2013 Tour de France, 100th Anniversary Edition

The route of the 100th Tour de France was unveiled this morning at the Paris Convention Centre in front of an audience of 4,000 people.

Key points:
100th edition of the Tour de France, Saturday, June 29th to Sunday, July 21th 2013

21 stages covering 3,479 kilometres (before final ratification). The first three stages, taking place in Corsica, will be road stages with the first time trial, a TTT, scheduled for stage 4.
7 flat stages
5 hilly stages
6 mountain stages with 4 summit finishes
2 individual time trial stages
1 team time trial stage
2 rest days

10 new stage towns: Porto-Vecchio, Bastia, Ajaccio, Calvi (Corsica will welcome the Tour for the first time), Cagnes-sur-Mer, Saint-Gildas-des-Bois, Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, Givors, Chorges, and Annecy-Semnoz.

For the first time in 10 years the Tour will not leave France's borders.

Mont Ventoux will be re-visited for the first time since 2009 on stage 15, with Mont Ventoux coming at the end of the longest stage of the edition at 242 km. There will be a double (!!) ascent of Alpe d'Huez on stage 18.

A shame that the presentation of the 100th edition of this great race comes during this period of turmoil in cycling due to the recent revelations of Lance Armstrong's, et.al., doping and his being stripped of seven Tour de France titles. Sadly, it's hard to get excited....

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