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COURSE: The rolling terrain of the opening 160km takes therace into the heart of the Pyrénées, where the peloton willtackle the two hardest climbs yet. The Col d’Aspin is 12.5km at a 6.3 percent,while the finish comes 5km from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet aftera 15km climb, most of it at 8 percent.
FAVORITES: After two weeks on the road, some of the pre-racefavorites will have dropped out of the picture, but those still in goodshape should fight out the stage: Who will be the strongest between Armstrong,Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton, Iban Mayo, Joseba Beloki and Roberto Heras?
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HISTORY: Two stages have finished at La Mongie, won by BernardThévenet in 1970 and Lance Armstrong in 2002. That both men areTour winners gives an indication of who will be contending.
Armstrong won in 2002, beating Joseba Beloki by seven seconds.
CASTELSARRASIN:
Starts: 1 (2001)
Finishes: 0
LA MONGIE:
Starts: 0
Finishes: 2 (1970-2002)
