2018 Tour de France Route Revealed

The 2018 Tour de France starts on the 7th July and features 21 stages for a total of 3,329 kms of racing before it reaches the Champs-Elysées in Paris on July 29th. Gravel, cobbles and a new climb all feature in next year's Grand Tour

8 flat stages
5 puncheur stages
6 mountain stages – 25 classified climbs (11 in the Alps, 4 in the Massif central, 10 in the Pyrenees) – 3 summit finishes
1 x 35km team time trial
1 x 31km individual time trial

The 105th edition of the Tour de France starts with a Grand Depart in the Vendée region of western France.

The Grand Depart will start on the island of Noirmoutier and head towards Fontenay-le-Comte on a flatish stage of 189 kms, running along the Vendée coast. The winds of the Atlantic sea could play a huge part.

Stage 3 in Cholet will host the Team Time Trial of 35 kms. An important stage for GC riders and their teams as time bonuses and the chance to secure the yellow jersey will be at stake.

The first week is stacked full of flatish stages and the world's best Sprinters and their teams will no doubt put on an amazing spectacle of full sprint finishes.

Stage 6 is the return of the puncheurs playground on the Mur de Bretagne, not once but TWICE.

The route heads north into Brittany and onto Chartes, the home of the start of the Paris-Tours race before heading north for what could be one on the most decisive stages of the opening week of racing.

Stage 9 from Arras to Roubaix pays homage to the Classic race Paris-Roubaix. The stage features 15 sectors of cobbles, with sectors of up to 2.1 kms in length, the stage will finish in the iconic Roubaix velodrome. This stage will be a key stage for the GC riders, who will have no choice but to ride at the front of race to stay in contention and out of trouble. Time gaps could open up here, even before the race hits the mountains.

Stage 9

The Alps in the Second Week

After a rest day and transfer by air, the race hits the foothills of the Alps, starting in the beautiful, bike friendly town of Annecy, Stage 10 pays homage to the French Resistance fighters of WW2. Stage ten to Le Grand-Bornand is the first big mountain stage and features 1.5 kilometres of unpaved gravel roads on the Col des Glieres. It features four climbs including the steep Col de la Croix Fry and the Col de Rome and one of the Tour's regular climbs, the Col de la Colombiere.

On July 8th 2018, 15,000 amateur riders will be able to take part in the Etape Du Tour and ride Stage 10 of the Tour de France. Entries open on October 23rd at letapedutour.com.

Stage 10 pays homage the the French Resistance of WW2

Stage 11 features four climbs, including the beautiful climb of the Cormet de Roseland and finishes atop La Rosiere, a mountain top finish.

Stage 11 features four climbs

Stage 12 has yet to be confirmed the Queen stage. It features over 5,000 metres of climbing and heads over the some of the hardest climbs in professional cycling including the long arduous climbs of the Madeleine, the Croix De Fer before a treacherous descent to Allemont.

If that wasn't enough, after 100 miles of racing the peloton will face the brutal final climb and 21 hairpin bends of Alpe d'Huez for what will surely be one of the most incredible stages of next year's Tour!

Stage 12 features over 5,000 metres of climbing finishing up the brutal climb of Alpe d'Huez

The Pyrenees in the final Third Week

The third week of the Tour de France heads for the Pyrenees with nine climbs, a smaller stage and the individual time-trial in the Basque Country.

The passage of the Tour de France 2018 in the Pyrenees will last five days. Starting from Carcassonne, a resting town on July 24, the pelotom will finish their Pyrenean escapade at Espelette at the end of a time trial on July 28th. The next day, the final stage and arrival on the Champs-Elysées on Sunday July 29th.

Here are the details of those five days that promise a great spectacle.

Stage 16, starting from Carcassonne, the peloton will attack the mountains at the end of the stage, with the Col de Portet-d'Aspet, the Col de Menté, and the Portillon, before arriving in Bagnères-de-Luchon, which will host the Tour for the 55th time.

Stage 16

Stage 17 is the smallest stage at only 65 kilometers for a long time. The peloton will climb the Peyragudes, the Col de Val Louron-Azet, and the new final climb of the Col de Portet at 2,215 metres which is currently unpaved.

Stage 17

Stage 18 offers a rest for the legs of the peloton with a undulating stage. The stage leaves Trie-sur-Baïse, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, to arrive at the Queen City of the Tour de France, Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, for the 50th time.

Back into the mountains for Stage 19 which has a triple of mythical passes; the Col d'Aspin, the Tourmalet and the Col d'Aubisque aswell as the Col des Bordières and Col du Soulor along the way.

Stage 19

Final Time Trial before Paris

The decisive final time trial on Stage 20 will be played out in the Basque Country and will leave Lake St-Pée-sur-Nivelle to finish in Espelette. This timed stage will not offer any large climbs, but is rugged, linking short climbs, with some steep gradients.

Let’s not forget that there will only be 8 riders per team for the Grand Tours next year!

The 2018 Tour de France Route

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