TODAY: Speeds close to 52 kph are expected when the 189 riders rush individually through the centre of Dublin in a short race against the clock to find a leader. The 5.6 km course starts outside Trinity College and finishes in O'Connell Street.
TOMORROW: A picturesque and painful 180 kilometres take the Tour through the Wicklow Hills. The race begins in Dublin's O'Connell Street and finishes in Phoenix Park.
MONDAY: Enniscorthy hosts the start of a stage which will salute the Tour triumphs of Sean Kelly with a sprint counting towards the green jersey which he won four times. The sprint finishes at Sean Kelly Square in his home town of Carrick-on-Suir. The 200 km race ends in Cork. TUESDAY: The Tour is in Brittany, the home ground of five-times Tour winner Bernard Hinault, and it is Bastille Day. After starting from the ferry port of Roscoff the race chases 169 km to the south to finish in Lorient.
WEDNESDAY: Start town Plouay will host the world road championships in 2000. This stage to Cholet is the longest of the Tour, covering 252 km of flatlands which will offer another chance to those with a fast finish.
THURSDAY: This 228 km stretch from Cholet to Chateauroux passes through the area where last year Cedric Vasseur became a surprise Tour leader with a solo of 147 km.
FRIDAY: This sixth stage over 204 km takes the Tour from La Chatre, the town of novelist George Sand, to the ruggedness of Brive-la-Gaillarde, home of the 1997 European rugby champions.
SATURDAY JULY 18th: This could be a key day for the contenders as the Tour pits them against the clock on 58 kilometres of country roads between Meyrignac l'Eglise and Correze.
SUNDAY JULY 19th: Brive gets a second visit as the start for a 190 km leg to Montauban over roads where Switzerland's Hugo Koblet made a 40 km solo break that left the big names struggling and helped him to win the 1951 Tour.
MONDAY JULY 20th: The Pau finish has happy links with Ireland. Sean Kelly (in 1982) and Martin Earley (seven years later) joined an illustrious band including Fausto Coppi and Bernard Hinault who have won at this threshold to the Pyrenees. The stage is over 210 km from Montauban.
TUESDAY JULY 21st: The Pau to Luchon leg has provided pages in Tour history. Its major mountains, the Tourmalet and the Aubisque, have been climbed more times than any other Tour peaks and this day is sure to provide drama.
WEDNESDAY JULY 22nd: Out of the spa town of Luchon to the cross-country skiing site of Plateau de Beille this 170 km route takes the riders through the Ariege with its prehistoric sites and caves.
THURSDAY JULY 23rd: Official rest day.
FRIDAY JULY 24th: The Tour reaches the Mediterranean coast via the Cevenne region after leaving another pre-history site, Tarascon-sur-Ariege, for a 222 km race to Le Cap d'Agde.
SATURDAY JULY 25th: Carpentras, the conclusion for stage 13, was the finish point that British rider Tom Simpson was aiming for when he collapsed and died on the Ventoux mountain in 1967. The 196 km leg through Provence starts from Frontignan la Peyrade.
SUNDAY JULY 26th: Grenoble has been a Tour finish since 1905 but the start, Valreas in the Cotes de Rhone vineyards, is receiving only its third visit.
MONDAY JULY 27th: Les Deux Alpes is a new peak for the Tour, hosting the finish of a gruelling first day in the Alps. The Galibier, one of three mountains on the 189 km from Grenoble, is, at 2,646 metres, the highest of this Tour.
TUESDAY JULY 28th: New Tour venue Vizille was the cradle of the French Revolution. The riders take on more mountains to reach Albertville, the site of the 1992 Winter Olympics, which has been granted its first Tour finish this year.
WEDNESDAY JULY 29th: Aix-les-Bains with its Roman baths has hosted 20 stages since 1930, but best remembered is the 1958 victory of Charly Gaul from Luxembourg who raced through fog, wind, and glacial rain. The 149 km leg starts in Albertville.
THURSDAY JULY 30th: The Tour breaks into Switzerland for its 18th stage which takes the survivors of the Alps over one final mountain, Col de la Faucille, on their way from Aix-les-Bains to the watch-making centre of Neuchatel.
FRIDAY JULY 31st: Another trip into the unknown as two towns unfamiliar to the Tour are hosts for the 242 km stage. La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland sends off the race towards the Burgundy wine country and its destination, Autun.
SATURDAY AUGUST 1st: MontceauLes-Mines and Le Creusot are the last of the new venues on a day that could be crucial. A 52 km time trial will be raced between the reclaimed mining area, where 300-million-year-old fossils have been discovered, and the industrialised Le Creusot.
SUNDAY AUGUST 2nd: Melun sets the Tour off on its 147 km ride to a Champs Elysees finale. Among those seeing it off from Melun will be its mayor Jacques Marinelli who finished third in the 1949 Tour after holding the yellow jersey for five days.
