The Tour de France starts in Brussels tomorrow and concludes with its traditional finish on the Champs-Elysees past the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on 28 July.
It is only the second time the Grand Depart has been staged in Brussels in its 106th edition, the Belgian capital has hosted stages of the race 10 times previously.
The city was chosen for the first time since 1958 to host the first stage, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of five-time joint-record champion Eddy Merckx's first title.
The Belgian, now 74, win six stages on the way to the 1969 title, and stands alone with the record for most Tour de France stage wins with 34.
The scale of the Tour sets it apart from the other two Grand Tours - Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España - with an expected 10-12 millions fans lining the route, as well as the 4,500 people who work on the Tour.
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| Photo from BBC Sport |
L'Auto was printed on distinctive yellow paper, and is the ancestor of the current French daily newspaper L'Equipe.
British Hopes
Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British winner in 2012, and since then it has more or less been the British riders' to lose.
Chris Froome won four titles in the five years that followed, while Geraint Thomas triumphed last year.
Mark Cavendish - who is second behind Merckx with 30 stage wins - is a notable omission for the first time in 12 yearsvafter not being selected by Team Dimension Data.
The 34-year-old said he is "heartbroken" to not be racing, the 2011 world road race champion has struggled with illness for over two years but said he was in "the perfect place" to race.
38-year-old Steve Cummings is the only Briton in the team's eight-man squad, the breakaway specialist has won two Tour stages.
Meanwhile, Froome is recovering from broken neck, femur, elbow, hip and ribs he sustained in a 54km/h crash in the Criterium du Dauphine on 12 June.
Team Ineos - formerly Team Sky - do have defending champion Geraint Thomas with the Yates twins, Adam and Simon, riding for Mitchelton-Scott.
Adam Yates, like Froome, pulled out of the Criterium du Dauphine last month with illness on the final stage, as the Bury-born rider looking back to his best this year.
The 26-year-old won the mountains classification at the Tour of the Basque country, and finished second at the Volta a Catalunya and the Tirreno-Adriatico.
His team will be eyeing a podium finish, having finished fourth in 2016 en route to winning the young rider clasification.
Thomas' preparation for the Tour has been less than ideal - crashing out of last month's Tour de Suisse after stomach problems forced him to withdraw from the Tirreno-Adriatico in March.
Even then, it's difficult to look past the 33-year-old for this year's title, even if it was a shock last year.
It was his strength in the mountains that was the key, with back-to-back Alps stage wins - becoming the first Brit to win on the Alpe d'Huez.
And he'll have to be powerful on the climbs again, as this year's route appears to favour the climbers.
Thomas is joined by compatriot Luke Rowe for Ineos.
Alex Dowsett is the only other British rider this year.
Having formerly raced for Team Sky and Movistar, the record-equalling sixth national time trial champion is competing for Swiss team Katusha-Alpecin this year.
Title Contenders
Alongside the Brits, other title contenders include Egan Bernal.
Team Ineos underlined their strength by naming the 22-year-old Colombian as their replacement for the injured Froome.
He could become the third-youngest Tour winner in history, and arrives at just his second Tour in good form - winning Paris-Nice and the Tour de Suisse.
Nairo Quintana has won the Giro and Vuelta in the past, and has frequently been hotly tipped to complete the set of Grand Tour wins.
The Colombian has had podium finishes in 2013, 2015 and 2016 before dropping to 12th then 10th in the last two years.
Only the two time trial stages may aid the 29-year-old, but he faces competition from Mikel Landa who is also looking to lead the Movistar team.
Jakob Fuglsang couldn't have wished for better preparations for his ninth tour, winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Criterium du Dauphine.
The 34-year-old Dane will see the race opening up thanks to the absence of last year's second and third finishers in Sunweb's Tom Dumoulin and Froome.
The years aren't on Fuglsang's side though, as only three men have won the tour at the age of 34 or older.
It's been 34 years since a Frenchman was champion in his home Grand Tour, and this year's hopes may be on Groupama-FDJ rider Thibaut Pinot.
The 29-year-old finished fifth at the Dauphine, and has wins at the Tour du Haut Var and the Tour de l'Ain to his name this year.
His best is a third place finish five years ago, having twice failed to finished and missed one race since then.
Julian Alaphilippe thinks he will be a marked man in this year's race having won the King of the Mountains Classification last year as well as two stage wins.
The 27-year-old Frenchman is currently the top-ranked male road rider in the world, and he has shown his sprinting and climbing ability this season winning the one-day classic Strade Bianche and then his first Monument, the Milan-Sanremo.
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| Photo from BBC Sport |
The team time trial is around Brussels on stage two, with the individual time trial around Pau in south-west France for stage 13.
But it is in the mountains where the real drama is expected, with seven stages and five summit finishes at Tourmalet and Foix Prat d'Albis in the Pyrenees, and La Planche des Belles Filles, Tignes and Val Thorens in the Alps.
Tourmalet has been ascended by the Tour 82 times since 1910 - more than any other pass in the race's history.
It helped to lay the foundation for Froome and Thomas' Team Sky wins in 2016 and 2018.
The summit is 2,115m above sea level, with the riders facing a 19km final climb at an average gradient of 7.4% to the top of the Pyrenean mountain.
For the first time in Tour history, there will be three summit finishes at an altitude of more than 2,000m.
1/6 July/Bruxelles - Brussel (194.5 km - Flat)
For the first time in Tour history, there will be three summit finishes at an altitude of more than 2,000m.
Tour de France 2019 Stage Guide
Stage/Date/Start - Finish (Distance - Details)1/6 July/Bruxelles - Brussel (194.5 km - Flat)
2/7 July/Bruxelles Palais Royal - Brussel Atomium (27.6 km - Team Time-Trial)
3/8 July/Binche - Epernay (215 km - Hilly)
4/9 July/Reims - Nancy (213.5 km - Flat)
5/10 July/Saint-Die-des-Vosges - Colmar (175.5 km - Hilly)
6/11 July/Mulhouse - La Planche des Belles Filles (160.5 km - Mountain)
7/12 July/Belfort - Chalon-sur-Saone (230 km - Flat)
8/13 July/Macon - Saint-Etienne (200 km - Hilly)
9/14 July/Saint-Etienne - Brioude (170.5 km - Hilly)
10/15 July/Saint-Flour - Albi (217.5 km - Flat)
16 July - REST DAY
16 July - REST DAY
11/17 July/Albi - Toulouse (167 km - Flat)
12/18 July/Toulouse - Bagneres-de-Bigorre (209.5 km - Mountain)
13/19 July/Pau - Pau (27.2 km - Individual Time-Trial)
14/20 July/Tarbes - Tourmalet Bareges (117.5 km - Mountain)
15/21 July/Limoux - Foix Prat d'Albis (185 km - Mountain)
22 July - REST DAY
16/23 July/Nimes - Nimes (177 km - Flat)
17/24 July/Pont du Gard - Gap (200 km - Hilly)
18/25 July/Embrun - Valloire (208 km - Mountain)
19/26 July/Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Tignes (126.5 km - Mountain)
20/27 July/Albertville - Val Thorens (130 km - Mountain)
21/28 July/Rambouillet - Paris Champs-Elysees (128 km - Flat)
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