The most important race in the world with the world's strongest riders at the start. If cycling were mathematics, this article could end right here. What is there to add when 17 of the top twenty riders in the world are at the start, with the three absent ones stopped - one due to injury, Giulio Ciccone, one because he did the Giro, Isaac Del Toro, and the last, Tom Pidcock, because his team is not invited and he prefers to dedicate his summer to his beloved cross country?

Fortunately, cycling is not mathematics and so let's prepare to enjoy three weeks of absolute spectacle in a scorching July, 3,338.8 kilometers entirely within the French hexagon, as hasn't happened since the 2020 edition. The ASO organizers talk about 7 flat stages, 6 hilly, 6 high mountain, and 2 time trials. But when the best of the best in every specialization are at the start, it's legitimate to expect surprises practically every day.

The phrase "the race is made by the riders" is the most overused in the world of two wheels, but it's also the truest and will be so even in a Tour that this year decided not to propose gravel sections, to limit the number of time trial kilometers and to draw a final week that very much resembles the Giro d'Italia: extremely tough.

WHAT TOUR WILL IT BE. Before talking about men, let's focus on the route. Which just like the Giro proposes an elevation gain of 52,500 meters, along the same lines as the one dominated last year by Tadej Pogacar.

We start from the Metropolitan City of Lille with a stage that brings sprinters to the spotlight: the last opportunity they had to compete for the yellow jersey in the first stage dates back to 2020, when Alexander Kristoff won (who won't be part of the race this year) at the finish line in Nice.

But the yellow jersey could change hands the very next day because the finale of the stage that will conclude in Boulogne-sur-Mer seems purposely designed to whet the appetite of attackers.

Probably only at the fifth stage, with the 33-kilometer time trial in Caen, will the classification take on a defined outline, and it's no mystery that Remco Evenepoel wants to take advantage of the opportunity to wear the first yellow jersey of his career. At the Dauphiné, in a much shorter test, the Olympic and world champion of the specialty clearly showed he is superior to his rivals when it comes to fighting against the clock and truly has the credentials to fulfill a dream.

The following stages show an ideal profile to unleash the fantasies of attackers, including the double climb of Mur de Bretagne that in 2021 gave Mathieu van der Poel the stage victory and the yellow jersey.

This year, the calendar places France's national holiday on a Monday, which is why the first rest day will only come after 10 stages, one more than tradition. And the July 14th stage will be anything but a normal stage: it will be raced in the Auvergne, on those volcanoes that have been extinct for over 10,000 years but have every intention of igniting the race and passion. Seven GPM are on the program, with the finish in Le Mont-Dore and the promise of rewriting at least part of the general classification before transferring to Toulouse.

Two more stages that promise battle between attackers and sprinters' teams and then it will be the three-day Pyrenees: the stage leading to Hautacam concentrates three climbs in the last 45 kilometers and will be followed by the second and final time trial which is actually a mountain time trial at Peyragudes with a couple of flat kilometers before launching into the climb. And to finish, the Pyrenean stage that lines up Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde and Luchon-Superbagnère.

The traditional finish in Carcassonne, at the end of a far from predictable stage, will end the second week of racing and the rest in Montpellier will be extremely precious because the restart will be truly grueling.

Moving from Montpellier, we'll pedal in the furnace of Southern France with eyes always fixed on the giant of Provence, that Mont Ventoux at the top of which the stage victory will be assigned. A bit of respite - but beware of traps and the Mistral - on the road to Valence and here we are at the most anticipated stage, number 18. From Vif to Courchevel, the menu offers Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine and Col de la Loze for a total of 5,450 meters of elevation gain probably calculated conservatively. It's on these climbs that all the greats of this Tour have pedaled in June, after the Dauphiné, to fine-tune their preparation.

But it's not over because the penultimate stage is also extremely challenging: 4,950 meters of elevation gain in just 129 kilometers, tackling in succession Côte d'Héry-sur-Ugine, Col de Saisies, Col de Pré, Cormet de Roselend and the climb towards the finish in La Plagne. We then head north, arriving in Pontarlier with a stage for attackers and finally fly to Paris for the final stage, which this year has been completely redesigned with three passages on the Butte de Montmartre. The success of the public and spectacle of the Paris 2024 Olympic road race could not leave the ASO organizers indifferent, who immediately seized the opportunity to celebrate in grand style the return to Paris after last year's forced exile in Nice.

It will be the occasion to worthily celebrate three 50-year anniversaries: the first finish at the Champs-Élysées, the birth of the polka dot jersey to reward the best climber and the white jersey to celebrate the best young rider.

LE TAPPE

sab 5 - 1a tappa - Lille Métropole - Lille Métropole 185 km
dom 6 - 2a tappa - Lauwin-Planque - Boulogne-sur-Mer 212 km
lun 7 - 3a tappa - Valenciennes - Dunkerque 178 km
mar 8 - 4a tappa - Amiens Métropole - Rouen 173 km
mer 9 - 5a tappa - Caen - Caen    crono 33 km
gio 10 - 6a tappa - Bayeux - Vire Normandie 201 km
vem 11 - 7a tappa - Saint-Malo - Mûr-de-Bretagne 194 km
sab 12 - 8a tappa - Saint-Méen-le-Grand - Laval 174 km    
dom 13 - 9a tappa - Chinon - Châteauroux     170 lm
lun 14 - 10a tappa - Ennezat - Le Mont-Dore 163 km
mar 11 - riposo
mer 16 - 11a tappa - Toulouse - Toulouse 154 km
gio 17 - 12a tappa - Auch    Hautacam     181 km
ven 18 - 13a tappa - Loudenvielle - Peyragudes    CLM 11 km
sab 19 - 14a tappa - Pau - Luchon Superbagnères 183 km
dom 20 - 15a tappa - Muret - Carcassonne 169 km
lun 21 - riposo
mar 22 - 16a tappa - Montpellier - Mont-Ventoux 172 km
mer 23 - 17a tappa - Bollène - Valence 161 km
gio 24 - 18a tappa - Vif - Courchevel - Cole de la Loze 171 km
ven 25 - 19a tappa - Albertville - La Plagne 130 km
sab 26 - 20a tappa - Nantua - Pontarlier 185 km
dom 27 - 21a tappa - Mantes-la-Ville - Paris Champs-Elysées 120 km

I PARTENTI

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
1. POGAČAR Tadej
2. ALMEIDA João
3. NARVÁEZ Jhonatan
4. POLITT Nils
5. SIVAKOV Pavel
6. SOLER Marc
7. WELLENS Tim
8. YATES Adam

Team Visma | Lease a Bike
11. VINGEGAARD Jonas
12. CAMPENAERTS Victor
13. AFFINI Edoardo
14. BENOOT Tiesj
15. JORGENSON Matteo
16. KUSS Sepp
17. VAN AERT Wout
18. YATES Simon

Soudal Quick-Step
21. EVENEPOEL Remco
22. CATTANEO Mattia
23. EENKHOORN Pascal
24. MERLIER Tim
25. PARET-PEINTRE Valentin
26. SCHACHMANN Maximilian
27. VAN LERBERGHE Bert
28. VAN WILDER Ilan

EF Education - EasyPost
31. ALBANESE Vincenzo
32. ASGREEN Kasper
33. BAUDIN Alex
34. HEALY Ben
35. POWLESS Neilson
36. SWEENY Harry
37. VALGREN Michael
38. VAN DEN BERG Marijn

Intermarché - Wanty
41. GIRMAY Biniam
42. BARRÉ Louis
43. BRAET Vito
44. PAGE Hugo
45. REX Laurenz
46. RUTSCH Jonas
47. VAN SINTMAARTENSDIJK Roel
48. ZIMMERMANN Georg

Bahrain - Victorious
51. BUITRAGO Santiago
52. BAUHAUS Phil
53. GRADEK Kamil
54. HAIG Jack
55. MARTINEZ Lenny
56. MOHORIČ Matej
57. STANNARD Robert
58. WRIGHT Fred

INEOS Grenadiers
61. RODRÍGUEZ Carlos
62. ARENSMAN Thymen
63. FOSS Tobias
64. GANNA Filippo
65. LAURANCE Axel
66. SWIFT Connor
67. THOMAS Geraint
68. WATSON Samuel

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
71. ROGLIČ Primož
72. LIPOWITZ Florian
73. MEEUS Jordi
74. MOSCON Gianni
75. PITHIE Laurence
76. VLASOV Aleksandr
77. VAN DIJKE Mick
78. VAN POPPEL Danny

Lidl - Trek
81. SKJELMOSE Mattias
82. CONSONNI Simone
83. MILAN Jonathan
84. NYS Thibau
85. SIMMONS Quinn
86. SKUJIŅŠ Toms
87. STUYVEN Jasper
88. THEUNS Edward

Groupama - FDJ
91. MARTIN Guillaume
92. ASKEY Lewis
93. BARTHE Cyril
94. GRÉGOIRE Romain
95. MADOUAS Valentin
96. PACHER Quentin
97. PENHOËT Paul
98. RUSSO Clément

Alpecin - Deceuninck
101. VAN DER POEL Mathieu
102. DILLIER Silvan
103. GROVES Kaden
104. MEURISSE Xandro
105. PHILIPSEN Jasper
106. RICKAERT Jonas
107. VERMEERSCH Gianni
108. VERSTRYNGE Emiel

Tudor Pro Cycling Team
111. ALAPHILIPPE Julian
112. DAINESE Alberto
113. HALLER Marco
114. HIRSCHI Marc
115. LIENHARD Fabian
116. MAYRHOFER Marius
117. STORER Michael
118. TRENTIN Matteo

Team Jayco AlUla
121. O'CONNOR Ben
122. DUNBAR Eddie
123. DURBRIDGE Luke
124. GROENEWEGEN Dylan
125. MEZGEC Luka
126. PLAPP Luke
127. REINDERS Elmar
128. SCHMID Mauro

Arkéa - B&B Hotels
131. VAUQUELIN Kévin
132. CAPIOT Amaury
133. COSTIOU Ewen
134. DÉMARE Arnaud
135. GARCÍA PIERNA Raúl
136. LE BERRE Mathis
137. RODRÍGUEZ Cristián
138. VENTURINI Clément

Movistar Team
141. MAS Enric
142. BARTA Will
143. CASTRILLO Pablo
144. GARCÍA CORTINA Iván
145. MÜHLBERGER Gregor
146. OLIVEIRA Nelson
147. ROMEO Iván
148. RUBIO Einer

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
151. GALL Felix
152. ARMIRAIL Bruno
153. BERTHET Clément
154. BISSEGGER Stefan
155. NAESEN Oliver
156. PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien
157. SCOTSON Callum
158. TRONCHON Bastien

Cofidis
161. ARANBURU Alex
162. BUCHMANN Emanuel
163. COQUARD Bryan
164. IZAGIRRE Ion
165. RENARD Alexis
166. TEUNS Dylan
167. THOMAS Benjamin
168. TOUZÉ Damien

XDS Astana Team
171. TEJADA Harold
172. BALLERINI Davide
173. BOL Cees
174. CHAMPOUSSIN Clément
175. FEDOROV Yevgeniy
176. HIGUITA Sergio
177. TEUNISSEN Mike
178. VELASCO Simone

Team TotalEnergies
181. TURGIS Anthony
182. BURGAUDEAU Mathieu
183. CRAS Steff
184. DELETTRE Alexandre
185. GACHIGNARD Thomas
186. JEANNIÈRE Emilien
187. JEGAT Jordan
188. VERCHER Mattéo

Team Picnic PostNL
191. ONLEY Oscar
192. ANDRESEN Tobias Lund
193. BARGUIL Warren
194. BITTNER Pavel
195. FLYNN Sean
196. MÄRKL Niklas
197. NABERMAN Tim
198. VAN DEN BROEK Frank

Israel - Premier Tech
201. WOODS Michael
202. ACKERMANN Pascal
203. BLACKMORE Joseph
204. BOIVIN Guillaume
205. LOUVEL Matis
206. LUTSENKO Alexey
207. NEILANDS Krists
208. STEWART Jake

Lotto
211. VAN EETVELT Lennert
212. BERCKMOES Jenno
213. DE BUYST Jasper
214. DE LIE Arnaud
215. DRIZNERS Jarrad
216. GRIGNARD Sébastien
217. SEPÚLVEDA Eduardo
218. VAN MOER Brent