Tour de France 2018 Route Revealed

The Tour de France 2018 route was revealed today to a crowd of almost 4,000 at the Palais de Congrès convention centre in Paris.

The 105th edition of the 21 stage race features 25 mountain climbs and a variety of new race formats that are sure to shake up the field. At just over 3,300km, the Tour de France 2018 is among the shortest of the races in recent history, but also looks set to be one of the toughest.

General Director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme says: “We especially wanted to emphasise stage variety and the routes that may prove decisive, whilst combining legendary climbs with brand new ascensions or ultra-dynamic formats, to provide a vision of modern and inspired cycling”.

Indeed, 2018’s route has been designed to allow for maximum competition between the favourites before then even reach the Alps.

The Tour de France 2018 will begin a week later than normal due to the Russian World Cup, and will begin in Vendée, Pays de la Loire with a 189km flat sprint. From here, the pack will travel through Brittany across to Chartres, Amiens and Arras before a 21.7km trip over the cobbles of Roubaix. Thereafter, the Alps are just a short flight transfer away.

Once into the mountains, the usual gruelling steep climbs await.  This year there are a few new locations on the path, which winds through the Plateau des Giléres, the Col du Pré pass and La Rosière ski resort, before returning to finish on the classic twists and turns of Alpe d’Huez. As ever, we are sure this will be a riveting, challenging stage of the race.

Following the route through to Valence, Mende and Carcassonne, the cyclists will then reach the Pyrenees, where there will be a wealth of opportunities available for sprinters and climbers alike. Here, Stage 17 sees the introduction of the shortest road stage since the elimination of half-stages, at a mere 65km, albeit with three very steep climbs.

It is predicted that the real battle between the favourites will take place during the 31km time trial in the notoriously steep roads of the Basque Country before the final finish in Paris. This may not be an ideal scenario for defending champion Chris Froome as world time-trial champion, Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin will be a key challenger to his Tour de France title next year.

Froome will be chasing a record-equalling fifth victory in the Tour De France 2018, hoping to build on his already impressive career. Indeed, on the same evening as the 105th route was unveiled, Froome took home the Vélo Magazine Vélo d’Or trophy. This is perhaps unsurprising after his successive victories in the Tour de France and the Spanish Vuelta this year but caps of an incredible year for the British athlete. We will certainly be on the edge of our seats to see if he can repeat this achievement at the 105th Tour de France, which looks set to be his most challenging yet.

Tour de France 2018 stages:

Stage 1, July 7: Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile – Fontenay-le-Comte, 189km

Stage 2, July 8: Mouilleron-Saint-Germain – La Roche-sur-Yon, 183km

Stage 3, July 9: Cholet – Cholet (TTT), 35km

Stage 4, July 10: La Baule – Sarzeau, 192km

Stage 5, July 11: Lorient – Quimper, 203km

Stage 6, July 12: Brest – Mûr de Bretagne Guerlédan, 181km

Stage 7, July 13: Fougères – Chartres, 231km

Stage 8, July 14: Dreux – Amiens Métropole, 181km

Stage 9, July 15: Arras Citadelle – Roubaix, 154km

Rest day, July 16: Annecy

Stage 10, July 17: Annecy – Le Grand Bornand, 159km

Stage 11, July 18: Albertville – La Rosière, 108km

Stage 12, July 19: Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs – Alpe d’Huez, 175km

Stage 13, July 20: Bourg d’Oisans – Valence, 169km

Stage 14, July 21: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Mende, 187km

Stage 15, July 22: Millau – Carcassonne, 181km

Rest day, July 23: Carcassonne

Stage 16, July 24: Carcassonne – Bagnères-de-Luchon, 218km

Stage 17, July 25: Bagnères-de-Luchon – Saint-Lary-Soulan (Col de Portet), 65km

Stage 18, July 26: Trie-sur-Baïse – Pau, 172km

Stage 19, July 27: Lourdes – Laruns, 200km

Stage 20, July 28: Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle – Espelette (ITT), 31km

Stage 21, July 29: Houilles – Paris Champs Elysées, 115km

To find out more, head to: http://www.letour.fr/en

Alternatively, to read more from Love The Mountains take a look at our most recent blog here.

Images from Le Tour De France via [http://www.letour.fr/en/home-gallery]