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Stage by stage
stage 10 - Mâcon 
Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
194.5 km
Wednesday 11 July
Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
194.5 km
Wednesday 11 July
High Mountains - A sporting perspective
Christian Prudhomme’s Analysis
The rest day in Maçon will be necessary for the riders to attack this tenth, new and very promising stage. Before the descent to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, the climbers who may have lost a few seconds in Doubs will have the opportunity to pull themselves together in the ascent leading to the summit of the Col du Grand Colombier. This is the first time that the peloton of the Tour de France has been there.
Mâcon
• Stage town on 4 previous occasions
• 34,150 inhabitants
• Prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire (71)
The two time-trials that the Tour has held in Maçon have crowned two of the speciality’s champions. In 1991, Miguel Indurain secured the first of his five titles by beating Gianni Bugno and Greg LeMond. And in 2002, Lance Armstrong also maintained his advantage in the last time-trial.
During the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné, the stage in Maçon provided an opportunity for the young German rider, John Degenkolb, to confirm his entry in the club of highly regarded sprinters, by winning on the banks of the River Saône, at the foot of Lamartine’s statue.
• www.macon.fr
• www.macon-tourism.com
• www.camval.com
• www.espace-maconnais.org
• www.region-bourgogne.fr
• www.cg71.fr
Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
• Stage town for the first time
• 12,100 inhabitants
• Head of the canton of Ain (01)
The Tour has left Switzerland, but it will draw near to it again by stopping off in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, which is situated about twenty kilometres from the border. Although the river which gave the town its name also acts as a boundary with Savoie, the finish of the stage will actually be judged in Ain. Before this, the Col du Grand Colombier will have impressed the riders, as much by its fearsome gradients as the picture postcard scenery which it boasts.
• www.bellegarde01.fr
• www.ot-bellegarde01.fr
• www.ccpb01.fr