Etape du Tour 2016: a rider's guide (video)

When the Tour de France 2016 route was confirmed, along with it came the announcement of the parcours for the 2016 Etape du Tour.

Following the same route from Megève to Morzine that could prove the decisive stage for the final yellow jersey of 2016, amateur riders will face the challenge of four cols and little in the way of flat road.

Registration for the 24th edition of the mass participation sportive is now open and over 15,000 riders are expected to tackle the course just under two weeks before the professionals do battle on the cols.

In 2015, over 20% of entrants were from the UK, making it the second most represented country after France, a number that will surely grow if Chris Froome defends his title at the world's biggest sporting event.

Nine feed stations across the 146km route will keep riders going over the Alpine climbs on their way to Morzine, not far from the Swiss border.

Get prepared before your sportive 

The Etape follows a strict time schedule, and riders who fall behind this are asked to retire. The road closures stick to the same time schedule giving entrants the chance to tackle some of the Tour de France's iconic climbs in a traffic free environment.

Although it's a sportive, the Etape du Tour is a timed event which gives participants the chance to compare their effort to the other riders once they've finished.

For more information on the event and how to enter, see the Etape du Tour's official site (opens in new tab).