Tour de France 2016: Chris Froome delight at 'great course'
Britain's two-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome believes the route for the 2016 race is perfect for him to claim a historic hat-trick.
The course for the 103rd edition of the race was announced in Paris on Tuesday.
The 21 stages feature 28 categorised climbs, visits to Andorra, Spain and Switzerland, and two time trials.
"I think it's a great course. It really challenges every aspect of cycling - time trials, mountains, a technical descent," the Team Sky rider said.
"It's such an amazing, special race, I'm still 30 years old and feel I have a lot left in my legs.
"(Next year's course) suits me better," he added, in reference to the two time trials that total 33.5 miles, a big increase on the one short individual time trial that featured in this year's race.
The race will also return to Mont Ventoux on Bastille Day - 14 July - three years after the famous victory that effectively sealed Froome's first Tour win .
"I think the beautiful thing about the Tour de France is that it's not specifically about one stage - I think it's going to take a complete cyclist - but the stage that certainly stands out for me is Mont Ventoux," said Froome.
"I know how difficult this climb is and how much time can be won or lost on that climb."
The battle for the leader's yellow jersey will be fought out over 2,187 miles of racing from Normandy's iconic Mont-Saint-Michel to the grandiose Champs-Elysees in Paris.
After leaving Normandy, the race heads south to the Pyrenees, via a tough fifth stage to Le Lioran in the Massif Central.
That is the most challenging day in a relatively sprinter-friendly first week, which opens with a dash to Utah Beach that should put a sprinter in yellow for the third time in the past four years.
But once the race reaches the Pyrenees on stage seven, the Tour reverts to recent type and largely becomes a climbing contest, punctuated by a couple of opportunities for the speedsters and the two tests against the clock.
"It's so hard,'' said British sprinter Mark Cavendish, who is third on the all-time stage win list with 26.
"For 21 days, it's going to be full gas.'"
Among the highlights are a brutal eighth stage from Pau to Bagneres de Luchon, followed by a monumental day in Andorra, stage 17's finish on the Emosson dam in Switzerland and a decisive penultimate stage from Megeve to Morzine, via some of the Alps' most testing climbs.
French hopes will rest with the likes of Thibaut Pinot , who was third in 2014, but he was honest in his assessment of the challenge he faces in regaining a spot on the podium.
"The favourite will be Chris Froome, he's the most complete rider , he's the stronger," said Pinot.
"But it will also be good for Nairo Quintana (who finished behind Froome in 2013 and 2015)."