Tallard is a small town in the Alps dating back to the 14th century and plays host to a stage for the first time. It is renowned for its atmospheric conditions that lend themselves favourably to aerial sports. The town held the 2003 world skydiving championships.

Stage 10 returns the pelaton to the relative comfort of low altitude, and though it contains four ‘king of the mountains’, the ascents will not match the Galibier for difficulty. Two sprints trials, after 82.5km and 154.5km, will take place at Oraison and St-Maximini-la-Ste-Baume respectively, before the riders race to the finish line in Marseille, encountering climbs at Côte des Bastides and Côte de la Ginester on the way.

France’s oldest city becomes a stage town for the 33rd this time, with riders set to finish in front of the Stade Vélodrome, the 60,000-seat home of Olympique Marseille.

In the inaugural Tour de France of 1903, Frenchman Hippolyte Aucouturier won in Marseille after a stage that began in Lyon. He went on to win the subsequent stage to Toulouse, but did not finish the overall race. Aucounturier, which translated means “ladies’ tailor” (a name he invented – as was the fashion at the time), won the Paris-Roubaix twice in 1903 and 1904, but only finished the Tour once, when he came second in 1905 with three stage wins.

This year, Tour official François Lemarchand predicts an exciting finale. “Expect a large number of attacks and the possibility of one rider distinguishing himself at the finish line,” he said.