Tour de France 2018

Overview

The 2018 Tour de France, the 105th edition of the race, will begin on July 7 in the Vendée region in north west France and will conclude in Paris on July 29. Over the course of 21 stages, the riders will face six mountain stages - three of which feature summit finishes - one individual time trial, one team time trial, eight flat stages giving opportunities for the sprinters, and five moderately hilly stages, all for a total distance of 3229km.

The 2017 champion, Sky's Chris Froome, is expected to race the 2018 Tour de France in search of a record-equalling fifth title. Giro d'Italia champion Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) has yet to decide if he will target the yellow jersey for the first time, but there is no shortage of candidates for the maillot jaune, including Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Richie Porte (BMC), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and others.

Route

The route for the 2018 Tour de France was officially unveiled in Paris on October 17, with race director Christian Prudhomme once again blending tradition with innovation as part of a quest to continually shake up the race. The Tour will return to staples such as Alpe d'Huez – one of the race's most legendary climbs – and Pau, but there will also be an incredibly short mountain stage (65km), a stage that borrows 15 sectors of cobbles (21.7km) from Paris-Roubaix, and a stage in the Alps that will take riders over gravel tracks. 

Starting a week later due to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Tour de France's Grand Départ in the Vendée will feature two flat stages followed by a 35km team time trial in Cholet, a crucial early test in the battle for the yellow jersey. From there the race will head into Brittany in the very north west corner of France – where the wind can blow and where the Mur de Bretagne will prove a stiff uphill conclusion to stage 6 – before tracking across the north of the country for the cobbles on stage 9.

After a first rest day, the remainder of the race is mainly about the mountains, starting with three back-to-back stages in the Alps - a downhill finish into Le Grand Bornand followed by summit finishes at La Rosière and Alpe d'Huez via the famous 21 hairpins. After tracking across the south of the country, stopping for a rest day in Carcassonne, the race hits the Pyrenees for a downhill finish into Bagnères-de-Luchon, followed by the explosive 65km stage finishing atop the Col de Portet, and then a final mountain stage that that takes in the Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque passes. An undulating 31km time trial in the Basque region will decide the yellow jersey once and for all, ahead of the final-day procession into Paris.

Full details: Tour de France route revealed