Organisers of the 2009 Tour de France have revealed the route for next year’s race.
The 2009 Tour will start with a 15km time trial in Monaco before heading west towards the Pyrenees. Before the mountains, a team time trial - the first on the tour since 2005 - will take place around Montpellier.
The race will then cross the French-Spanish border and take in Barcelona for the first time since 1965 before the climbing begins. A mountain-top finish in Andorra promises to be the highlight in the Pyrenees. The race will then transfer to Limoges before heading north east and then turning south to tackle the Alps.
Although there is no stage on L'Alpe d'Huez this year, the riders will have to endure a mountain-top finish at the ski resort of Verbier when the race heads into Switzerland.
Two days later will see the high point of the race tackled - the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard at 2,473m. After the Alps, a second individual time trial of 40km will take place around Annecy before the final weekend's decisive action.
Organisers surprised cyclists by including a 167km stage finishing on Mont Ventoux - the climb on which British cyclist Tom Simpson died in 1967, on the last-but-one day.
The final Saturday is usually reserved for an individual time trial in which the main contenders have traditionally fought out the final placings before the following day's procession down the Champs Elysees in Paris.
