2018 Tour de France to start on narrow causeway

Next year's Tour de France will begin on a notorious, slippery causeway linking an island off the west coast to the mainland, organisers ASO revealed on Tuesday.

The Grand Depart of the 105th edition of the world's most prestigious cycle race will start on June 30, 2018 on the 4km Passage du Gois -- a natural periodically flooded land-bridge from the island of Noirmoutier to the Vendee department in the Loire region – with a 195km flat stage.

The passage has a infamous place in Tour history as it proved decisive in helping Lance Armstrong win the first of his seven titles – he was later stripped of all of them for doping – in 1999.

Many of the favourites, including Switzerland's Alex Zulle, crashed on the slippery cobbles and ended up losing six minutes to the American, who would eventually win the Tour by seven minutes.

The passage last featured at the Tour in 2011, when it also hosted the Grand Depart. After a second flat stage of 185km, the third stage on July 2, 2018 will be a 35km team timetrial around Cholet. The full route for the 2018 Tour de France will be revealed on October 17 at the Palais des Congrès de Paris.

The 2017 Tour de France starts in Dusseldorf, Germany on July 1 with a 13km individual time trial. In the meantime, the 2017 Tour will start in Duesseldorf, Germany on July 1. Britain's Chris Froome is the current champion having won the race for the third time last year. The first edition of the Tour de France back in 1903 passed through the area during the key stage between Bordeaux and Nantes.

The race last set out from the Vendée six years ago, when Thomas Voeckler from local outfit Europcar went on to have an inspired Tour de France, wearing the race leader's yellow jersey for ten days and finishing fourth overall in Paris.

The Puy du Fou theme park hosted the Grand Départ in 1993, when Miguel Indurain won the 6.8km prologue time trial and went on to win the race in Paris.