The second of the two Etapes that are planned for 2012 is in the Pyrenees. There is a good description of the route in Cycling Weekly at Etape du Tour 2012: Pau to Bagneres de Luchon.
There is also an interesting and well informed article on Le Domestique Tours which is based on local knowledge as they are located on the route of the Etape.
And Paddy from Velopeloton has published a page crammed with some great photos of the climbs and useful info including a GPX of the route, see http://www.velopeloton.com/pau-to-bagneres-de-luchon-stage-16/
This looks to be a tough route with plenty of climbing involved, the estimates vary but looking at the table below which includes the ascent of the categorised climbs and also adds in the altitude difference between the start and finish locations then the minimum ascent will be in the region of 4,500 metres.
After mapping the route on Google maps the total climb was reported as just over 5,400 metres, this includes all the minor hills and gradients and the climbs up the valley floors that are not part of the categorised climbs.
