The Tour de France will start from Florence in 2024

The 2024 Tour de France will start in Florence, Italy.

so it

Christian Prudhomme, head of the gala round, announced this Wednesday in a program on transalpine public television (RAI).

This will be the first start of the race from Italy, one hundred years after Ottavio Bottecchia first wore the yellow jersey across the Alps.

It will also be the first time that the round does not end in Paris, since it will end in Nice due to the preparations for the Olympic Games to be held in the French capital.

After Copenhagen, in 2022, and Bilbao, in 2023, the departure from the Tuscan capital will mark the third time in a row that the

departed from a foreign city.

“The great success of the Denmark exit shows us to what extent the fervor for the Tour is an exploitable commodity,” said Prudhomme.

The first stage of this edition will be on June 29, 2024, with the inaugural route between Florence and Rimini, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.

They will then reach Bologna with a cross-country pass to Piedmont, where the peloton will conclude the stages on Italian soil in Turin on July 1.

The official statement of the French round highlights that the Tour "weaves stories" between nations: "The chapter that will begin in 2024 with the first Italian

is an addition written in gold letters to a long-lasting epic full of heroics, turns fate, incidents conducive to the race and anecdotes burned into the minds of cycling lovers and fans of all generations ”, they expose from the organization.

Italy's relationship with the Tour was started by Maurice Garin, who, although he had a French passport, was from Valle d'Aosta (Italy).

Garin was the first winner of the Tour in 1903, but throughout history, the transalpine country has had great champions such as Gino Bartali (born in Florence, precisely), Fausto Coppi, Marco Pantani (born in Cesenatico and died in Rimini ).

Cesenatico and Rimini will also be the setting for this edition.

Another illustrious Italian in the gala round is Vincenzo Nibali, the last Italian winner, in 2014, in addition to the aforementioned Ottavio Bottecchia.

The initial route of the 2024 Tour will face the peloton with a total difference in altitude of 3,700 meters from the first day.

Along the way, the climb to San Marino will add the small country to the list of 14 that have hosted the

.

The next day, starting from the Cesenatico station, the riders will face another good helping of climbs on the way to Bologna.

In Turin it will be the moment of the great sprinters, with a

final .

The start of the Tour de France 2024

Saturday June 29.

Stage 1: Florence-Rimini, 205 km.

Sunday, June 30.

Stage 2: Cesenatico-Bologna, 200 km.

Monday July 1.

Stage 3: Piacenza-Turin, 225 km.

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