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Recently, the 2011 Tour de France or the 98th Tour de France leaves the starting line once again. Days ago it with a 180km 1st stage at the Passage du Gois, and will end on the Champs-Elysées in Paris on 24 July 2011. The complete race path of the 2011 Tour de France was announced last October 29 2010. The route this year also enters Italy for a short stretch.
The emphasis will be on the Alps in 2011, much like it was on the Pyrenees in 2010, commemorating the 100th anniversary of those peaks first being visited in the Tour. The Col du Galibier will be visited twice during the race and the 18th stage will be the first time the peloton finishes on the 2645 metre top. It will be the highest summit finish of this competition, beating the finish of the Col du Granon (2413 m, near Serre Chevalier) during 1986 Tour de France (stage 17).
For only the second time since 1967 the 2011 Tour will start with a mass start stage instead of a prologue, the last occasion being in 2008.(source: wikipedia.com)