Tour de France route tailor-made for Contador, if he makes it

The 2011 Tour de France route perfectly suits climbers such as Alberto Contador though it remained unclear on Tuesday whether the three-time champion would be allowed to take part.

The 2011 route for cycling's greatest race was unveiled on Tuesday, featuring four mountaintop finishes — two in the Pyrenees, two in the Alps — with a prestigious mountain finale on the Alpe d'Huez, two days before the Champs Elysees parade.

"We wanted a balanced route. We tried to keep the suspense for the Alps but also to have a big battle as early as the Pyrenees," Tour director Christian Prudhomme told a few selected reporters before the official unveiling ceremony.

The Tour will start on July 2 in Brittany, the heartland of French cycling, and Prudhomme is hoping the opening week will be filled with action.

"That is why we have this finish at Mur de Bretagne", known as the Alpe d'Huez of Brittany.

The peloton will then head south through the Pyrenees, where the riders will tackle the testing Col du Tourmalet and also the Col d'Aubisque.

Organisers said they wanted to celebrate the centenary of the Alps in the Tour with the punishing Col du Galibier section twice on the menu.

The route would suit Contador's style, but will he make it?

The Spaniard, winner of the race in 2007, 2009 and last year, tested positive for clenbuterol during this year's Tour but claimed that the banned anabolic agent came from contaminated meat.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said they were investigating the case before making a final decision.

Contador, who has been provisionally suspended following the announcement of his failed test last month, was set to skip Tuesday's ceremony at the Palais des Congres in Paris.

"Suspicion does not mean guilt. We are waiting for the conclusions of the UCI and WADA's investigation," said Prudhomme.

"We strongly hope that we won't have to wait too long."

Prudhomme said the Tour would not be harmed if Contador fails to take part.

"We still have 250 cities who applied to host a stage, 50 of them being foreign cities. Barcelona, Salzburg, Krakow were candidates," he said.

"Last week I was in Shanghai and I was amazed by the Chinese's knowledge of the Tour and by their passion for the race.

"The Tour is huge. It is broadcast in 137 countries. In France, it is viewed twice more than Roland Garros [French Open tennis], for example," said Prudhomme who took over the running of the race in 2006 and believes the fight against doping is bearing fruit.

"Pierre Bordry, the former head of the French Anti-Doping Agency, said himself that he thought the vast majority of the peloton is clean," he said.

"Cycling is doing more than any other sport in the fight against doping. If EPO, CERA are being detected, it is because cycling is a pioneer in the fight against doping," said Prudhomme.