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Paris - The Tour de France appears set to be dominated by the climbers once more in 2016 but cycling's most prestigious stage race should get off to a calmer start than this year's edition after organisers revealed a balanced course on Tuesday.
After rattling through cobbled sections and battling perilous crosswinds in an extremely nervous opening block of racing this year, the overall contenders will be relieved that the first week will be much less treacherous.
"It will, however, be a week for the strong," warned competition director Thierry Gouvenou, who designs the course along with Tour director Christian Prudhomme.
The sprinters will have more chances to shine with about seven stage finishes designed for the speed merchants, between the first stage ending at Utah Beach, a site for one of the D-Day landing operations in June 1944, to the traditional final dash up the Champs-Elysees.
There will be plenty of mountains, too, with 28 climbs, three more than this year, scattered over four chains - the Massif Central, Pyrenees, Alps and Jura -- with four mountain stages concluding with uphill finishes.
The Tour has been heavily favouring the pure climbers since 2012, when all-rounder Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the race.
The Queen stage on Bastille Day will take the peloton from Montpellier to the iconic Mont Ventoux, one of France's toughest climbs - a crippling 22.7-km ascent at an average gradient of 7.2 percent, where defending champion Chris Froome crushed his rivals in 2013.
"We try, when possible, to have a significant stage on the 14th of July (French national day)," Prudhomme told reporters.
While this year's race had a post-World War Two low single individual time trial measuring just 14 km, the 2016 edition will feature two arduous tests against the clock that are likely to suit the overall contenders and Olympics-bound cyclists.
The first, a 37-km ride between Bourg-Saint-Andeol and La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc, will feature two climbs (7 km at 5.5 percent and 3.5 km at six percent) and the second, an undulating 17 km course from Sallanches to Megeve.
"The first time trial will also be a good opportunity for the specialists to test themselves ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because the courses are similar," Prudhomme added.
While the mountain stages started after 10 days in 2015, the first big test for the overall contenders will come as early as the fifth stage in the form of a 216-km trek in the Massif Central featuring three ascents.
Route for the 2016 Tour de France, which was unveiled by organisers on Tuesday:
July 2 - Stage 1: Mont-Saint-Michel to Utah Beach Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, 188 km
July 3 - Stage 2: Saint-Lo to Cherbourg-Octeville, 182 km
July 4 - Stage 3: Granville to Angers, 222 km
July 5 - Stage 4: Saumur to Limoges, 232 km
July 6 - Stage 5: Limoges to Le Lioran, 216 km
July 7 - Stage 6: Arpajon-sur-Cere to Montauban, 187 km
July 8 - Stage 7: L'Isle-Jourdain to Lac de Payolle, 162 km
July 9 - Stage 8: Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon, 183 km
July 10 - Stage 9: Vielha val d'Aran to Andorra Arcalis, 184 km
July 11 - Rest day in Andorra
July 12 - Stage 10: Escaldes-Engordany to Revel, 198 km
July 13 - Stage 11: Carcassonne to Montpellier, 164 km
July 14 - Stage 12: Montpellier to Mont Ventoux, 185 km
July 15 - Bourg-Saint-Andeol to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc, individual time trial, 37 km
July 16 - Stage 14: Montelimar to Villars-les-Dombes Parc des Oiseaux, 208 km
July 17 - Stage 15: Bourg-en-Bresse to Culoz, 159 km
July 18 - Stage 16: Moirans-en-Montagne to Bern, 206 km
July 19 - Rest day in Bern
July 20 - Stage 17: Bern to Finhaut-Emosson, 184 km
July 21 - Stage 18: Sallanches to Megeve, individual time trial, 17 km
July 22 - Stage 19: Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, 146 km
July 23 - Stage 20: Megeve to Morzine, 146 km
July 24 - Stage 21: Chantilly to Paris Champs-Elysees
Total: 3 519 km
