Tour de France to start in Italy for first time in 2024 as Paris finale changed due to Olympics

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Paris, December 22: The 2024 edition of the Tour de France will start in Italy for the first time in the race's history, organisers The Amaury Sport Organisation has confirmed.

Florence will mark the starting point of the 111th edition of the famous competition to commemorate 100 years since Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian won Le Tour.

After racing to Rimini, further stages from Cesenatico to Bologna and Piacenza to Turin will follow, with the event also set to finish away from Paris for the first time.

The iconic Champs-Elysees finale will be replaced by a closing stage in Nice due to the 2024 Olympic ceremony occurring in the capital just days later.

It will also be the first time since 1989 the event has concluded with a time-trial finish, as opposed to the usual procession through the streets of Paris.

"The Tour has started from all the countries bordering France," said Le Tour director Christian Prudhomme.

"It has even started six times from the Netherlands, which has no common border with France. But it has never started from Italy.

"It's an incongruity that will disappear."

The 2023 edition will begin in Bilbao, Spain on July 1 and finish in Paris 22 days later as Jonas Vingegaard aims to defend his crown.