When will the 2012 Etape du Tour route be announced?

Update: 18 October 2011: Well, the Tour de France official route has been published so we can now confirm where the Etape routes will be.

The Alps etape will be the 140km stage 11 of the Tour from Albertville to Les Sybelles, which takes in the Col de la Madeleine, the Col de la Croix de Fer and the Col du Mollard before the climb to the resort of La Toussuire-Les Sybelles. Read the route analysis for the Etape du Tour 2012 Acte I now at Sportive.com.

The second etape will be in the Pyrenees and is stage 16 of the Tour, which runs at 197 kilometres and goes from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon. This is a killer stage which takes in the Tourmalet, the Aubisque, the Aspin and the Peyresourde. It looks harder than the Alpine stage although weather will play a huge part in deciding whether Acte I or Acte II is the hardest. We are working on preparing a preview but the exact route has not yet been published by the Tour organisers.

Registration for both stages of the Etape will open on 17 November 2012.

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As yet there is no definitive date for when the 2012 Etape du Tour route will be announced but we would expect the organisers, Mondovelo, to tell us which stage(s) of the Tour will be used in the third week of October, shortly after the stages for the main race are announced.

We expect that the organisers will stick with the Acte I and Acte II format they adopted for the first time last year, meaning that in theory 17,000 riders could take part in the two etapes in 2012. In practice fewer people are likely to do so. On Acte I last year which included the Galibier and Alpe d'Huez climbs there were 6,443 finishers; given it was ridden in almost perfect conditions it seems likely there were about 7,500 starters. Acte II, which took place in the worst conditions imagineable, had only 1,982 finishers from what was estimated to be 4,000 starters (there were 6,000 entries but how many opened their curtains in the morning and decided to abandon and how many just didn't make the trek to Saint Flour is not known).

One of the 2012 etape stages is bound to be a lengendary climb (or possibly several legendary climbs) and is likely to be in the Pyrenees, given that it was in the Alps in 2011. The second stage is likely to be on the flat but over a much longer distance - but they will possibly try and choose one that doesn't go over any peaks high enough to have snow in late July or early August, as it caused more than a few logistical issues in the 2011 Acte II.

The Tour is likely to run from Saturday 30th June to Sunday 22nd July as the race needs to finish early so riders can go on to the Olympics. That means the Etape dates are likely to be Tuesday 10 and Tuesday 17 July.

Update 16 September 2011: There is a strong rumour that one of the Etapes in 2012 will be from Alberville to la Toussuire. La Toussuire is a 19.1km climb with a total ascent of 1145 metres at an average slope of 6 degrees. The other rumour is that it will be from Bagneres or Saint-Lary-Soulan to Pierre saint Martin, taking in the Col du Tourmalet , Col de l'Aubisque or Col de Marie-Blanque. Obviously there could be two mountain stage Etapes, although at Sportive.com we think that is unlikely.

Keep checking this page for updates on rumours and suggestions about where the 2012 Etape du Tour route may be going - there are always leaks to the French media about the likely route of the race as mayors of towns commit marketing and promotional budgets to get the Tour going through their locale and from that you can often deduct the etape route before the official announcement.

Update 5 October 2011: We have a strong indication from someone close to the Etape organisers that the 2012 Etape du Tour will consist of two mountain stages, one in the Alps and one in the Pyrenees. The Alpine stage will be the shorter of the two but will be pretty challenging; what we are hearing though is that the one in Pyreness will be an epic Etape with two HC climbs, including the Tourmalet. The second one is said to be over 200km long and will be one of the toughest stages of the modern Tour de France, let alone of the Etape generation. You have been warned!