BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON, France — Sending riders into the unknown was one of the goals Tour de France organizers had when they designed this year’s route.

Unprecedented climbs, with record-setting steep slopes, and sprint stages that ended in surprising uphill drags, were among the novelties planners threw into the mix with the hope of boosting the suspense factor in the 99th Tour de France.

It hasn’t exactly worked out that way.

With four stages left, there is little still “unknown” about how the podium will look when riders reach the final sprint onto the Champs-Elysees July 22.

Yellow jersey holder Bradley Wiggins and his Team Sky have so dominated the Tour that the race’s top 10 has been all but set for the last six stages, ever since Cadel Evans cracked on the grueling ascent to the ski resort of La Toussuire.

Should Wiggins wear the yellow jersey into Paris, it will have been the longest stretch in yellow by a Tour winner since 1981, according to sports information service Infostrada.

Thursday’s stage, which ends at the Pyrenean ski resort Peyreagudes, is the last of the race’s mountaintop finishes. It is also likely the last chance for the surprise element to emerge in what has been a march to Paris by Wiggins.

It is the first time the Tour de France makes this climb, which takes riders up the reverse side of Peyresourde before a short descent and the steep final 1.8-mile ascent to Peyragudes, a first-category climb totaling 9.6 miles.