The 111th Tour de France begins on Saturday, and both the start and end points provide historic bookends to the race.
Florence hosts the 2024 start, also known as the 'Grand Depart', marking the first time the race has embarked from an Italian city. After just over three weeks of racing, La Grande Boucle will then conclude on the French Riviera, with the peloton tackling a time-trial from Monaco to Nice.
This is another break from tradition, marking the maiden occasion in its history that the Tour hasn't finished in Paris, with the City of Lights taking a year off as it prepares to host this summer's Olympics.
The 2024 Tour route measures 3,492km, or 2,169.8 miles, the longest overall distance of the race since the 2017 edition.
It is also longer than this year's other two Grand Tours, with May's Giro d'Italia raced over 3,317.5km and the Vuelta a Espana, which runs from 17th August to 8th September, measuring 3,265km.
The 2024 route begins in the Tuscan city of Florence, making it the first Italian city to host the Tour's Grand Depart.
This year's parcours takes time to settle down. Three of the first four stages are contested over hilly terrain, with the exception of stage three, which is expected to finish in a sprint in Turin.
On day four, the race moves into France for the first mountain stage, culminating in a downhill finish into Valloire after an ascent of the fearsome Col du Galibier.
After flat stages on days five and six, the overall contenders will look to take time out of each other on the stage seven time-trial before the treacherous trip over the gravel roads around the city of Troyes two days later.
The second mountain stage is on day 11 as the peloton tackles a lumpy route from Evaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran, but the real mountain action kicks off on the second weekend with back-to-back days in the Pyrenees ,with three hors categorie climbs spread across 48 hours of racing.
After the second rest day, the race then ominously meanders towards the Alps, with the Col du Noyer headlining stage 17, although it is the final three days that could define the 2024 Tour.
There are repeat mountain days on stages 19 and 20 before the closing time-trial, which marks the first time the Tour has finished with a race against the clock since 1989.
According to the organisers, the route consists of eight flat, four hilly, seven mountain (four of which are summit finishes), two time trials and two rest days.
The Tour features 21 stages, with rest days scheduled for the second and third Mondays (8th July and 15th July).
The race begins on Saturday 29th June and concludes on Sunday 21st July. Key dates to look for could be the first individual time-trial on Friday 5th July and the next day's gravel stage featuring 14 sectors of white roads, as well as the really big mountain days on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July and Friday 19th and Saturday 20th.
Despite being synonymous with France, the race regularly crosses its local borders and sometimes heads even further afield, previously spending time in the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Italy is hosting this year's start and is one of three countries other than l'Hexagone to stage parts of the race. The 2024 La Grande Boucle will also spend time in San Marino and the final day's time trial will begin in Monaco.
For those more familiar with French geography, the race will pass through seven regions and 30 departments and of the 39 start or finish towns, 12 will feature for the first time.
Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Category |
1 | 29th June | Florence to Rimini | 206 km | Hilly |
2 | 30th June | Cesenatico to Bologna | 200 km | Hilly |
3 | 1st July | Piacenza to Turin | 229 km | Flat |
4 | 2nd July | Pinerolo to Valloire | 138 km | Mountain |
5 | 3rd July | Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas | 177 km | Flat |
6 | 4th July | Macon to Dijon | 163 km | Flat |
7 | 5th July | Nuits-Saints-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin | 25 km | Time trial |
8 | 6th July | Semur-en Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises | 176 km | Flat |
9 | 7th July | Troyes-Troyes | 199 km | Hilly |
Rest Day | 8th July | Orleans | Rest Day | Rest Day |
10 | 9th July | Orleans to Saint-Amand-Montrond | 187 km | Flat |
11 | 10th July | Evaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran | 211 km | Mountain |
12 | 11th July | Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot | 204 km | Flat |
13 | 12th July | Agen to Pau | 171 km | Flat |
14 | 13th July | Pau to Saint-Lary-Soulan | 152 km | Mountain |
15 | 14th July | Loudenvielle to Plateau de Beille | 198 km | Mountain |
Rest Day | 15th July | Gruissan | Rest Day | Rest Day |
16 | 16th July | Gruissan to Nimes | 187 km | Flat |
17 | 17th July | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Superdévoluy | 178 km | Mountain |
18 | 18th July | Gap to Barcelonnette | 179 km | Hilly |
19 | 19th July | Embrun to Isola 200 | 145 km | Mountain |
20 | 20th July | Nice to Col de la Couillole | 133 km | Mountain |
21 | 21st July | Monaco to Nice | 34 km | Time trial |