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Le Tour de France 2015 Route Revealed

It's going to be a race for the climbers & mountain specialists!

featured in News & reviews Author Pam Williamson, Tignes Editor Updated

As the 2015 tour route was announced this morning there were some worried faces in the audience...mostly belonging to the riders...

It promises to be a thrilling race that will take place during the first 3 weeks of July next year. With a mixture of flat stages, cobble stones, dramatic sprints and some of the biggest mountain stages that the tour will ever see, ensures that the battle will continue right until the end. the ascent of Alpe d'Huez takes place on the penultimate stage before the peloton make their way to Paris and the Champs Elysée.

With the inclusion once again of the enormous and emblematic summits of the Plateau de Beille and Alpe d'Huez the Pyrenees and the French Alps will become a battle ground for the athletes to show their skills, strength and assert their authority on the peloton.

After the Tour starts in Utrecht and travels through Belgium to the northern coast of France, it will then descend into the Pyrenees before crossing over towards the Ardeche and Provence and a stage finish in Valence in the Rhone Alpes. Travelling deeper into the mountains to Gap, Digne les Bains and a summit finish in Pra Loup, then north into the High Alps and the spectacular roads of Saint Jean de Maurienne that wind their way up the hillside in stunning fashion, before finishing the 20th and last mountain stage of 2015 on the giant that is the Alpe d'Huez. This will be the Tours 29th ascent of the iconic mountain.

When asked what makes the Tour de France such a special event Cadel Evans, a recently retired cyclist and previous Tour de France winner said, "the length, the duration, how hard it is, and the mystique that surrounds it", and when asked if he was regretting retirement with the announcement of this years route his response was "I am happy to do so, I have had my time!".

Last years third place, Thibaut Pinot says that there will be many traps in first week but he is looking forward to getting to Pyrenees and the high mountains. Second place in 2014 another Frenchman Jean-Christophe Peraud has said that he will try to stay with the favourites at the start of the race and will be watching out for the wind and seaside stages in the north. Overall winner of the 2014 Tour Vincenzo Nibali has also admitted that the first week will be dangerous, but the last week will be great for him! A lot of summits to enjoy!

The 21 Stages of the Tour de France 2015

4 July: Utrecht (Pays-Bas) - Utrecht, 14 km (contre-la-montre individuel)
5 July: Utrecht - Zelande (Pays-Bas), 166 km
6 July: Anvers (Belgique) - Huy (Belgique), 154 km
7 July: Seraing (Belgique) - Cambrai, 221 km
8 July: Arras - Amiens Métropole, 189 km
9 July: Abbeville - Le Havre, 191 km
10 July: Livarot - Fougères, 190 km
11 July: Rennes - Mûr-de-Bretagne, 179 km
12 Julyt: Vannes - Plumelec, 28 km (contre-la-montre par équipes)
13 July: Rest day
14 July: Tarbes - La Pierre-Saint-Martin, 167 km
15 July: Pau - Cauterets Vallée de Saint-Savin, 188 km
16 July: Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille, 195 km
17 July: Muret - Rodez, 200 km
18 July: Rodez - Mende, 178 km
19 July: Mende - Valence, 182 km
20 July: Bourg-de-Péage - Gap, 201 km
21 July: Rest day
22 July: Digne-les-Bains - Pra-Loup, 161 km
23 July: Gap - Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, 185 km
24 July: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - La Toussuire Les Sybelles, 138 km
25 July: Modane Valfréjus - Alpe d’Huez, 110 km
26 July: Sèvres Grand Paris Seine Ouest - Paris Champs-Elysées, 107 km