Le Grand-Bornand, France - The eighth stage of the 2007 Tour de France got underway Sunday in the French Alpine town of Le Grand-Bornand. The stage, which covers 165 kilometres to the ski resort of Tignes, presents the 180 riders left in the Tour with the first grueling mountain stage of this year's race.
The stage comprises six climbs, three of which are rated category one in difficulty, the second-highest ranking, including the final climb to the finish line, which lies at an altitdue of 2,088 metres.
The stage will not reveal who will win this year's Tour de France, but it will almost certainly indicate who will not.
All the favourites for the championship, such as Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan or Spain's Alejandro Valverde, will be looking not to lose any time to the others.
Vinokourov will be closely watched on Sunday, as he is riding with injuries to both knees suffered in a crash on Thursday.
The surprise winner of Saturday's stage, Linus Gerdemann of Germany, started the stage wearing the race leader's yellow jersey, but he will almost certainly have to cede it after Sunday's race, since he is riding in the service of his T-Mobile leader, Michael Rogers of Australia.
