The Pyrenees and Alps add to the Tour de France

The ski and winter sports areas in the Pyrenees and Alps, the centers of winter holidays in Europe, look forward each year to a very special highlight in mid-July, well outside the ski season. That is when the Tour de France peloton visits the winter sports resorts and ski stations of the Alps and Pyrenees to determine the strongest stage racer among the cyclists. Traditionally, the stages through the Alps and Pyrenees decide who will win the overall Tour de France, which finishes in Paris each year.

This year, the Tour de France will be ridden clockwise, so it will be seen first in the Pyrenees and only toward the end of the race in France in the Alps. Between July 10 and 12, this year's Tour de France will start or finish in the Pyrenees at Arcalis, Andorra la Vella (both in Andorra), Saint-Girons, Saint-Gaudens, and Tarbes. In the Alps, the stars of the international cycling scene will be seen from July 19–23 in Verbier, Martigny (both in Switzerland), Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Le Grand-Bornand, and Annecy (individual time trial).

Ski fans and winter sports enthusiasts may already have recognized some of these place names. Even in snow-free summer, the Alps and Pyrenees offer plenty of entertainment, especially during the hugely popular Tour de France. Some of the climbs tackled in what is widely considered the world's most important cycling race, in the Alps and Pyrenees, have even achieved legendary status.