This has to be one of the most difficult one-day organized bike tours for weekend warrior bicyclists in 2010.

The l’Étape du Tour departs from Pau, France, on July 18 and follows the same route the pros will take later in the week over two mountain passes with a finish atop the Col du Tourmalet.

Presesented for the 18th year by Tour de France organizers, the ride allows the rest of the bicycling population to endure the gut-wrenching climbs and dizzying heights that the pros experience.

This year's ride is the same as Stage 17, a 108-mile jaunt the pro cyclists will tackle on July 22; one of six mountain stages of the 2010 Tour de France...   more »