2007 Tour de France

The 2007 Tour de France is the 94th Tour de France, taking place from July 7 to July 29, 2007. The organisers of the Tour and London mayor Ken Livingstone announced on January 24, 2006 that the start of the tour would be in London. Livingstone revealed the two stages would be used to commemorate the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings saying "Having the Grand Départ on the seventh of July will broadcast to the world that terrorism does not shake our city."

The route for the prologue in London and the first full stage through Kent, finishing in Canterbury was announced on February 9, 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. This was the third time the tour has visited England, previously in Plymouth (1974) and two stages across Kent, Sussex and Hampshire (1994).

Tour director Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 2007 Tour de France route in Paris on October 26, 2006. In total, the route covers 3553.9 km.^[1]

Stages

Stage	Route	Distance	Type	Date	Stage winner	GC leader
P	London	7.9 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 7	Fabian Cancellara	Fabian Cancellara
1	London - Canterbury	203 km	Flat stage	Sunday, July 8	Robbie McEwen	Fabian Cancellara
2	Dunkirk - Ghent	168.5 km	Flat stage	Monday, July 9	Gert Steegmans	Fabian Cancellara
3	Waregem - Compiègne	236 km	Flat stage	Tuesday, July 10	Fabian Cancellara	Fabian Cancellara
4	Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny	193 km	Flat stage	Wednesday, July 11	Thor Hushovd	Fabian Cancellara
5	Chablis - Autun	182.5 km	Intermediate stage	Thursday, July 12	Filippo Pozzato	Fabian Cancellara
6	Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse	199.5 km	Flat stage	Friday, July 13	Tom Boonen	Fabian Cancellara
7	Bourg-en-Bresse - Le Grand-Bornand	197.5 km	Mountain stage	Saturday, July 14	Linus Gerdemann	Linus Gerdemann
8	Le Grand-Bornand - Tignes	165 km	Mountain stage	Sunday, July 15
Rest day				Monday, July 16
9	Val-d'Isère - Briançon	159.5 km	Mountain stage	Tuesday, July 17
10	Tallard - Marseille	229.5 km	Flat stage	Wednesday, July 18
11	Marseille - Montpellier	182.5 km	Flat stage	Thursday, July 19
12	Montpellier - Castres	178.5 km	Intermediate stage	Friday, July 20
13	Albi	54 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 21
14	Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille	197 km	Mountain stage	Sunday, July 22
15	Foix - Loudenvielle	196 km	Mountain stage	Monday, July 23
Rest day				Tuesday, July 24
16	Orthez - Gourette-Col d'Aubisque	218.5 km	Mountain stage	Wednesday, July 25
17	Pau - Castelsarrasin	188.5 km	Intermediate stage	Thursday, July 26
18	Cahors - Angoulême	211 km	Flat stage	Friday, July 27
19	Cognac - Angoulême	55.5 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 28
20	Marcoussis - Paris Champs-Élysées	146 km	Flat stage	Sunday, July 29
Total		3,553.9 km

Stage recaps

Jersey progress

Notes

(1) = In Stage 1, Fabian Cancellara - the winner of the Prologue - wore the yellow jersey, and Andreas Klöden wore the green jersey.
(2) = In Stage 8, Linus Gerdemann - the overall leader - wore the yellow jersey, and Mauricio Soler wore the white jersey.

Overall standings

General Classification

After Stage 7

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile Team	34h 43'40"
2	Inigo Landaluze	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1'24"
3	David de la Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2'45"
4	Laurent Lefevre	Bouygues Télécom	2'55"
5	Mauricio Soler	Barloworld	3'05"
6	Andreas Klöden	Astana Team	3'39"
7	Vladimir Gusev	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	3'51"
8	Vladimir Karpets	Caisse d'Epargne	3'52"
9	Mikel Astarloza	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3'55"
10	Thomas Dekker	Rabobank	3'57"

Points Classification

After Stage 7

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Tom Boonen	Quick Step-Innergetic	147
2	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	134
3	Robert Hunter	Barloworld	103
4	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	101
5	Robbie McEwen	Predictor-Lotto	97
6	Sébastien Chavanel	Française des Jeux	94
7	Robert Förster	Gerolsteiner	78
8	Romain Feillu	Agritubel	74
9	Gert Steegmans	Quick Step-Innergetic	68
10	Danilo Napolitano	Lampre-Fondital	67

King of the Mountains Classification

After Stage 7

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Sylvain Chavanel	Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone	42
2	Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile	30
3	David De La Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	30
4	Laurent Lefevre	Bouygues Telecom	27
5	Inigo Landaluze	Euskaltel-Euskadi	26
6	Philippe Gilbert	Française des Jeux	23
7	Michael Rasmussen	Rabobank	22
8	Dmitriy Fofonov	Crédit Agricole	17
9	William Bonnet	Crédit Agricole	15
10	Martin Elmiger	AG2R Prévoyance	14

Young Riders' Classification

After Stage 7

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile Team	24h 29'41"
2	Mauricio Soler	Barloworld	6"
3	Vladimir Gusev	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	7"
4	Thomas Dekker	Rabobank	10"
5	Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	13"
6	Bernhard Kohl	Team Gerolsteiner	19"
7	Kanstantin Siutsou	Barloworld	23"
8	Amets Txurruka	Euskaltel-Euskadi	38"
9	Thomas Lövkvist	Cofidis, le Credit par Téléphone	1' 02"
10	Igor Anton	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1' 28"

Teams Classification

After Stage 5

Rank	Team	Time
1	Team CSC	1h 29' 08"
2	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	3"
3	Caisse d'Epargne	16"
4	T-Mobile Team	43"
5	Rabobank	45"
6	Française des Jeux	46"
7	Quick Step-Innergetic	52"
8	Gerolsteiner	52"
9	Crédit Agricole	52"
10	Euskaltel-Euskadi	55"

2007 UCI ProTour points awarded

After Stage 7

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Fabian Cancellara	Team CSC	20
2	Tom Boonen	Quick Step-Innergetic	18
3	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	15
=4	Óscar Freire	Rabobank	13
=4	Filippo Pozzato	Liquigas	13
=6	Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile Team	10
=6	Robbie McEwen	Predictor-Lotto	10
=6	Gert Steegmans	Quick Step-Innergetic	10
9	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	8
=10	Andreas Klöden	Astana	5
=10	Iñigo Landaluze	Euskaltel-Euskadi	5
=12	Daniele Bennati	Lampre-Fondital	3
=12	David de la Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	3
=12	George Hincapie	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	3
=12	Danilo Napolitano	Lampre-Fondital	3

Individual UCI ProTour standings before race

As of June 24, 2007, after the 2007 Tour de Suisse.^[2]

Rank	Previous Rank	Name	Nationality	Team	Points
1	1	Danilo Di Luca	Italy	Liquigas	207
2	2	Davide Rebellin	Italy	Gerolsteiner	157
3	3	Alejandro Valverde	Spain	Caisse d'Epargne	112
4	5	Damiano Cunego	Italy	Lampre-Fondital	112
5	25	Vladimir Karpets	Russia	Caisse d'Epargne	102
6	4	Christophe Moreau	France	Ag2r Prévoyance	88
7	6	Cadel Evans	Australia	Predictor-Lotto	86
8	34	Kim Kirchen	Luxembourg	T-Mobile Team	84
9	7	Óscar Freire	Spain	Rabobank	82
10	8	Andy Schleck	Luxembourg	Team CSC	81

196 riders have scored at least one (1) point on the 2007 UCI ProTour.

Withdrawals

	Stage	Rider	Team	Reason
DNF	1	Eduardo Gonzalo	Agritubel	Injury due to crash
DNS	3	Tomas Vaitkus	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	Fractured thumb
DNF	4	Xabier Zandio	Caisse d'Epargne	Injury due to crash
DNS	5	Rémy Di Gregorio	Française des Jeux	Broken elbow
DNF	5	Brett Lancaster	Team Milram	Stomach bug
DNS	6	Geoffroy Lequatre	Cofidis	Finger contusions
DNS	7	Óscar Freire	Rabobank	Saddle sore
DNS	7	Rubén Lobato	Saunier Duval-Prodir	Relative passed away
DNF	7	Enrico Degano	Barloworld	Injury due to crash

Teams

There are 21 teams of 9 riders - 189 riders in total - competing in the race. The teams^[3] are:

Belgium

Predictor-Lotto

Quick Step-Innergetic

Denmark

Team CSC

France

AG2R Prévoyance

Agritubel

Bouygues Télécom

Cofidis, le Crédit par téléphone

Crédit Agricole

Française des Jeux

Germany

Gerolsteiner

T-Mobile Team

Italy

Lampre-Fondital

Liquigas

Team Milram

Netherlands

Rabobank

Spain

Caisse d'Epargne

Euskaltel-Euskadi

Saunier Duval-Prodir

Switzerland

Astana

United Kingdom

Barloworld

United States of America

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

Pre-race favourites

After the retirement of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong and with Floyd Landis not entering the Tour, the bookmakers' favourite to win the 2007 Tour de France is Alexandre Vinokourov, who was unable to start in 2006 due to lack of team members, but did win the 2006 Vuelta a España. The main challengers are expected to be the 2006 Tour de France third place finisher Andreas Klöden; and Alejandro Valverde, who dropped out of the 2006 Tour de France after a crash, but came second to Vinokourov in the 2006 Vuelta a España.

Shown in the table below are the riders that, according to the bookmakers^[4] on 7 July 2007, the start day of the 2007 Tour de France, have the best chances of winning the 2007 Tour.

Rider	Team	Notes	Fractional Odds	Decimal Odds
Alexandre Vinokourov	Astana	Unable to start in 2006, 5th in 2005	15/8	2.87
Andreas Klöden	Astana	3rd place in 2006, winner of Tirreno-Adriatico	4/1	5.00
Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne	Crashed and withdrew in 2006 and 2005, winner of 2006 UCI ProTour	4/1	5.00
Cadel Evans	Predictor-Lotto	5th place in 2006	12/1	13.00
Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	4th place in 2006	12/1	13.00
Levi Leipheimer	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	13th place in 2006	16/1	17.00
Andrey Kashechkin	Astana	Unable to start in 2006, 2nd in Young Riders' Classification in 2005	16/1	17.00
Denis Menchov	Rabobank	6th place in 2006	18/1	19.00
Fränk Schleck	Team CSC	Winner of Stage 15 to Alpe D'Huez in 2006. 11th place in 2006	22/1	23.00
Christophe Moreau	AG2R Prévoyance	8th place in 2006, winner of 2007 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré	22/1	23.00
Vladimir Karpets	Caisse d'Epargne	Best young rider in 2004 Tour	25/1	26.00
Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	Winner of 2007 Paris-Nice	28/1	29.00
Michael Rogers	T-Mobile Team	10th place in 2006; three-time World Time-Trial Champion	40/1	41.00
Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne	2nd place in 2006	50/1	51.00

Janez Brajkovič, Damiano Cunego, Tom Danielson and Koldo Gil were all offered at odds within the range of this table, but withdrew before the race field was finalised.