The 2024 Tour de France will finish with a hilly individual time trial from Monaco to Nice, race organisers have confirmed.
The last time the Tour finished with a time trial was in 1989 when Greg LeMond pipped Laurent Fignon to the title by just eight seconds, which remains the smallest winning margin.
“For the Tour de France to finish far from its traditional Parisian finale is already a historic first,” organisers said in a statement.
“But for the last two days of the 2024 edition, an extremely promising menu has been prepared, including all the necessary ingredients for major upsets at the top….on the Saturday as well as on the Sunday.”
The hilly 35.2km route on the final day will see the riders tackle the La Turbie, an 8.1km climb at 5.6% with the Col d’Eze coming just a few kilometres later.
The Col d’Eze is a short steep 1.6km climb at 8.1% and peaks with 17km to go, with the majority of the second half of the course being a descent into Nice.
Organisers have also confirmed the penultimate day will be a mountain stage from Nice to the top of the Col de la Couillole. It will be a brutal day for the peloton with hardly any flat sections.
The Col de Braus, Col de Turini, Col de La Colmiane and a summit finish on Col de la Couillole stand in the way on what should be a very exciting 132km stage.
Stage 1 will be a medium-mountain stage ending up in Rimini after a trek along the Adriatic coast.
As well as that first stage, days two and three will also be in Italy, and they will contain – at various stages – commemorations to previous titans of Italian cycling, including the likes of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, both two-time Tour winners.
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