The 2016 Tour de France was the 103rd edition of the race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 21-stage race took place from 2 to 24 July 2016, starting in Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy and finishing on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. All eighteen Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) WorldTeams were automatically invited and were obliged to attend the race. In March 2016, four UCI Professional Continental teams were given wildcard places into the race by the organiser – Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) – to complete the 22-team peloton. As each team was entitled to enter nine riders, the peloton on the first stage consisted of 198 riders from 35 countries. France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany all had ten or more riders competing in the race.