The Tour de France organisers announced the 2017 route at the official race ceremony in Paris today.
Next year’s 3516 km route will kick off for the first time in Germany since 1987 when the opening 13km time-trial is held in the city of Düsseldorf on July 1.
The world’s premier multi-stage road race will boast fewer climbs than usual but riders will be confronted with much steeper gradients.
They will tackle France’s five major mountain ranges (Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees, Central Massif and Alps) for the first time since 1992.
The race will consist of 21 stages, with the final stage ending, as usual, on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 23.
Besides the opening time-trial in Düsseldorf, a second time-trial of 23km will take place on the second last stage in Marseille.
To view the race stage by stage, see Tour de France.
