Stage 1

Florence > Rimini

It’s rare for the Tour de France to start with more than 3,600 metres of climbing – in fact it’s never happened before! – and it’s also the first time that the race has visited the home city of Gino Bartali. The succession of hills in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna are likely to be the setting for an immediate and testing confrontation between the contenders for the title, particularly the climb into San Marino (7.1km at 4.8%), where the race will add a 13th name to its catalogue of foreign visits.

Stage 2

Cesenatico > Bologna

The passage across the Emilia-Romagna region is straightforward enough to begin with as it takes the peloton to Imola and its famous motor racing circuit. The final part of the stage, featuring the climb to the Sanctuary of San Luca (1.9km at 10.6%), the traditional finale of the Giro dell’Emilia, which will be tackled twice in the final 40km, offers fertile terrain for the peloton’s puncheurs.

Stage 3

Piacenza > Turin

The sprinters will have started the 2024 Tour with their teeth gritted, but now they’ll have something to sink them into with the finish in Turin. Prior to that, the peloton will pay a passing tribute to Fausto Coppi by heading through Tortone, where il campionissimo died. By that point, though, the sprinters’ domestiques will already be hard at work, their focus on ensuring a sprint finale. There’ll be little room for manoeuvre for the breakaway riders.

Stage 4

Pinerolo > Valloire

The race leaves Italy after a long climb to the resort of Sestrières, where Coppi triumphed in 1952, the border subsequently reached at the Col de Montgenèvre. Then, after ascending the Lautaret pass, the riders will tackle the 2,642-metre Galibier. This will be the first opportunity for the favourites to test themselves in the high mountains.

Stage 5

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Saint-Vulbas

The race’s temporary exit from the Alps will be made via Chambéry. Soon after, the peloton will be in La Bridoire, where the finish of the Classique des Alpes Juniors is regularly held. That’s a race for climbers, but they won’t get a look-in here as they head for Saint-Vulbas. After the Côte de l’Huis, tackled with 34km remaining, the wide roads beyond will be ideal for keeping a close eye on the breakaway riders. The winner’s bouquet looks destined to go to a sprinter.

Stage 6

Mâcon > Dijon

Fans of medieval architecture will be treated to aerial images of Cluny Abbey and much more. The breakaway will set off with the ambition of holding off the peloton’s pursuit though the vineyards of the Côte Chalonnaise, but the sprinters should have the last word on the 800-metre straight into the prefecture of the Côte-d’Or.

Stage 7

Nuits-Saint-Georges > Gevrey-Chambertin

Great wines for great riders! But before venturing into the heart of the vineyards, the time trial specialists will spend almost two-thirds of this time trial on forest roads. The climb of the Côte de Curtil-Vergy (1.6km at 6.1%), which comes in the final section, will test their tolerance to pain. On the face of it, there shouldn’t be any big gaps between the best riders, but who knows?

Stage 8

Semur-en-Auxois > Colombey-les-deux-Églises

Although no altitude records will be broken, the first two-thirds of this stage does feature five categorised climbs. The relentless ups and downs may put a strain on the legs at the point when the sprinters’ team-mates are starting to think about setting up a bunch finish. But the last three kilometres of the final straight, which rise slightly but steadily, could be the ideal place to bring the peloton back together.

Stage 9

Troyes > Troyes

The Tour’s first week concludes with a new feature: white roads, which are already an emblematic feature of Strade Bianche and Paris-Tours. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift made the first passage across Champagne’s gravel roads close to Troyes in 2022. There will be 14 sectors, including six in the final part of the stage, extending to 32km in total, each sector pitching the riders onto the gravel and into the dust.

Stage 10

Orléans > Saint-Amand-Montrond

Heading through the Sologne forest, it’ll be difficult to predict the outcome of this stage, as the weather may play a significant role. After leaving Issoudun, the riders will find themselves on roads exposed to the crosswinds that scattered the peloton a decade ago. With three changes of direction in the last 30 kilometres, there’s a real chance of echelons forming.

Stage 11

Évaux-les-Bains > Le Lioran

There’s only one stage across the rugged Massif Central, but what a stage it is! With 4,350 metres of vertical gain, the riders will have to be on their mettle at all times, and particularly in the final 50 kilometres, when the degree of difficulty rises a level with a series of very challenging obstacles: the climb to the Col de Néronne, then to the Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol with its fearsome final two kilometres, then continuing on to the Col de Pertus, the Col de Font de Cère and the ascent to Le Lioran. They provide all manner of opportunities for eager climbers to attack.

Stage 12

Aurillac > Villeneuve-sur-Lot

The aesthetic landscapes of the Cantal and Lot regions won’t distract the baroudeurs (breakaway specialists) from the knowledge that there’s something for them to play for. The terrain here is all hills, with the climb to Rocamadour standing out – it’ll be tackled in the opposite direction to the route taken by the 2022 Tour time trial. The second part of the stage is more suited to the sprinters’ teams that are set on chasing the break down. However, on two previous and similar stages into Villeneuve-sur-Lot, the breakaway managed to hold off its pursuers.

Stage 13

Agen > Pau

The Lot-et-Garonne serves up some lovely balcony roads early in the stage, when the formation of the breakaway will be closely monitored by the sprinters’ teams, who will have studied the route carefully. If they judge their effort correctly, they won’t be caught out by the day’s escapees. However, amidst the hilly terrain approaching the finish, the Blachon and Simacourbe climbs could pose a problem for those sprinters who don’t feel comfortable in the hills.

Stage 14

Pau > Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet

The dynamic format of the first Pyrenean stage is accentuated by the fact that battle is unlikely to commence until the riders have gone through Lourdes. From that point, with 80 kilometres remaining, there’ll be a festival of climbing, featuring the Col du Tourmalet, the Hourquette d’Ancizan and the climb to Pla d’Adet. Fifty years on, the finish line will be exactly where it was when Raymond Poulidor celebrated victory in the 1974 Tour.

Stage 15

Loudenvielle > Plateau de Beille

The third Sunday of the Tour could prove crucial. Whatever’s happened on the previous days in the mountains, the terrain on this stage is ripe for revenge or confirmation, with 4,850 metres of vertical gain on the menu over almost 200 kilometres of racing. All manner of scenarios could play out, and it’s not unrealistic to imagine that team-mates of the GC contenders will attempt to infiltrate the breakaway climbing the Peyresourde. That would prove invaluable given what lies ahead, especially in a finale that features the climbs of the Col d’Agnes and the Port de Lers followed by the final haul up to Plateau de Beille.

Stage 16

Gruissan > Nimes

The sprinters may be heavily tipped for success when the race heads away from the coast near Narbonne, and maybe even when the riders pass over the Pic Saint-Loup. But the Mistral can blow fiercely at this time of year and could well upset the plans of the sprinters if those teams that feel at home when it’s windy end up scattering the peloton.

Stage 17

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Superdévoluy

As the race homes in on the southern Alps, there will be no significant obstacles crossing the Drôme. The tests beyond that, though, are likely to encourage the formation of a large breakaway group, whose members will have a chance to shine, assuming they can deal with the climbs in the final 40 kilometres. We’ll get a clearer idea of this on the ascent of the Col Bayard, although the final selection should be made on the Col du Noyer (7.5km at 8.4%), with the final decision coming on the approach to the Superdévoluy ski station.

Stage 18

Gap > Barcelonnette

The altimeter drops temporarily, although the sprinters will still have to go right to their limits in order to claim the final bouquet within their grasp. That’s down to the fact that once the peloton has admired Lake Serre-Ponçon, the day’s attackers will have a few hills to exploit as they seek to maintain their lead. A strong puncheur might be able to go clear on the Côte de Saint-Apollinaire, and they’ll even more opportunity to do so on the Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées.

Stage 19

Embrun > Isola 2000

The menu for this ultra-mountain stage could well make you dizzy, but it’ll also whet the appetite of the very best climbers. Although the stage is less than 150km long, the riders will climb above 2,000 metres on three occasions, the biggest test the climb to the summit of La Bonette, the highest road in France at an altitude of 2,802 metres. Its 360-degree panorama is breath-taking.

Stage 20

Nice > Col de la Couillole

The Paris-Nice regulars will be racing over familiar terrain, but that won’t make things any easier if the contest for the Yellow Jersey is still raging, particularly over such a short distance. Battle could commence as early as the climb to the Col de Braus. There will then be no respite on the climbs of the Cols de Turini, de la Colmiane and finally de la Couillole, the final ascent extending for 15.7km at an average gradient of 7.1%. We’ll all be holding our breath!

Stage 21

Monaco > Nice

Everyone remembers the last occasion the Tour finished with a time trial, when Greg LeMond stripped the yellow jersey from the shoulders of Laurent Fignon on the Champs-Élysées in 1989, by just eight seconds. Thirty-five years on, we can but dream of a similar duel, involving two or three riders, an authentic athletic confrontation whose outcome would determine the final podium of the 111th edition, and the first to finish far from its familiar Parisian setting, the ultimate finale destined for Place Masséna, just a few pedal-strokes from the Promenade des Anglais.