The 2013 Tour de France route continues to take shape after the race organisers revealed the fourth stage will be a team time trial in Nice.

After the opening three stages on the island of Corsica, the peloton will transfer to the mainland before a test against the clock that will finish on the famous Promenade des Anglais, although the length and route is to be confirmed. Stage five will then start from the suburb of Cagnes-sur-Mer.

The Tour has visited Nice on 35 occassions, while the annual early-season Paris-Nice stage race – or the Race to the Sun – finishes in the Mediterranean city.

“All of this will only be the beginning of the fun in the 100th edition,” read an ASO press release, whetting the appetite ahead of what promises to be an historic race.

Last month details of the Grand Départ in Corsica were released, with the race beginning with a flat stage which could put Mark Cavendish in the yellow jersey, before two lumpy routes through the island’s mountains to provide an early test for the general classification contenders.