Into the High Alps for the Second Week of the Tour de France

This second week is where the Yellow jersey and the climbers Polka Dot jersey could change hands, as the best climber and GC contender emerge. Three brutal  back-to-back stages that could crack even the best riders awaits!

The first week of Le Tour has provided some amazing racing, the Green Jersey now firmly on the back of the best sprinter Peter Sagan. 

The Alps, littered with "Hors Category", beyond category climbs, the battle for the Yellow Jersey will start to boil over. Polka Dot wearer (no he doesn't have a motor in his bike) Tom Skujins from Trek-Segafredo will want to cement his lead in the King of the Mountains competition.

Stage 10 - July 17- Annecy to Le Grand Bornand, 159 km, Mountain Stage

Stage 10 is a key stage and was also the stage of the Etape du Tour, which 15,000 amateur cyclists rode last week. The Etape du Tour sold out within a few days and attracts cyclists from all over the world and is one of Europe's "Top Bucket List Rides", allowing amateurs to experience a full mountain stage of the Tour de France!

A brutal day in the saddle for the pro peloton, especially after the cobbles of Roubaix and a rest day, the change in rhythm could crack even the best of riders. The stage features the Plateau de Glières with its gravel section, brutally hard due to the climb to get there, up the hot, steep, exposed and leg sapping Col de la Croix Fry.

The very tough and successive climbs of the Col de Romme and the Col de la Colombière will mash the legs of the peloton, if it's hot this stage could see the first casualties in terms of time gaps opening up on the general classification.

From the top of Col de la Colombière, it's a very fast technical descent down to the finish in Le Grand-Bornand.

Let's hope it's not too hot!

Don't miss this stage, it will surely start to provide the first signs of who is in the running for the Yellow Jersey and Polka Dot jerseys!

Stage 11 - July 18 - Albertville to La Rosiere, 108 km, Mountain Finish

The first mountain finish, it's predicted that this short, sharp, brutal stage will be an attack festival from start to finish, and only the strongest will contend the finale up to La Rosiere.

Two HC's climbs of the Montee de Bisanne and the Col du Pre kickoff the sufferfest, as the climbing specialists launch long range attacks. 

The domestique's of the strongest GC teams will have a difficult task of controlling the race, and some GC contenders could find themselves all alone early on in this brutal stage.

The beautiful secnery and views from the Cormet de Roseland will be a blur for the GC contenders, and they hit the fast technical descent, trying to cram in as much food and water as possible before they reach the finale up La Rosiere.

Don't miss this stage, whomever wins this stage could pull on the Yellow Jersey ...

Stage 12 - July 19 - Bourg-Saint-Mourice to L'Alpe d'Huez, 175 km, Mountain Finish

Another brutal mountain top finish on one of the most legendary and iconic climbs in the Tour de France.

Every climber and GC contender worth his salt, will want to win this momentous stage!

The Queen Stage, it features over 5,000 metres of climbing, heads over the some of the hardest climbs in professional cycling including the long arduous climbs of the Col du Madeleine, the Croix De Fer before reaching a treacherous descent to Allemont.

Alpe d'Huez has been the backdrop of some of the biggest battles in Pro cycling, from Marco Pantani to Lance Armstrong. Whomever wins the stage will go down in history and their plaque will forever hang on one of the many 21 hairpin bends that make up the brutally steep climb to the ski village of Huez, perched 1,850 metres above the valley floor below.

This stage will be epic, no doubt and the stage will see several hundred thousand cycling fans from around the world on the slopes of one of France's most beloved climbs.

Don't miss this stage!

Will the winner be the Yellow jersey or the Polka Dot wearer?

Stage 13 - July 20 - Le Bourg-d'Osians to Valence, 169 km, Flat

After the incredible highs and lows of the Alpine stages, the peloton turns back to terra-firma for a flat stage. Rolling out of the iconic town of Bourg d'Osians at the base of Alpe d'Huez the stage heads south west to Valence on the way to the final onslaught in the Pyrenees.

Another opportunity for the sprinters, the Yellow Jersey and Polka Dot jersey should get a respite.

If the sun comes out a very hot, energy sapping day that may well get faster for the final sprint finish and rolling hills into Valence, only the strongest sprinters with the freshest legs will feature on the finish line.

By now, fatigue will be setting in and day by day recovery be incredibly important in the peloton.

Stage 14 - July 21 - Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Mende, 188 km, Flat

The peloton will be wishing this was another flat interim stage before the Pyrenees, but the stage gets harder in the last 60 kms with a sucession of rolling short, steep climbs before the final climb of the Cote de la Croix Neuve and short run into Mende.

It will surely be a day for a breakaway, as the GC and sprinters teams won't want to waste too much energy and the Yellow jersey's team will save their legs for the finale.

If it's hot and less windy, this will be a brutal stage, especially for those with heavy legs coming out of the Alps.

Stage 15 - July 22 - Millau to Carassonne, 181 km

No let up for the peloton on the way to the Pyrenees, this stage will suit a breakaway and features the difficult climb of the Pic de Nore before the run into the medieval town of Carcassonne.

Again the heat could make for another energy sapping day for the peloton.