PARIS (AP) — Italy will host the start of the Tour de France for the first time in 2024.
Race organizers confirmed on Wednesday that the “grand départ” will take place on June 29 from Florence to Rimini to mark 100 years since Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian rider to win the Tour.
Italy will host the first three stages of the 2024 race, which will end on July 21 in Nice instead of Paris because of the Olympic Games. It will be the first time since 1905 that the finish is not the French capital.
The start was brought forward by one week, a customary change during an Olympic year.
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