The 2018 Tour de France Grand Depart will take place in the Vendee region of western France, organisers Amaury Sport Organisation announced on Tuesday.
The first stage on July 30, 2018, will begin on Noirmoutier-en-l'lle and travel across the often submerged Passage du Gois before finishing after 195kilometres in Fontenay-le-Comte.
The 2011 edition also began on the island and crossed the causeway.
La Roche-sur-Yon, which has not hosted a Tour finish for 80 years, will be the finishing spot for the second stage.
"I hope that in the future we can reduce the number of cyclists on the grand tours. Grand tours with fewer cyclists, we are in favour of that" - Tour director Christian Prudhomme
And stage three will be a 35km team time-trial in Cholet as the race leaves the Vendee.
Stage four will start from La Baule, with the finish to be announced on October 17 in Paris, when the full route will be unveiled.
The 2017 Tour begins in Dusseldorf, Germany on July 1.
Meanwhile, Tour director Christian Prudhomme said that discussions on reducing the number of riders per team in grand tours were still ongoing.
In November, Tour organisers ASO, who also own the Tour of Spain (Vuelta), as well as Giro d'Italia owners RCS and Tour of Flanders organisers Flanders Classics said grand tours would feature eight instead of nine riders per teams.
Under the plans, put forward to improve safety and enhance the spectacle for fans, the biggest one-day classic races would be held with seven instead of eight riders per team.
Teams have not agreed to it, and the International Cycling Union has yet to rubber stamp the decision. The teams pay the cyclists and having fewer competitors in major races means riders racing less.
"Discussions are still ongoing but yes, I hope that in the future we can reduce the number of cyclists on the grand tours. Grand tours with fewer cyclists, we are in favour of that," Prudhomme said.
"We've said it for a while, more strongly the last time but clearly we are in favour of it."
