For all those who will be cheering for Cadel Evans as he aims to take home the yellow jersey from this year's Tour de France, but aren't planning on making the long haul to be there in person, you may want to check out the new Street View imagery we released today in Google Maps, which allows you to view street-level imagery along the entirety of this year's route.
Each of the 21 stages are clearly marked on the map, taking you over more than 3,500 km (2,200 miles) around the 21 hairpin bends of the notoriously steep Alpe d'Huez to the finishing line on the cobbled streets of the Champs Elysees.
View Larger Map
Nearing the finish line in L'Alpe-d'Huez, found in Stage 17 from Embrun to L'Alpe-d'Huez, arguably the most physically demanding stage of the whole race
View Larger Map
The Eiffel Tower and Seine river in Paris, passed in Stage 21 from Etampes to Paris' Champs-Elysees, the final stage of the race
View Larger Map
The Arc de Triomphe, at the western end of the Champs Elysee. If you zoom in, you can look at the detailed sculptures on the frieze
As we mentioned previously, we're aiming to launch the Street View feature for Google Maps in Australia later in 2008. This new Tour de France imagery gives you a feel for some of the cool and useful applications for Street View, and how it might be used in Australia. It's also a great chance to check out the face-blurring technology we'll be implementing in Street View here in Australia.
The Tour de France 2008 will begin on July 5th (in France), and runs until July 27th. Go Aussies!
