OK I know it's months away yet, and that lots of Hubbers view it as the least interesting of the "Grand Tours" (including me at times!) but the full route will be announced tomorrow . . . Le Tour starts in Düsseldorf on Saturday 1st July with Stage 1 - an ITT: "A time-trial of 13 kilometres in the streets of Düsseldorf, this will be the first exercise offered to the riders of the 2017 Tour de France. The start will take place in front of the Messe, the exhibition park where the race headquarters and press centre of the event will be set. After taking off on the east side of the Rhine river heading towards the south-east of the city, the riders will cross the river for a loop on the left bank, before again crossing in the opposite direction to go to Königsallee, the emblematic street of the city. Then, after the opera, the course turns to the north-west, once again along the Rhine. The finish will be decided by the Messe. “It’ll be an entirely flat course on wide avenues. The time-trial specialists will be able to express their potential”, explains Thierry Gouvenou, in charge of cycling competitions at Amaury Sport Organisation" Stage 2 on Sunday 2nd July will leave Düsseldorf . . . and the finish town will be announced tomorrow . . . . "It’ll be from the Burgplatz, the castle place, having hosted the team presentation three days before, that stage two will take off. On a distance of 9 kilometres, it will start by a long parade going along the Düsseldorf harbour. The official start will take place on the east side of the city on Kaiserstrasse and as soon as kilometre 6, the first points of the king of the mountain competition will be awarded at the top of Grafenberg. The pack will then leave the city towards east to go through Erkrath and the Neander valley, a prehistoric site where the bones of the Neanderthal Man were discovered. The race then heads north towards Mettmann and then west to once travel through Düsseldorf. Around fifty kilometres of this second stage will have been covered before heading to…"
