Jonas Vingegaard, Jasper Philipsen, Mark Cavendish, Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky and Audrey Cordon-Ragot among stars in Paris at presentation of next year's courses
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Race winners from 2023 take the stage for the Route Presentation, Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) and Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, at the podium to unveil the route for the 111th edition of the men's race(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Race Director Christian Prudhomme presents the official route of the 111th Tour de France at special presentation in Paris, France on October 25, 2023(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
The official route of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes is disclosed by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, and Marion Rousse, race director of the Tour de France Femmes(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) is introduced by announcer at route presentation for 2024 Tour de France(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
L to R: Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich), Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) watches early segment of Route Presentation seated next to Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Reserved seats for pro athletes are marked with yellow covers and personalisation at the Palais des Congrès in Paris for the 2024 route presentations(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
The seat reserved for Tour de France Femmes defending champion Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Ricarda Bauernfeind of Team Canyon-SRAM Racing sits next to Felix Gall of AG2R Citroën Team during the event(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Lotte Kopecky of Team SD Worx sits between Jasper Philipsen (on left) and Mark Cavendish (on right)(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
French rider Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) meets the press at the Route Presentation(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) meets the press at the Route Presentation(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) walks on stage during Team Presentation and was surprised there will be limited sprint opportunities in 2024(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
French rider Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) in casual attire for the Team Presentation(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Norwegian sprinter Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Pro Cycling) strolls on stage(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
A second French rider from AG2R Citroën took time for the ceremony, Aurelien Paret-Peintre(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck, who won the green jersey classification in 2023, looked all business (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Cofidis' Bryan Coquard is introduced(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Christine Majerus (Team SD Worx), who has ridden the Tour de France Femmes twice, walks on stage during the Route Presentation(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
The official overall map of the three-week Grand Tour was presented by Christian Prudhomme, race director of the Tour de France(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Marion Rousse, race director of the Tour de France Femmes, presents the official route and poster for the women's 2024 event(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Demi Vollering of Team SD Worx (left) and Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma take turns with interviews on the stage (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) talks with the press(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Race directors present stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes, finishing atop l'Alpe d'Huez(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
French rider Juliette Labous of Team dsm-firmenich, who was fifth on GC at 2023 Tour de France Femmes, walks on stage(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Italian Marta Cavalli of FDJ-SUEZ, who finished top 10 on stage 7 atop Col du Tourmalet, is recognized on stage(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
French champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot of Team Human Powered Health appears on stage(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx), who won the green jersey as well as stage 1 at last year's Tour de France Femmes, receives recognition(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Detailed view of the Tour de France Femmes classification jerseys, decorated with names of teams who took the top prizes from last year - Yellow Leader Jersey, Polka-Dot Mountain Jersey, Green Points Jersey and White Best Young Jersey(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Detailed view of the Tour de France classification jerseys featuring names of teams representing last year's winners - Yellow Leader Jersey, Polka-Dot Mountain Jersey, Green Points Jersey and White Best Young Jersey (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
A polished programme took place at the Palais des Congrès, with race directors Christian Prudhomme and Marion Rousse first unveiling the eight stages for the Tour de France Femmes, taking place August 12-18 next summer, after the conclusion of the Paris Olympic Games. The men’s Tour, June 29-July 21, includes the traditional 21 stages and will finish ahead of the Games.
Before any maps were projected on the big screen for the attendees and a global audience watching via live streaming, many of the top names in the pro pelotons were introduced, including the defending women’s and men’s champions, Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), and top sprinters Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx).
There was a parade of athletes across the stage before the champions made comments, including a number of French riders - Bryan Coquard, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Kevin Vauquelin, Benoît Cosnefroy, Valentin Madouas and Adrien Petit.
Also welcomed to the stage were Christine Majerus, Alexander Kristoff, Marta Cavalli, Valentin Madouas, Yara Kastelijn, Felix Gall, Ricarda Bauernfeind, Erica Magnali, Silvia Persico and Mark Cavendish, who is again seeking a record-breaking 35th stage win at next year's race.
Once a quick chat with the reigning champions Vollering and Vingegaard about winning last year's races was completed, the multi-media portion of the programme began with video highlights.
ASO President Jean-Étienne Amaury addressed the crowd and mentioned that a new trophy for the Tour de France in honour of the continued partnership with Le Credit Lyonnais would be made public at a later time.
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Finally it was time to get down to the business at hand, and the Tour de France Femmes route was disclosed as featuring eight stages in seven days across three countries for a total of 946km.
The Grand Départ takes place in the Netherlands from August 12-14 and the route then crosses into the Ardennes Classics iconic cities of Liège and Bastogne. Once entering France, the course travels into the Alps for two final mountain stages in Le Grand Bornand and Alpe d'Huez.
The final segment of the programme offered another Tour de France highlight reel and details about the first start for the Tour in Italy. Once the Mayor of Nice completed comments about the race finishing in southern France for the first time, the men’s route was splashed on the screens.
Once stages for all three weeks of the Grand Tour were disclosed, a summary of next year’s Tour included 3,492km of racing across four nations – Italy, San Marino, France, and Monaco. The race has 25km of racing above 2,000 metres and 27 mountains classified as second, first, or hors categorie.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
