It was confirmed in December that cycling's most famous race will instead end in Nice as the capital is skipped entirely to avoid a clash with preparations for the Games, due to take place from July 26 to August 11.

Italy will host the Grand Depart for the first time in Florence on June 29, with four stages in the country in all.

The final stage on July 21 will be a 34 kilometre time trial from Monaco to Nice, which will be competitive for the general classification for the first time since 1989.

Convention has dictated that final stages in Paris should not be contested and are merely a procession, but the leader's yellow jersey could change right at the death next year.

The Grand Tour is due to enter the Alps on stage four with race director Christian Prudhomme saying the event has never climbed "so high, so early".

Cyclists will then head up to the vineyards around Dijon with the route reaching its most northernmost point at Troyes.

Next for the peloton will be heading south towards the Massif Central and through the Pyrenees, before darting east and back to the Alps before the Nice finish in the French Riviera.

A final mountainous section on the Col de la Couillole will precede the time trial finish.

"We were committed to avoid Paris because of the Olympics," Prudhomme, revealing the route in front of almost 4,000 spectators at the Palais des Congrès in the capital, said.

"There are only 28,000 police available and we knew we could not get more."

The route has been described as a "festival of summits" and on stage 18 will match the Tour's altitude record at the 2,802 metre high Cime de la Bonnette, France's highest tarmac road.

But the sprinters will have plenty to keep them interested, particularly in the early part of the race when Isle of Man cyclist Mark Cavendish will bid to win a record-breaking 35th Tour stage.

The seventh stage will be a time trial in Burgundy.

"The last three or four days will be very tough because we will be in the mountains," Prudhomme said.