The official route of the 2024 Tour de France has been revealed in detail at a grand unveiling in the French capital. In a significant departure from tradition, the race will have a “historic” start in Florence and the first ever finish outside of Paris, crossing the finish line right here in the Riviera.
Christian Prudhomme, the general director of the Tour de France, took to the stage at the Palais des Congrès in Paris on Wednesday to announce the official route of the 2024 race.
As France will be hosting the Olympic Games around the same time as the Tour, some major changes to next year’s route have been required, and while some fans of the race might not be so pleased with the significant breaks from tradition, others are rejoicing at the shake-ups.
PARTENZA ITALIANA
In a “historic first”, the Tour de France will actually get its Grand Départ over the border in Italy on Saturday 29th June.
“Florence had been talking to us about it for a very long time, Emilia-Romagna nurtured its burning desire, and then Piedmont came on board,” said Prudhomme. “Italy truly raised its ambitions to the power of three to host the Grand Départ.”
From the start line in Florence, the peloton will head to Rimini on the Adriatic coast for Stage 1. Then it will be from Cesenatico to Bologna for Stage 2, and Plaisance to Turin for Stage 3. Stage 4 will also begin in Italy, in Pinerolo to be exact, before crossing into France for the first time in the 2024 edition.
The riders will head steadily up the map, reaching their most northern point in Troyes, before turning west and eventually south to Le Lioran in the Massif Central then to Pau and along the border with Spain.
SOUTH OF FRANCE
The Tour will enter the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region for the first time in the race at the end of Stage 17, with a climb up Superdévoluy. The next stage, from Gap to Barcelonnette, will be one of the most challenging in the entire event as the peloton will push above 2,000 metres three times.
Isola 2000 will get a visit from the Tour on Friday 19th July, for the end of the 19th stage, but “nothing will be settled yet as the stage for a major rematch will be set over the 133km between Nice and the Col de la Couillole, with the Col de Turini and the Col de la Colmiane”, which will be tackled by the riders for the penultimate stage.
MONACO IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The final stage of the race on Sunday 21st July is to be an individual 34km time trial from the Principality of Monaco to Nice, which will be, quite incredibly for an event in its 111th edition, the first time the Tour de France has finished somewhere other than Paris.
The stage has been described by organisers as “a litmus test that will resolve all questions… the race for the overall victory may not be settled after the battle of the summits and could even come to an end on the final stage”.
It will be in the Place Masséna of Nice that the yellow jersey will be awarded.
Speaking at the grand unveiling of the route in Paris, Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi said it was with “great pride” that his city would welcome the Tour, adding that he had big hopes for a Frenchman to secure victory on the Promenade des Anglais.
Click here to see a video of what to expect from the Monaco-Nice stage and here to see the overall route in full.
Make sure you’re never left out of the conversation.
Sign up for the Monaco Life newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Photo source: Christian Estrosi / Facebook