After two weeks of bike racing in France next July, the GC should still be up in the air, but a little trip to the Pyrenees should settle any and all GC issues. Ask any experienced Grand Tour rider and they’ll tell you that the race is won in the last week – and the closing week of the 2010 Tour is not for the faint hearted!

Now that the first rush of Tour de France route presentation hysteria has passed, let's take a slightly calmer, more methodical look at what we'll find over three big weeks of racing in France next July. This will be a three-part series with one week going to each of the next three days. We'll get it started with the traditionally wild and crazy Week 1.