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THE 2009 TOUR, STAGE-BY-STAGE
 Stage 1 - Saturday, July 4 2009 - Monaco - Monaco (ITT) 15.5 km | Results
Whilst Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara reminded everyone that he is currently the world's leading Time Trial rider with a scintillating ride round the 15.5km opening stage of the 2009 Tour de France, in Monaco, it was encouraging to see Bradley Wiggins taking a deserved third place: Stage 1 Analysis
 Stage 2 - Sunday, July 5 2009: Monaco - Brignoles 187km | Results
Mark Cavendish made sure that we didn;t have long to wait for his first stage win in the 2009 Tour with an all too easy victory in the first road stage into Brignoles. A great lead out and tangle in the chasing bunch on the final bend ensured he was able to cruise over the line virtually unhindered. Stage 2 Analysis
 Stage 3 - Monday, July 6 2009: Marseille - La Grande-Motte 196.5 km | Results
Stage 3 of the 2009 Tour saw another fine Mark Cavendish win, but there was also a surprising split in the main field caused by the wind - we look at how and why this happened. Stage 3 Analysis
 Stage 4 - Tuesday, July 7 2009: Montpellier - Montpellier (TTT) 39 km | Results
Tour Watch - We look at the team-work required for the technical discipline of Team Time Trialling. We also look at the wider issue of team-work and how Lance Armstrong's attitude to it seems to have changed. Stage 4 Analysis
 Stage 5 - Wednesday, July 8 2009: Le Cap d'Agde - Perpignan 196.5 km | Results
Stage 5 of the Tour de France saw another predominantly flat stage which should have suited the sprinters and their teams. However, these stages always attract the interest of the breakaway specialists. And for the first time this Tour, one of these brave individuals managed to pull off a stage win. Stage 5 Analysis
 Stage 6 - Thursday, July 9 2009: Gérone - Barcelone 181.5 km | Results
Garmin-Slipsteam's David Millar was the breakaway star of the sixth stage of the 2009 Tour de France. In genuinely unpleasant conditions on the run in to the finish in the Spanish city of Barcelona the tall Scot made a lone bid for victory. Stage 6 Analysis
THE MOUNTAINS: INTO THE PYRENEES
Stage 7 - Friday, July 10 2009: Barcelone - Andorre Arcalis 224 km | Results
The first mountain stage of the Tour de France was a great spectacle and delivered all the drama and incident that we had been expecting. The leading contenders had their first eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, with all the classic spaghetti western hard stares, quick draw attacks and a gimlet-eyed hero dispatching his foes up at the end. But would that hero be the Clint Eastwood of cycling, Lance Armstrong, or not? Stage 7 Analysis
 Stage 8 Saturday, July 11 2009: Andorre-la-Vieille - Saint-Girons 176.5 km | Results
Stage eight of the Tour de France saw another successful breakaway as four riders broke clear and held off the main field to the finish in Saint-Girons. Behind them, although there was some muscle flexing amongst the main contenders, there were no fireworks. Instead, we were treated to a tactical masterclass by the stage winner. Stage 8 Analysis
 Stage 9 Sunday, July 12 2009: Saint-Gaudens - Tarbes 160.5 km | Results
Stage 9 of the 2009 Tour de France saw the riders saying goodbye to the sunlit peaks of the Pyrenees. A tough looking day with the classic climbs of the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet was a little less severe in reality, with a long, long 70km downhill run to the finish at Tarbes giving almost all the riders ample time to re-group. Stage 9 Analysis
BACK TO THE FLATLANDS
Rest day - Monday, July 13 2009
Stage 10 Tuesday, July 14 2009: Limoges - Issoudun 194.5 km | Results
Tour Watch - Stage 10 - Mark Cavendish completed a hat-trick of wins in the 2009 Tour de France with another convincing demolition of the opposition in a beautifully set up sprint at the end of stage 10, in the town of Issoudun. A perfect lead-out by the Team Columbia-HTC train and a long surge for the line left his rivals grasping at thin air once again. Stage 10 Analysis
Stage 11 Wednesday, July 15 2009: Vatan - Saint-Fargeau 192 km | Results
 Tour Watch - Stage 11 - Mark Cavendish won the eleventh stage of the Tour de France, overcoming a tough, technically chalenging uphill finish and claiming his fourth win of the event in the process. He also matched Barry Hoban's British record for Tour stage wins and is now back in the green jersey. Stage 11 Analysis
INTO THE NORTH EAST'S HILLS
Stage 12 Thursday, July 16 2009: Tonnerre - Vittel 211.5 km | Results
Danish rider Nicky Sorensen rode a classy last few kilometers of stage 12 of the Tour de France to claim his first ever stage win in the event. As one member of a seven rider break, he showed just how to eliminate your rivals with a clinical piece of hard riding just a couple of kilometers out. Stage 12 Analysis
 Stage 13 Friday, July 17 2009: Vittel - Colmar 200 km | Results
A tough, wet day at the Tour de France saw the fortunes of two top riders head in opposite directions, underlining the fickle nature of the sport: whilst Levi Leipheimer found himself on the way home after a crash, Heinrich Haussler enjoyed a payback day when his spring near misses were laid to rest following a fine solo win. Stage 13 Analysis
Stage 14 Saturday, July 18 2009: Colmar - Besançon 199 km | Results
Stage 14 in this years Tour de France was supposed to be a battle for the Green jersey between Britain’s Mark Cavendish and Norway’s Thor Hushovd but that had to take a back seat to a new battle on the road to Besancon, and that was for the Yellow jersey given to the rider who leads the biggest bike race in the world, the Tour de France. Stage 14 Analysis
THE MOUNTAINS: FOUR STAGES IN THE ALPS
Stage 15 Sunday, July 19 2009: Pontarlier - Verbier 207.5 km | Results
Team Astana's Alberto Contador took the mountain top win at Verbier with a stunning display of attacking climbing, which saw the diminutive Spaniard dance away from a select group of the world's best climbers; Frank and Andy Schleck, teammates Lance Armstrong and Andreas Kloden, and the astonishing Bradley Wiggins, who now sits in 3rd position after a dramatic first day in the Alps. Stage 15 Analysis
Rest day Monday, July 20 2009
Stage 16 Tuesday, July 21 2009: Martigny - Bourg-Saint-Maurice 159 km
 Whilst very little was decided for the overall today on a stage won by Mikel Astarloza, the final climb of the day certainly showed who the strongest riders are in the mountains in this years Tour de France. Suffice to say, Bradley Wiggins toughed it out to give the likes of Alberto Contador and Andy Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) plenty to think about. Stage 16 Analysis
Stage 17 Wednesday, July 22 2009: Bourg-Saint-Maurice - Le Grand-Bornand 169.5 km | Results
 Frank Schleck triumphed on Stage 17 in a fascinating, pulsating and multifaceted day in the Alps. Whilst Alberto Contador kept hold of the yellow jersey, it was all change behind him, with Frank Schleck, Andy Schleck and Andreas Kloden all gaining ground in a bewildering chain of events on the final two climbs of the day. Wiggins held on for 7th place in a day when the Schleck brothers finally showed their hand.Stage 17 Analysis
Stage 18 Thursday, July 23 2009: Annecy - Annecy (ITT) 40.5 km
 This was the day that three time Olympic Gold medallist Bradley Wiggins and his team were looking forward too -- the Time Trial, the race of truth. For two weeks, 'Wiggo' has been astounding the world and in the Time Trial, he beat every one of the Tour de France contenders except one -- Contador. Stage 18 Analysis
HEADING SOUTH TO VENTOUX
Stage 19 Friday, July 24 2009: Bourgoin-Jallieu - Aubenas 178 km | Results
Mark Cavendish took his fifth stage victory of the 09 Tour in a bunch sprint, narrowly beating arch rival Thor Hushovd.It was a stage which, on paper, threatened to be a dull transitional day between the high drama of the Time Trial and the even higher drama of Mt. Ventoux. However nothing could be further from the truth, with breaks going right from the off, and real cliffhanger finish. Stage 19 Analysis
Stage 20 Saturday, July 25 2009: Montélimar - Mont Ventoux 167 km | Results
From the best track pursuiter of his generation to a Tour de France podium contender, Londoner Bradley Wiggins has had an historic Tour de France in 2009 and on stage 20, showed great courage and determination to hold on to his fourth place on the overall table. Stage 20 Analysis
GRAND FINALE
Stage 21 Sunday, July 26 2009: Montereau-Fault-Yonne - Paris Champs-Élysées 164 km | Results
 Today we witnessed an oddity in sport; because as Mark Cavendish sprinted to another sublime victory on the Champs Elysees, overall winner Alberto Contador was nestled between his Astana team-mates, deep in the peloton. Since 1903 the Tour de France has finished in Paris, and for the past 34 years on the Champs Elysees in a seemingly pointless procession of riders; but Luke Webber reveals why - when it comes to completing the Tour's narrative - this finale is essential. Stage 21 Analysis
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