Tour de France race organisers have anointed the Italian city of Florence as the starting point for the 2024 edition of the world's most prestigious cycle race.
It will be the third year in a row that the Tour starts outside of France, following Grand Départs in the Danish capital Copenhagen in 2022 and Bilbao in Spain next summer.
The first three stages of the 2024 extravaganza will take in the Italian countryside and pay homage to some of the sport's most fabled riders.
Race director Christian Prudhomme said: "Exactly a century after Ottavio Bottecchia became the first cyclist from Italy to win the Tour, the peloton will go from the birthplace of Gino Bartali, to that of Marco Pantani before paying tribute to Fausto Coppi."
😍 Here are the first 3 stages of the #TDF2024 and its Grand Départ from Florence!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) December 21, 2022
😍 Voici les 3 premières étapes du #TDF2024 avec un Grand Départ depuis Florence ! pic.twitter.com/NAp6KFspmG
The initial stage will travel 205 kilometres between Florence and Rimini.
Day two will take in a 200-kilometre ride from Cesenatico to Bologna.
The Italian section will terminate on 1 July with a 225 km journey between Piacenza and Turin.
The race will culminate as usual along the Champs Elysées in Paris.
In October, the route was outlined for the 2023 race where Jonas Vingegaard of the Dutch team Jumbo-Visma will defend his title.
