The route of the 24th edition of L'Etape du Tour was unveiled in Paris this morning during the presentation of the 2016 Tour de France by Race Director, Christian Prudhomme. 

The Tour de France's official sportive will replicate Stage 20 of next year's race, taking riders over four major Alpine cols between Megève and Morzine. The headline features of the 146km route will be the Col des Aravis, the Col de la Colombiere, the Col de la Ramaz and the Col de Joux Plane. 

Registration for the event, which will take place on Sunday, 10 July 2016, is now open. 

As the crow flies, there are around fifty kilometres between Megève and Morzine. A piece of cake for your Sunday cyclist. But those who are familiar with L'Étape du Tour will quickly realise that the route is somewhat more difficult. Thousands of kilometres of training will be needed to tackle the four climbs on the agenda. 

It's no coincidence that this stage, which finishes with a descent into the Morzine ski resort, has been revealed as the setting for the great Alpine finale of the 2016 Tour, with the pros due to tackle it on Saturday, 23 July, just 24 hours before the winner is crowned in Paris. 

With big favourites including Chris Froome watching on at the presentation this morning, there's every chance that this stage could prove decisive in determining whether he, or another of his rivals, pulls on the maillot jaune a day later on the Champs Elysee. 

Chief amongst those rivals will surely be Nairo Quintana, and it was at Morzine in 2012 that the Colombian secured one of his first champion's bouquets in the Critérium du Dauphiné. 

Morzine has played host to a wealth of great moments in cycling history, and the expected peloton of 15,000 cycling enthusiasts at L'Etape du Tour can draw inspiration from riding in the wheel tracks of great climbers from all generations, from Van Impe to Pantani. 

The Etape du Tour in numbers:

• 24: the 2016 edition will be the 24th
• 15,010: the number of entrants in 2015
• 3: Top three most represented nations: France (9,081), UK (3,374) and Ireland (350)
• 850: the number of volunteers involved in the race.
• 72: the number of nationalities represented in the peloton
• 100 medical staff (doctors, nurses, first-aiders) mobilised on the route
• 70 motorbikes to ensure the participants' safety
• 8 Mavic support vehicles
• 9 feed zones on the route including 4 providing both solid food and liquids
• 10 tonnes of bananas
• 350 Kg of Beaufort cheese
• 55,000 L of Vittel water 

The climbs of the 2016 Etape du Tour:

Col des Aravis from Flumet
Length - 11.5km
Bottom - 910m
Summit - 1486m
Gain - 576m
Avg Grade - 5%
Max Grade - 11.8%

Col de la Colombiere from Le Grand Bornard
Length - 11.7km
Bottom - 923m
Summit - 1613m
Gain - 690m
Avg Grade - 5.9%
Max Grade - 9%

Col de la Ramaz from Mieussy
Length - 15.5km
Bottom - 605m
Summit - 1619m
Gain - 1104m
Avg Grade - 7%
Max Grade - 12.5%

Col de Joux Plane from Samoens
Length - 11.6km
Bottom - 702m
Summit - 1691m
Gain - 989m
Avg Grade - 8.5%
Max Grade - 12.5%

Cyclosport's Nick Gregory took on the 2014 Etape du Tour in the Pyrenees: "In cycling, mention the 'Etape' and everyone will immediately know to what you are referring - it's the zenith of mass participation cycling, one of the oldest and certainly the most famous of all sportives. Over the years the Etape has visited all of the monuments of the Tour from the Alps to the Pyrenees, including climbs such as the Peyresourde, Aspin, Luiz Ardiden, Ventoux, Madeleine, Alpe d'Huez, Telegraphe and Galibier." Read his full review HERE.

The Etape du Tour has also featured in Cyclosport's Top 5 Pro Race Sportives and our Top 5 Overseas Sportives - very much a buck-list event.

Registration is now open for L'Etape du Tour 2016 at asochallenges.com.

For more information visit www.letapedutour.com.