The Tour de France will mark 100 years since the race first went over the Col du Galibier by visiting the legendary Alpine climb twice in 2011.
The 18th stage will end at the summit of the Tour's most climbed mountain, which at an altitude of 2,645 metres will be the event's highest finish.
The following day, the riders will take on the Galibier again before another mountain-top finish at Alpe d'Huez.
The race starts on 2 July in the Vendee and finishes in Paris on 24 July.
A 191km opening stage, instead of the more traditional time trial prologue, marks the Grand Depart of a race that has 10 flat and six mountain stages with four summit finishes in its 21 stages.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme said: "We wanted to provide a huge array of challenges for all kind of riders.
"Last summer's first week was thrilling and next year it will offer the riders a difficult route as well.
"We wanted a more balanced route, with three stages in the Pyrenees and three in the Alps during the final week. That way we will maintain the suspense until the very end."
We want to get on the podium and win it if we can
Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins
Britain's Mark Cavendish, who rides for HTC Columbia, has won 15 stages over three Tours de France but may not find this year's route as much to his liking with several sharp climbs littering the traditionally flat stages of the first week.
The riders begin their 3,471km journey on the island of Ile de Noirmoutie off the west coast of France before cycling across the Passage du Gois, a causeway which cuts across the bay at low tide, on their way to the stage one finish at Mont Des Alouettes.
The second stage is a 23km team time trial around the village of Essarts before the race winds its way through Brittany in the opening week with several flat stages for the sprinters.
The route takes the riders through the middle of the country, visiting Le Mans and Chateauroux before heading towards the Pyrenees in the second week where riders such as three-time Tour winner and reigning champion Alberto Contador of Spain and Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, who has finished second in the last two Tours, will start to come to the fore.
Two new mountain passes will be climbed - the Perthus and the Hourquette d'Ancizan, on the Luz-Ardiden road - as the race spends three days in the mountains that separate France and Spain.
The climbers will also enjoy the third week as the race heads into the Alps, visiting Pinerolo in Italy, before the daunting climbs of Galibier and the famed 21 hairpin bends of Alpe d'Huez.
A 41km individual time trial around Grenoble, which could suit the British-based Team Sky, precedes the traditional final-day ride into Paris and the finish on the Champs Elysees.
Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins believes the route could be good for his team and he hopes they will have a better race than on their debut in the summer.
The British rider, who finished 24th on last year's Tour, told Sky Sports News: "With the Tour you know you're going to have summit finishes, you know there's going to be a time trial, you know it's going to be three weeks long.
"With no prologue, there is a chance we could lose time on the first stage. However, there's also a great chance for us to win the time trial stage on the second day.
"Last year was a learning experience for everyone involved. We put the best team together at the time, and had the best preparation. Unfortunately in professional sport it doesn't always happen for one reason or another.
"But we go away from that and learn from our mistakes and rectify those problems, making it right for next year.
"We want to get on the podium and win it if we can. We'll set the bar high and aim to do it."
2011 Tour de France schedule: 2 July: Stage One - Passage du Gois - Mont des Alouettes, 191km 3 July: Stage Two - Les Essarts, 23km (team time trial) 4 July: Stage Three - Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon, 198km 5 July: Stage Four - Lorient - Mur-de-Bretagne, 172km 6 July: Stage Five - Carhaix - Cap Frehel, 158km 7 July: Stage Six - Dinan - Lisieux, 226km 8 July: Stage Seven - Le Mans - Chateauroux, 215km 9 July: Stage Eight - Aigurande - Super-Besse Sancy, 190km 10 July: Stage Nine - Issoire - Saint-Flour, 208km 11 July: Rest day 12 July: Stage 10 - Aurillac - Carmaux, 161km 13 July: Stage 11 - Blaye-les-Mines - Lavaur, 168km 14 July: Stage 12 - Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden, 209km 15 July: Stage 13 - Pau - Lourdes, 156km 16 July: Stage 14 - Saint-Gaudens - Plateau de Beille, 168km 17 July: Stage 15 - Limoux - Montpellier, 187km 18 July: Rest day 19 July: Stage 16 - Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux - Gap, 163km 20 July: Stage 17 - Gap - Pinerolo, 179km 21 July: Stage 18 - Pinerolo - Galibier Serre-Chevalier, 189km 22 July: Stage 19 - Modane - Alpe-d'Huez, 109km 23 July: Stage 20 - Grenoble, individual time trial, 41km 24 July: Stage 21 - Creteil - Paris Champs-Elysees, 160km
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