2019 Tour de France to be most mountainous, highest edition of cycling race

The race will feature 30 climbs, six of them above 2,000 meters, five mountain-top finishes, and just two time trial stages of 27 kilometers (17 miles) each.

Defending champion Geraint Thomas of the United Kingdom will have to negotiate the climbs that will be marked throughout the coming three weeks.

The 106th edition the Tour is set to start in Brussels, Belgium's capital, and would mark the 50th anniversary of the first Tour de France win by Eddy Merckx, the famed Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer whose victories include 11 Grand Tour titles (five Tour de France, five Giro d'Italia and one La Vuelta).

Furthermore, there will be back-to-back Alpine stages that will include one through the Col d'Iseran at 2,770 m above sea level, which is the highest paved pass in Europe.

The Tour tends to award the riders who do well in the mountainous stages, giving additional points to those who reach the last climb point, even if this last climb point is not the stage's finish line.