When writing these words, author Marcel Proust probably didn't have in mind the infinite combinations on offer for the passionate who takes on the design of the Tour de France course ‘just for fun' or with real ambitions. It is however the approach we have and it brings us to re-visit on a permanent basis places and territories by giving them a new appeal each time. The riders have perfectly understood this geographically variable concept. They know how to surprise us, shake us up, and sweep us away. So we offer them, on the basis of scattering difficulties, terrain that calls for action… and that can modify our vision, like Proust invites us to. The Mont-Saint-Michel, transformed by the works that have just been finished there, will have never looked so impressive as the start ramp to launch this 2016 edition of the Tour. In the same way, the finish that will take place at Cherbourg-Octeville the following day will look like none of those that the city already witnessed in its long Tour de France history.
Cycling is in love with mountains and the show put on by the climbers. We are however convinced that intermediate mountain ranges give us far more than just indications: they make a selection. We'll see just that in Cantal but also later on in the Jura area when the battle will be on the Col du Grand Colombier. Meanwhile, the stay in the Pyrenees that comes, like in 2015, before the Alps will occur on three days combining innovations and tradition. With our last act, with as many bends as there are climbs, we promise dazzlement, guaranteed by the almost permanent presence of the Mont Blanc (White Mountain). The bets on who will win the Yellow Jersey will be open in Switzerland at Finhaut-Emosson, but also for the return of a mountain time-trial between Sallanches and Megève and why not, on the ultimate descent that the riders will take on as they head to Morzine, 24 hours away from the finish. Quite a few changes into perspective.
Christian Prudhomme
Tour de France race director
