By Tim Maloney, European Editor (Cycling News)
Starting in the town famous worldwide for crisp white wine, after five days of racing in the 2007 Tour de France, stage 5 contains some serious racing on a winding, rolling parcours with eight categorized climbs. A break will certainly get away and in the second half of the stage, the road ascends to the windy roads of Morvan Plateau before a final ascent of the Cat. 3 Côte de la Croix de la Libération with eight kilometres to race, which could make the difference for the race winning move.
Climbs:
Km 39.5: Côte des Grandes-Châtelaines: 1.5km climb @ 6.7% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 52.5: Côte de Domecy-sur-Cure: 1.3km climb @ 6.2% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 58.5: Côte de Champignolles-le-Bas: 2.0km climb @ 6.5% avg. grade / 3rd Cat.
Km 86.5: Côte de Coulon: 1.0km climb @ 6.2% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 98.5: Côte de Saint-Maurice: 3.0km climb @ 5.2% avg. grade / 3rd Cat.
Km 119: Côte de Château-Chinon: 2.5km climb @ 3.8% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 135.5: Haut-Folin: 12.9km climb @ 3.7% avg. grade/ 2nd Cat.
Km 174: Côte de la Croix de la Libération: 3.4km climb @ 5.4% avg. grade / 3rd Cat.
Sprints:
Km 36: Avallon
Km 88: Montreuillon
Km 145: Bibracte-Mont-Beuvray
