As Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 21 stages that will make up the 2018 Tour de France, watching on from the front rows of Paris` Palais des Congres were many of the riders who will be competing for stage victories and the overall classification next July. 2017 champion and four-time winner Chris Froome was in attendance, heading up on stage to receive the Vélo d`Or award before later sharing his reaction to what is a testing and varied route. Sat alongside the Briton were Romain Bardet, who has finished behind him on the podium in the last two years, and Alberto Contador, who has won the race twice but recently retired from the sport. Nairo Quintana was there and no doubt pleased that the individual time trialling is limited to 31 hilly kilometres, while Thibaut Pinot was another attendee expected to challenge Froome for the yellow jersey. ADVERTISEMENT Mark Cavendish, second on the all-time stage victory standings, watched on as eight potential sprint opportunities were unveiled, and he was joined by French sprinters Arnaud Demare and Nacer Bouhanni. Lilian Calmejane and Warren Barguil, who both won hillier stages at this year`s Tour, were also there and joined the others on the stage before picking out their favourite stages from the official 2018 Tour de France map. Click or swipe through the gallery above to see all the photos from the event.
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