PARIS (AP) For the first time in 25 years, the 2017 Tour de France will scale all five mountain ranges of continental France, a bumpy 3,516-kilometer (2,185-mile), three-week slog that should suit the climbing strengths of defending champion Chris Froome and rival Nairo Quintana.
In their quest to keep the 113-year-old race young, organizers have again unearthed fresh racing challenges from the geography of France with new climbs and, on stage 18, an unprecedented mountain-top finish on the punishing Col d'Izoard high in the Alps - a rocky and lunar terrain that could be the final battleground for the winner's check of 500,000 euros ($550,000).
Before that, on stage 12, the Tour scales the Peyragudes ski station where parts of the James Bond movie ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' were filmed in 1997.
