Who will start where in the grid start on stage 17 of the 2018 Tour de France?

After more than two weeks of fairly standard Tour de France racing, stage 16 of the 2018 race is finally upon us and we can take a step into the unknown.

Not only is it the shortest road stage in years with a distance of 65km (although this does include three hard climbs) the organisers have introduced an innovative grid system for the very first time.

>>> How will the grid start work on stage 17 of the Tour de France?

Where riders start the stage will be determined by their position in the general classification, with Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome, and Tom Dumoulin at the very front of the grid, with the first 20 riders on GC having set positions on where to stand at the start.

The rest of the riders will be grouped into packs of 20 and will be allowed to stand anywhere they like in their allocated pen. That means there will be eight groups of riders at the start in Bagnères-de-Luchon, with the final group consisting of seven riders including lanterne rouge Lawson Craddock.

With no neutralised section at the start of the race, riders will be able to attack from the very start, with organisers hoping that GC contenders will be tempted to go from the gun while their rivals try to organise with team-mates who are having to work their way up from the back of the bunch.

Tour de France stage 16 grid start line-up

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky

2. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky

3. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb

4. Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo

5. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale

6. Mikel Landa (Esp) Movistar

7. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

8. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar

9. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana

10. Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates

11. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar

12. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors

13. Pierre Latour (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale

14. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin

15. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

16. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing

17. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing

18. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo

19. Mikel Nieve (Esp) Mitchelton-Scott

20. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

Group two

Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana

Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky

Ion Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida

Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie

Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb

Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott

Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe

Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida

Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors

Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo

Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac

Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

Amael Moinard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie

Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing

Michael Valgren (Den) Astana

Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott

Group three

Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar

Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb

David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

Jesus Herrada (Esp) Cofidis

Mathias Frank (Sui) Ag2r La Mondiale

Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis

Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing

Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates

Maxime Bouet (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors

Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data

Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo

Omar Fraile (Esp) Astana

Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb

Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal

Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky

Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

Group four

Daniel Navarro (Esp) Cofidis

Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin

Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Magnus Cort (Den) Astana

Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky

Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

Marc Soler (Esp) Movistar

Oliver Naesen (Bel) Ag2r La Mondiale

Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates

Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana

Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb

Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal

Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb

Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo

Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ

Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors

Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin

Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie

Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo

Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data

Group five

Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe

Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data

Silvan Dillier (Sui) Ag2r La Mondiale

Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo

Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Team Sky

Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin

Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis

Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie

Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb

Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe

Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

Michael Schär (Sui) BMC Racing

Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida

Jerome Cousin (Fra) Direct Energie

Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac

Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Group six

Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis

Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar

Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott

Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic

Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data

John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo

Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates

Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo

Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors

Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal

Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing

Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac

Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe

Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott

Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott

Group seven

Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe

Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie

Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida

Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott

Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis

Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis

Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert

Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe

Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First-Drapac

Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac

Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ

Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky

Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis

Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie

Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors

Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

Group eight

Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal

Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo

Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ

Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo

Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data

Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac