The stage takes place in and around Montpellier, capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, and the length is 39 kilometers. Only the last twelve kilometers are more or less flat and suits the style of a normal team time trial.
The start is in the centre of town on the Place de la Comédie, which is left by the teams after eight kilometers in a north-westerly direction. Two kilometers onwards, in Grabels, is the first intermediate time-check and we'll know what teams did the best across the roundabouts and crossings. That's also when a short climb (1km at 4%) commences on a narrow road, obviously not suited well for a TTT.
The riders enter the woods and cross more hills when they reach Murviel-lès-Montpellier halfway into the stage, where the next time-check is situated. This will give some indication to the teamleader if a higher gear needs to be shifted on the way to Cournonterral. From there the D5 is taken, through Pignan and the third time-check, back to Montpellier. This is where the last twelve flat kilometers start.
The finish is near the Stade Yves-du-Manoir, the new Montpellier rugby-stadium which was especially built for the 2007 World Cup. The teams leave the podium every seven minutes, while the first team takes off at two-thirty, the last team a good two hours later. The stage should take about forty-five minutes for the teams to know how much damage has been done. In earlier years there was a maximum time-loss, but that rule has changed. The time differences are recorded in real-time at the finish, so it's very important to not lose your team mates.