Tour de France 2019: Stage-by-stage guide, route, map, start, dates, plus daily preview and profiles

It seems to be said almost every year, but the 2019 Tour de France really is a giant. The 106th edition features five stage finishes on mountain summits, three of which peak at more than 2,000m above sea level in what organisers have dubbed “the highest race in history”.

While there are fewer hors categorie climbs – the most severe – than last year’s race, there are plenty more category twos and threes to encourage attacks, breakaways and aggressive riding.

Awaiting the peloton after the Grand Depart in Brussels is a challenging opening 10 stages before the first rest day, including a finish on top of La Planche des Belles Filles (The Plank of Beautiful Girls), where Chris Froome won in 2012 and Vincenzo Nibali won in 2014.

Then comes the Tour’s very own Amen Corner: three mountain stages through the Pyrenees, including the legendary Col du Tourmalet, and an individual time trial, days which are likely to play a major role in deciding the destination of the yellow jersey.

Whoever escapes the Pyrenees with yellow on their back will still have plenty more to do before the procession to Paris on Sunday 28 July, with a brutal test in the French Alps in the final three competitive stages, including the 2,770m-high Col d’Iseran, the highest road in Europe.

At the end of three long weeks, this race will ultimately be clinched in the clouds above the Alps.

Take a look through our stage-by-stage guide to see how the 2019 race route unfolds.