Tour de France 2011: Full list of teams, stage dates and route

The 98th Tour de France officially starts on Saturday 2 July, with 22 teams set to race over 3,430km in 21 stages, culminating with a finish at the Champs-Élysées in Paris -- a full list of dates is available here.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Tour founder Henri Desgrange's ride over the Galibier in the French Alps, this year the riders will twice climb the most-visited pass in the race's history, reports the BBC.

There are two main changes this year that will alter the way points are distributed:

In an effort to involve sprinters in more than just the daily finish, 20 green jersey points -- up from six last year -- will be on offer in a single intermediate sprint each day and points will also be awarded to the next 14 finishers.

The polka dot jersey, worn by the best climber, will see double points being awarded only for crossing finishing lines at the summit of category two and harder climbs.

The defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain is a strong pre-Tour favourite along with Luxembourg's Andy Schleck -- find all the Tour de France 2011 teams listed here.

The appearance of Contador is marked with controversy as the rider awaits the outcome of an appeal against a provisional ban for a clenbuterol positive test.

List of stage dates

2nd Tour de France 2011, Stage 1: Passage du Gois La Barre-de-Monts - Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers, 191km .

3rd Tour de France 2011, Stage 2: Les Essarts - Les Essarts, 23km.

4th Tour de France 2011, Stage 3: Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon, 198km.

5th Tour de France 2011, Stage 4: Lorient - Mûr-de-Bretagne, 172km.

6th Tour de France 2011, Stage 5: Carhaix - Cap Frehel, 158km.

7th Tour de France 2011, Stage 6: Dinan - Lisieux, 226km.

8th Tour de France 2011, Stage 7: Le Mans - Chateauroux, 215km.

9th Tour de France 2011, Stage 8: Aigurande - Super-Besse Sancy, 190km.

10th Tour de France 2011, Stage 9: Issoire - Saint-Flour, 208km.

11th Tour de France 2011, Rest Day.

12th Tour de France 2011, Stage 10: Aurillac - Carmaux, 161km.