The 2017 Tour de France gets underway bright and early on Saturday, and the route is an interesting one. The course should result in different strategies from recent years, due to the record low in time trial kilometers and only two truly difficult mountain top finishes.
Tour de France 2017 route and map: A full look at this year’s course
The Tour de France is here, and we’ve got a look at the full route.
Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images for 2016 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road
Those climbs will come on Peyragudes in the Pyrenees on Stage 12 and the Col d’Izoard in the Alps on Stage 18. There will be a 22.5-kilometer time trial in Marseille on the final day, and the general classification race could come down to that.
The tour will get underway in Dusseldorf, Germany, and will make its way through Belgium and Luxembourg before hitting the bulk of France. Riders will go down the eastern side of France to the Jura mountains in the opening week, and then will move to the Dordogne in the west following a rest day.
The second week highlights include two days in the Pyrenees mountains, and the Alps will obviously dominate the third week. The aforementioned time trial at Marseille may be the deciding factor, but the actual end of the tour comes on the Champs d’Elysees in Paris, where the Maillot Jaune winner will drink champagne as he rides.
Before they can relax, however, riders will have to contend with several courses with monster mid-stage climbs. Stage 9, through the Jura Mountains, and Stage 17, in the midst of the Alps, come to mind. The start in Germany marks the race’s first move onto German soil in three decades.
Defending champion Chris Froome is hoping to become one of five riders to ever win three Tours in a row. But he’s got a ton of competition to worry about, including former teammate Richie Porte. Porte has won two world tour events this year to Froome’s zero. He also beat Froome head-to-head at the Critérium du Dauphiné last month.
Below is the full route map, the Tour’s official site:
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