On 12 February 2017, at a rugby union match between France and Scotland at Paris's Stade de France, race director Christian Prudhomme announced the opening stages of the 2018 Tour (known as the Grand Départ) would take place in the Vendée department, in the Pays de la Loire region. Since the inaugural Tour in 1903, the Vendée has hosted the Grand Départ five times, with the last in 2011. Two weeks after the announcement, the ASO revealed that the Grand Départ would take place over three stages, with the third a team time trial. In June 2017, the UCI's Professional Cycling Council (PCC) moved the start of the Tour a week later than usual and originally planned due to a clash with the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The full route was announced on 17 October 2017; it was almost completely within France, with short deviations into Spain in the Pyrenees the only exceptions. Two of the Tour's most historic climbs featured, Alpe d'Huez and the Col du Tourmalet, which last featured in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Notable was stage nine's of sett paving, split across fifteen sectors, a feature that was last seen in the 2015 Tour. It finished in Roubaix, home of the monument race Paris-Roubaix. For the first time in 60 to 70 years, it included a section of unpaved roads on the Glières Plateau. Overall, the route was thought to offer something for all rider types.