The Tour de France's first stretch of mountain stages kicked off on Wednesday, and will continue on Thursday as the racers climb from Albertville to La Toussuire-Les Sybelles over the course of 148 kilometers. Tuesday's stage was taken by Thomas Voeckler— who now holds the polka dotted jersey awarded to the leading mountain climber— but the yellow jersey is still in the possession of Bradley Wiggins, who holds a +1:53 lead over defending Tour de France champion Cadel Evans.
The first two climbs of the stage will come at La Madeleine (40 km) and La Croix de Fer (93 km), with each climb stretching for longer than 20 km and featuring a gradient greater than six percent. The third climb kicks in at Le Mollard (113 km), which features a gradient of only 5.7 percent. The final climb to the finish line at La Toussuire begins with 18 meters to go in the race.
Start time: 6:05 a.m. CT
Expected finish time: 10:33 a.m. CT
TV: NBC Sports Network (coverage begins at 6:00 a.m. CT)
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