Tour de France route revealed

DETAILS of the Tour de France route in 2014 have been revealed – and, after the start in Leeds on July 5, riders will cover 3,656 kilometres on the 21 stages before arriving in Paris on July 27.

This is the race’s fourth visit to the UK and heads down through Harrogate, York, Sheffield, Cambridge and London before heading to Le Touquet and a stage to Lille. It then crosses the border for its first visit to Ypres in Belgium as part of the commemorations for the start of the First World War in 2014.

This year also sees stage finishes and a stage start in Dordogne for the first time in 19 years. The 19th stage will be over 208km from Maubourguet Pays du Val d'Adour in the Pyrenees to Bergerac on July 25 before the 54km time trial from Bergerac to Périgueux the next day.

From Ypres, racers set off for Arenberg Porte du Hainaut and will cover a 15.4km cobbled section of the Paris-Roubaix race – where this year’s winner, Briton Chris Froome, fears there could be mayhem if the cobbles are slippery.

The course includes three mountain ranges, with the Vosges, Alps and Pyrenees, and includes fearsome climbs up Port de Balès, Portillon, Peyresourde, Azet and Tourmalet.

However, the riders will suffer from as early as the second day because the York-Sheffield stage includes one 3km sector with a climb of 30%.

In all, the 2014 race has nine flat stages, five hill stages, six mountain stages with five altitude finishes and one individual time trial. There is no prologue this year and no team trial.

For the final day, riders head to Evry outside Paris for the finish on the Champs-Élysées. After this year’s finish in the dusk the 2014 finish will be in daylight.

Full route:
July 5 Leeds / Harrogate - 191km
July 6 York / Sheffield - 198km
July 7 Cambridge / London - 159km
July 8 Le Touquet-Paris-Plage / Lille - 164km
July 9 Ypres / Arenberg Porte du Hainaut - 156km
July 10 Arras / Reims - 194km
July 11 Épernay / Nancy - 233km
July 12 Tomblaine / Gérardmer La Mauselaine - 161km
July 13 Gérardmer / Mulhouse - 166km
July 14 Mulhouse / La Planche des Belles Filles - 161km
July 15 Rest day Besançon
July 16 Besançon / Oyonnax - 186km
July 17 Bourg-en-Bresse / Saint-Étienne - 183km
July 18 Saint-Étienne / Chamrousse - 200km
July 19 Grenoble / Risoul - 177km
July 20 Tallard / Nîmes - 222km
July 21 Rest day Carcassonne
July 22 Carcassonne / Bagnères-de-Luchon - 237km
July 23 Saint-Gaudens / Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet - 125km
July 24 Pau / Hautacam - 145km
July 25 Maubourguet Pays du Val d'Adour / Bergerac - 208km
July 26 Bergerac / Périgueux - 54km
July 27 Évry / Paris Champs-Élysées - 136km