tour will be won or lost - here.  Two cat 1 climbs soften the legs before the biggest challenge of this years tour.  The Marie- Blanque isn't high but its last 4km average 10 per cent. The Soulor is longer, higher and tackled from its toughest side. Then to the Tourmalet, the highest climb of this year's race, they have already been over it once in the race, but this time it is from the harder side and the weather forecast is for rain. This is the place that legends are made and it looks as if stage 17 will be no different

Climbs

Km 13.5 - Côte de Renoir - 2.2 km climb to 6 % - Category 4
Km 56.5 - Col de Marie-Blanque - 9.3 km climb to 7.6 % - Category 1
Km 117.5 - Col du Soulor (D 126-D 918) - 11.9 km climb to 7.8 % - Category 1
Km 174.0 - COL DU TOURMALET (Souvenir Henri Desgrange) - 18.6 km climb to 7.5 % - Category H

Consider this passage from 'La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France' by Pierre Chany.
"The Pyrenees were included in the Tour de France at the insistence of Alphonse Steinès, a colleague of the organiser, Henri Desgrange. Steinès first agreed that the Tour would pay 2,000 francs to clear the col d'Aubisque, then came back to investigate the Tourmalet. He started at Sainte-Marie-de-Campan with sausage, ham and cheese at the inn opposite the church and arranged to hire a driver called Dupont from Bagnères-de-Bigorre. Dupont and Steinès made it the first 16km, after which their car came to a stop.

Dupont and Steinès started to walk but Dupont turned back after 600m, shouting: "The bears come over from Spain when it snows."
Steinès set off. He mistook voices in the darkness for thieves. They were youngsters guarding sheep with their dog. Steinès called to one.
"Son, do you know the Tourmalet well? Could you guide me? I'll give you a gold coin. When we get to the other top, I'll give you another one."
The boy joined him but then turned back. Steinès rested on a rock. He considered sitting it out until dawn, then realised he'd freeze. He slipped on the icy road, then fell into a stream. He climbed back to the road and again fell in the snow. Exhausted and stumbling, he heard another, voice.
"Tell me who goes there or I'll shoot."
"I'm a lost traveller. I've just come across the Tourmalet."
"Oh, it's you, Monsieur Steinès! We were expecting you! We got a phone call at Ste-Marie-de-Campan. Everybody's at Barèges. It's coming on for three o'clock. There are search teams of guides out looking for you."
The organising newspaper, L'Autoz had a correspondent at Barèges, a man called Lanne-Camy. He took him for a bath and provided new clothes.

Steines sent a telegram to Desgrange:
"Crossed Tourmalet stop. Very good road stop. Perfectly feasible stop."


You might notice a statue perched on top Tourmalet. In 1910 when it was first included, Octave Lapize was first over the summit, he shouted at the officials at the top "Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!' (French for 'You are murderers! Yes, murderers!'). Lapize went on to win the tour that year and the statue perched atop them mountain is of him.
This is a big mountain and the scenery is superb, it should make for some excellent viewing, good roads meaning it will be packed with tourists, this is one of those climbs where you wonder how the riders push through the packs.

 
The breakaway will go early with Charteau and his BBox team mates looking to defend the KOM jersey from the likes of Christophe Moreau, Sandy Casar, Damiano Cunego and Jerome Pineau.
There are big points available and these will be the last available points in the 2010 edition - any of these riders can still win with a maximum of 73 points available over the 4 categorsied climbs.

I doubt that they will be getting to the summit of the Tourmalet first though.  That honour will go to Schleck or Contador. Andy has said he will take his revenge on the Tourmalet and Saxo Bank stated on the rest day that they will throw absolutely everything at the race today.

If you only watch one stage in this years race - make it this one.  This has all the ingredients - the right conditions, the right climb, at the right part of the race with the top two as the best two climbers in the world and only 8 seconds between them - to go down in history as one of the greatest tour stages of all time.