I've given some more thought to the tentative Tour stages on Pez today.

First off, I think the Toulouse to Bagneres de Bigorre stage will be relatively flat.

Second, the Pau to Hautacam stage. My longshot that includes the Tourmalet is possible. It would be about 180km. Long, but doable. I still lean toward a Marie-Blanque, Aubisque, Soulor, Hautacam stage.

Third, the Embrun to ??? stage. My guess is that it will finish in Albertville but that leaves a long valley road after the Telegraphe. Another possibility would be the Col de Vars before the Izoard and then finish in a town close to the base of the Telegraphe like St. Michel de Maurienne.

That leaves speculation of L'Etape du Tour which will be in the Alps this year. It won't be the Italian stage. That leaves two stages. Either one has climbs included in the '06 L'Etape. The organizers finished atop Alpe d'Huez in '06, so they may not do that again. That leaves the Embrun to Albertville or St. Michel stage. But, L'Etape went over the Izoard and Lauteret (the lead up to the Galibier) in '06 as well. It's a 50/50 guess. I might lean toward a finish at Huez again if they start in Albertville. Albertville would have plenty of accommodations for all the participants and more easily handle 9000 riders than Embrun.