Mont Ventoux returns to in 2016

The Tour de France will include a gruelling ascent of Mont Ventoux for the first time in three years as part of the 2016 route.

Chris Froome's debut victory at the Tour came after a sensational climb up Mont Ventoux in 2013, and he will look to repeat that feat on stage 12 of next year's race on Bastille Day.

However, Mont Ventoux is just the start of a tough period in the Alps for the peloton with four stages in the shadow of Mont Blanc plus an individual and mountain time trial included within the 21 stages.

For the past two editions the Tour has started outside of France, however this year the Grand Depart will be hosted by Mont-Saint-Michel on July 2, with the opening stage finishing at Utah Beach " the sight of the D-Day landings.

While not starting outside of France, the Tour will visit Andorra and Switzerland over the three week period, with the mountain time trial between Sallanches and Megeve expected to be a crucial point in the race.

The Pyrenees will represent the first mountain challenges to the riders before the route heads to the Alps in a repeat of the anti-clockwise direction used in 2015.

Stage 21 will begin in Chantilly as the riders set off for Paris, finishing as ever on the Champs-Elysees in the French capital on July 24.