2017 Tour de France

Route and stages

The start of the 2017 Tour (known as the Grand Départ) was originally scheduled to be in London; this would have been the third time the Tour had visited London, following the 2007 and 2014 editions. In September 2015, a week before this was due to be announced, Transport for London pulled out of the bid. It was later revealed that this was the decision of the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, on the grounds of cost: hosting the Grand Depart would have cost £35,000,000.

In December 2015, ASO announced that the Grand Départ would take place with stages based in Düsseldorf in Germany; this will be the fourth time that the Tour has begun in Germany and the first since 1987. The bid to host the Tour was only narrowly approved by the city council. The return to Germany followed a resurgence in German cycling, with riders including Tony Martin, Marcel Kittel, André Greipel and John Degenkolb enjoying success. On 14 January 2016, details of the opening two stages were announced. The first stage would be a 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) individual time trial in Düsseldorf itself. The second stage would also begin in Düsseldorf, climb the Grafenberg climb after just 6 km (3.7 mi), revisit the city and then head off to another city for the finish.

The full route was announced by race director Christian Prudhomme on 18 October 2016 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. It contained two time trial events, both of which were individual. The remaining nineteen stages were divided into four categories: flat stages, hilly stages, medium mountain stages, and mountain stages. Eight of the stages were declared flat stages and three were declared hilly. Of the eight stages remaining, three stages were designated medium mountain stages and five were ranked as mountain stages. Out of the mountainous stages, two had summit finishes: stage 12, to Peyragudes and stage 18, to Col d'Izoard. Additionally, the hilly stage 3 had a hill-top finish in Longwy, and the medium-mountain stage 5 ended at La Planche des Belles Filles. The longest road stage was stage 19, at 220 km (137 mi), and the shortest was stage 14, at 100 km (62 mi). The two individual time trials had a combined length of 36 km (22.4 mi). When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 13 km (8.1 mi) shorter, contained the same amount of rest days and the same amount of time trial events.

After the first time trial, the race will leave Germany during stage 2, and finished in the Belgian city of Liège; although the area is known for hilly terrain, often utilised in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic, this stage will be flat. Stage 3 will head south, and after a brief passage through Luxembourg, will end atop a climb in Longwy. After a transitional stage, which will include a symbolic passage through Schengen, stage 5 will see the first major climb; the finish at La Planche des Belles Filles, which is a steep climb with a ramp at 20%. The next two stages head south-west, before stage 8 gives another test for the contenders; a stage in the Jura Mountains, featuring three climbs, including the Montée de la Combe de Laisia Les Molunes, with it summit followed only by an 11 km (7 mi) flat section to the finish at the Station des Rousses, seen previously at the 2010 Tour, in a stage won by Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel. The ninth stage, the final before the rest day, was seen as one of the more difficult in the whole race. It included the steep climbs of the Col de la Biche, the Col du Grand Colombier with ramps of up to 22%, and, after a forty-two year absence, the Signal du Mont du Chat, its summit 25 km (15.5 mi) from the finish in Chambéry.

After a transfer during the rest day, stage 10 was a stage in the Dordogne, between Périgueux and Bergerac. Stage 11 was a transitional stage, followed by two stages in the Pyrénées. Stage 12 started from Pau and, after the climbs of the Col des Ares, Col de Menté, Port de Balès and Col de Peyresourde, ends at Peyragudes; when used in 2012, Alejandro Valverde won a stage which followed the same climbs, although noticeably shorter, and had them in a different order. The next stage was short, at 110 km (68 mi), but included the climbs of the Col de Latrape, Col d'Agnes and Mur de Péguère, before a descent finish into Foix. The Mur features ramps at 18%, and, like the final climb on the previous stage, was most recently used in 2012; this, too, ended in Foix, where Luis León Sánchez took victory from a breakaway. After leaving the Pyrénées, the riders head north-east; stage 14 finishes with a climb towards the end of the stage. Stage 15 features the first appearance of the Col de Peyra Taillade; this climb averages 7.4% over 8.3 km (5 mi) and has a section at 14%. Its summit is reached with 31 km (19.3 mi) to go; the descent is long, and, after two small climbs, the stage concluded in Le Puy-en-Velay.

Stage 16, the first after the final rest day, is a transitional stage, heading east, towards the Alps. They are reached on stage 17; this stage includes the Col d'Ornon, Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Télégraphe and the highest peak of the race, the Col du Galibier, before a descent finish into Serre Chevalier. Stage 18 is the final day of mountains; it has two climbs - the Col de Vars and the finishing climb, the Col d'Izoard. This will be the first time the Tour will finish on the 2,360 m (7,743 ft) high pass. After another transitional stage, heading south, stage 20 sees the final day of competition; a 23 km (14.3 mi) individual time trial in Marseille. Starting at the Orange Vélodrome, the course heads around the city, designated 2017 European Capital of Sport, before ending also at the Orange Vélodrome. The final stage starts in Montgeron, which hosted the start of the first Tour de France, before concluding with the traditional laps of the Champs-Élysées.

In the early stages, the race will also travel through Belgium and Luxembourg. For the first time since the 1992 edition, the route will include all five of France's mountainous regions; the Vosges, the Jura, the Massif Central, the Pyrenees and the Alps. The Tour included ten new start or finish locations: Düsseldorf, in stages 1 and 2; Mondorf-les-Bains, in stage 4; Nuits-Saint-Georges, in stage 7; Nantua, in stage 9; Eymet, in stage 11; Laissac-Sévérac-l'Église, in stage 15; Romans-sur-Isère, in stage 16; La Mure, in stage 17; Col d'Izoard, in stage 18; and Salon-de-Provence, in stage 19. The rest days were after stage 9, in the Dordogne, and 15, in Le Puy-en-Velay.