Two time trials, four summit finishes and a novel Nice finale
(Image credit: ASO)
After the mountainous 2023 Tour de France route that included just a single 22km time trial, race director Christian Prudhomme unveiled a more balanced but intriguing route for 2024 at the official presentation in the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
The inclusion of two individual time trials for a total of 59km, four mountain-top finishes, a series of gravel sections on stage 9, and a final hilly time trial to Nice will surely create a more open race, with Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič and others poised to take on Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar.
Race organiser ASO also confirmed they plan to award additional time bonuses of eight, five and two seconds during stages, as well as the usual ten, six and four seconds awarded at stage finishes.
The route of the 2024 Tour de France covers a total of 3497.3km with some 52,320 metres of overall elevation. That is 20% more than the 2024 Giro d’Italia and with so many of the climbs coming in the final week, it could make it difficult for Pogačar or anyone else to target a Giro-Tour double in 2024.
ASO claims there are eight flat stages and so eight sprint opportunities but the likes of Mark Cavendish, Jasper Philipsen and their teammates will have to fight hard for each one.
The 111th edition of cycling’s biggest race starts in Florence, Italy on Saturday, June 29 and ends three weeks later in Nice on Sunday, July 21. It is the first time the Tour starts in Italy and the first time it finishes in Nice, to avoid the preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics Games, which begin just a week later.
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2024 Tour de France stages
Date
Stage
Start-finish
Distance
29-Jun
Stage 1
Florence - Rimini
206km
30-Jun
Stage 2
Cesenatico - Bologna
198.7km
1-Jul
Stage 3
Piacenza - Turin
230.5km
2-Jul
Stage 4
Pinerolo - Valloire
139.6km
3-Jul
Stage 5
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Saint-Vulbas Plaine de l'Ain
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Stage 1: Florence - Rimini, 206km - Medium mountains
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Profile of stage 1(Image credit: ASO)
Map of stage 1(Image credit: ASO)
The Grand Départ of the 2024 Tour de France will celebrate the history, culture and beauty of central and northern Italy with stages in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and then Piedmont. The race will also remember the Italian Tour de France winners on the 100th anniversary of Ottavio Bottecchia’s 1924 triumph.
Florence will host the team presentation and stage 1 rolls out from Piazzale Michelangelo, which overlooks the city, before visiting Gino Bartali’s birthplace and the museum that remembers him in Ponte a Ema.
Stage 2 will start in Marco Pantani’s hometown of Cesenatico and it will also climb into the rolling hills of Romagna for 200km before the finish in Bologna after two laps of the San Luca climb made famous by the Giro dell’Emilia. The gradients of the San Luca climb make this an important stage for the general classification.
The third stage is a flatter affair and covers 225 km from Piacenza to Turin. After two days of suffering, the sprinters will surely get their chance in the capital of Piedmont.
Stage 4: Pinerolo - Valloire, 139.6km, High mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 4 Col du Galibier(Image credit: ASO)
The 2024 Tour heads into France on stage 4 via the Alps. The stage rolls out of Pinerolo on the plain and climbs high via Sestriere, the Col de Montgenèvre and the Col du Galiber before a fast descent to Valloire.
Stage 9: Troyes - Troyes, 199km, Hilly with gravel
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(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Stage 9 is a far tougher day due to the 14 sectors of gravel that start after just 47km of the 199 km stage. The final six sectors are packed into the final 35km, making for a real test for the overall contenders.
Week two of the 2024 Tour starts with a four-day ride south to the Pyrenees via the Massif Central and the rural France Profonde, with stages to Alaphilippe’s hometown of Saint-Amand-Montrond, Le Lioran, Villeneuve-sur-Lot and then Pau.
Stage 11: Évaux-les-Bains - Le Lioran, 211km, Medium mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Echelons could be a factor on stage 11 with the 211km ride through the Massif Central to Le Lioran including 4,350 metres of climbing. The final 50km include four categorised climbs, making a day of danger for the GC contenders.
The sprinters get two chances in Villeneuve-sur-Lot and then Pau before the Tour de France celebrates the Bastille Day holiday weekend in the Pyrenees with consecutive mountain finishes.
Stage 13 is another day for the sprinters but perhaps the breakaway, if green jersey Biniam Girmay opts to let a move go and deny his rivals more points. The 165.3km stage has just two classified climbs near the end as the race heads into the Pyrenees.
Stage 13 of the Tour de France is expected to finish around 17:20 CET/11:20 EDT.
Stage 14: Pau - Saint-Lary-Soulan (Pla d'Adet), 151.9km, High mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 14(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 14(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Stage 14 finishes in Pla d'Adet after climbing the Col du Tourmalet and the Hourquette d’Ancizan in just 152 km. Raymond Poulidor won at Pla d'Adet 50 years ago, and the stage finish will recall when he dropped Eddy Merckx to triumph there alone.
Stage 15: Loudenvielle - Plateau de Beille, 197.7km, High mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 15(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 15(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Stage 15 to Plateau de Beille is Bastille Day, so expect fireworks from the riders. The 198 km stage includes 4,850 metres of climbing and hits the Col de Peyresourde at the very start. It also climbs the Portet d'Aspet and later the Col d’Agnes, with descents to the valley before the finish up to Plateau de Beille. Joaquim Rodríguez won there when the Tour last visited in 2015, with Britain’s Thomas Gloag winning a stage of the Ronde l’Isard in 2021.
The stage seems ideal for a breakaway to sweep up king of the mountain points but the climb to Plateau de Beille is 15.8km long at an average of 7.9%, with the hardest gradients at the bottom. It will surely be one of the most decisive stages of the 2024 Tour de France.
A transition or breakaway stage then takes the peloton across the south of France to Nîmes, with crosswinds a danger near Montpellier just as they were in 2016 and in 2009, when Mark Cavendish won from an echelon.
Stage 17: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Superdévoluy, 177.8km, High mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 17(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Stage 17 leads into the Alps with a finish at the little-known ski resort of Super-Dévoluy north of Gap. The final 40km include the three main climbs of the day, with the 8.4% Col du Noyer ending just 12km from the finish.
Stage 18: Gap - Barcelonnette, 179.6km, Medium mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Stage 18 from Gap to Barcelonnette is in the Alps but offers a reprieve from the high mountains, with a continuous series of hills making for a nervous day in the saddle. A breakaway will surely outpower the chasers and any fast finishers, with the gradual climb to the line in Barcelonnette deciding the stage winner.
Stage 19: Embrun - Isola 2000, 144.6km, High mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 19(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles of the 2024 Tour de France stage 19 climbs(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles of the 2024 Tour de France stage 19 climbs(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
The final mountain stages start on stage 19, with a high ride in the southern Alps.
The stage is short at just 145 km but includes the Col de Vars after 20km and then the 22.9 km haul up the Cime de la Bonette, the highest road in France at 2,802 metres. A long valley road follows before the climb to Isola 2000 close to the Italian border for a 16.1km climb to the finish. The three long climbs all reach over 2000 metres, making for a day of rarified air and hard racing.
Stage 20: Nice - Col de la Couillole, 132.8km, High mountains
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(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 20(Image credit: ASO)
Profiles for the 2024 Tour de France stage 20(Image credit: ASO)
(Image credit: ASO)
Stage 20 is short at 133km and so reduces the average stage distance to 166 km. However, it includes four very similar climbs and three testing descents but the final mountain finish atop the Col de la Couillole, a 15.7km climb at 7.1%.
The final stage of the 2024 Tour de France is a 34km hilly time trial from Monaco to Nice and is expected to create a tense and demanding finish to three weeks of racing even if there are already time gaps in the general classification.
After the start in Monaco, the time trial climbs the gradual La Turbie (8.1km at 5.6%) and then kicks up to the summit of the Col d'Eze (1.6km at 8.1%) before a long but technical descent to Nice.
Rather than bike changes, the GC contenders will have to perfect their uphill time trialling skills and optimise their road bike aero position and then be ready to take risks on the descent.
It is the first time in history that the Tour de France will end outside of Paris and is the first time that the race concludes with a time trial since Greg LeMond dramatically pipped Laurent Fignon on the Champs-Elysées in 1989.
ASO will be hoping for an equally historic and thrilling finale on July 21.
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
