Tour de France 2016 to Start at Mont Saint Michel

The Grand Départ of the 2016 Tour de France will take place on Saturday, 2 July 2016, from the foot of the Mont Saint Michel for three days of racing in the department that will host the start of the Tour de France for the very first time.

The riders will first follow the bay then, after crossing the Cotentin Peninsula, will head to Utah Beach, one of the 6 June 1944 landing beaches, situated at Sainte Marie du Mont.

This mainly coastal route could expose the riders to wind gusts, but the totally flat profile will most certainly be to the advantage of the teams of the top sprinters.

The 2016 Tour will waste little time in posing a challenge to the contenders. As early as day two of the race (Sunday, 3 July 2016) the leaders will have to make themselves and their intentions known and head into battle. After leaving Saint Lô, the race will make its way towards Coutances then back to the coast with the Channel Islands in the background. But in approaching La Hague, the riders will have to prepare for a more difficult time. The crossing from Cherbourg to Octeville will bring the peloton, or what is left of it, towards the tough La Glacerie climb. At the top there will be seconds to take after a three kilometer ascent with a 14% grade section.

Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France Director, said “The Manche is a very beautiful department with breath taking scenery. It offers varied terrain that will favor the sprinters at Utah Beach, and allow the punchers their chance to standout in the hills above Cherbourg-Octeville. Let us not forget the Mont Saint Michel that will majestically enhance the very first pedal strokes of the riders of the peloton, three years after it was the backdrop for the 100th Tour de France.”

After crisscrossing the department and skirting its coastline, the Tour de France peloton will say goodbye to the Manche on Monday, 4 July 2016. Stage three will start from the west coast port and seaside resort of Granville, for a destination that will remain unknown until 20 October 2015, the date of the 2016 Tour de France presentation.

Jean-François Le Grand, President of the Manche General Council, said, “It was written that the history of cycling, the Tour de France and the Manche would one day converge. We are proud to offer cycling a sumptuous setting, to promise the Tour de France a warm and passionate welcome and to offer the Manche all the glory it deserves. The coming together of the three during the 2016 start will be magic.”