Even though no first category climbs are on the menu, there is no flat road and the main contenders should ride up front.

"Things are getting tougher now," said Tour competition director Jean-Francois Pescheux.

"It looks a bit like the road of one of Belgium's Ardennes classics, there is no respite," he added.

However, the stage is tailor-made for the escape artists, who are very likely to be in the spotlight in the Morvan region.

There is little chance of the stage ending in a bunch sprint.

"We will have to be very cautious if we want to retain the yellow jersey," overall leader Fabian Cancellara of the CSC team said on Thursday.