Tour de France 2011: Day-by-day guide

• Dates: Saturday 2 July - Sunday 24 July
• Coverage: Listen live to every stage finish on the BBC Sport website (UK only); live text commentary on key stages; updates on BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra
• Get involved: Tweet with the hashtag #bbccycling to join the discussion

The Tour includes a celebration of the 100th year since the first ascent of the Galibier

Over three gruelling weeks, the 98th Tour de France will cover 3,430.5km (2132 miles). The race is divided up into 21 stages - 10 flat, six mountain with four summit finishes, three "medium mountain", just one individual time trial and one team time trial.

After trips to Britain and the Netherlands in recent years, the 2011 edition will cross France's borders only once, with a visit to the Italian Alpine stop of Pinerolo on Stage 17.
Route organisers love a good anniversary and to mark the 100th year since Tour founder Henri Desgrange first sent the peloton over the Galibier in the French Alps, the riders will twice climb the most-visited mountain pass in the race's history.
Stage 18 will finish on top of the mountain which, at an altitude of 2,645m, will be the highest in Tour history.
There are a few changes this year which alters the way points are distributed:

• In an effort to involve sprinters in more than just the daily finish, 20 green jersey points - up from six last year - will be on offer in a single intermediate sprint each day and points will also be awarded to the next 14 finishers.
• The polka dot jersey, worn by the best climber, will see double points being awarded only for crossing finishing lines at the summit of category two and harder climbs.

The other two main jerseys are yellow for the leader of the general classification, having taken the least time to complete the course, and white, for the best rider under 25 years old.
Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain will aim to do the double and become the first rider to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France since the late Marco Pantani achieved the feat in 1998.
Andy Schleck, who has finished second in the last two tours, will be Contador's main challenger, but few will bet against the Spaniard coming out on top, considering he has won three out of the last four Tours, and six Grand Tours in a row.
Contador's presence will prove controversial, however, given that he is awaiting the outcome of an appeal against a provisional ban for a clenbuterol positive test. The appeal won't be heard until August at the earliest.