The Tour de France peloton will summit the Butte Montmartre three times on the final stage in Paris this July, the final time just 6km from the line, the race organiser [ASO] revealed on Wednesday.
Speculation grew earlier this year that a major alteration for the final stage in Paris, which traditionally finishes on the Champs-Élysées, was being discussed by race officials, with the ASO confirming last week that a change would definitely take place.
In a presentation on Wednesday, the Tour organiser revealed that the race would replicate parts of the Olympic road race route, taking on three ascents of the cobbled climb that attracted hundreds of thousands of fans.
This year's edition marks the 50th anniversary of the Tour's first finish on the Champs-Élysées. The final stage is typically contested by the sprinters left in the race; however, with a climb just 6km from the line, the stage could instead be contested by Classics style riders such as Mathieu van der Poel, or even the GC hopefuls.
ASO confirmed that the race will still include four laps of the usual finishing circuit, although it will then move away to a different circuit which will lead the riders to the climb.
The Côte de la Butte Montmartre measures in at 1.1km with an average gradient of 5.9%, and was the marquee feature of the Olympic road race last August, won by Remco Evenepoel.
Speaking earlier this week, before the full details of the stage were unveiled, two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard said a passage through Montmartre could lead to "more stress" in the peloton.
"The Montmartre was nice to do in the Olympics. It seemed good, and there were a lot of people and a really good atmosphere," Vingegaard said. "But in that race, when they came to Montmartre, there were only 50 riders left in the bunch. When we do the Tour de France, we will be 150 guys fighting for positions."
The final day of the race has traditionally staged a procession for the overall winner, with the fast finish viewed as the 'Unofficial World Championships' for sprinters.
Last year's race also strayed from the usual Champs-Élysées finale, culminating with a time trial in Nice, so as to not clash with the Paris Olympics.
