The Tour de France will start in Italy for the first time in 2024 and the opening three stages will be held there.
Italy gets the honor of hosting the Grand Depart 100 years after Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian to win cycling's most prestigious event.
"The Tour has started from all the countries bordering France," said race director Christian Prudhomme, in Italy to present the 26th Grand Depart from outside French borders, the third in a row after Copenhagen in 2022 and Bilbao in 2023.
"It has even started six times from the Netherlands, which has no common border with France. But it has never started from Italy."
The Tour will start on June 29, with the opening stage from Florence to Rimini on the Adriatic coast. The second stage will be from Cesenatico to Bologna and the third will start in Piacenza and end in Turin.
The final stage, traditionally held on the Champs Elysees in Paris, will be moved to Nice in 2024 when the French capital is hosting the Olympic Games.
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