Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet was joined by politicians from all three cities including Emmanuelle Gazel, Michaël Delafosse and François Commeinhes - the Mayors of Millau, Montpellier and Sète respectively - in finalising an agreement.

Two-time Olympic decathlon silver medallist and reigning world champion Kevin Mayer, a member of the Montpellier Athletic Méditerranée Métropole athletics club, was also present for the signing of the agreement.

Montpellier has already been selected as a base camp for France's judo teams and the Australian rugby sevens men's and women's team at Paris 2024.

It held the Terre de Jeux 2024 Forum last month as part of the project involving local authorities who wish to be part of the Olympics and Paralympics.

A free programme of events promoting the values of sport and Olympism is planned alongside its hosting of the Olympic Torch Relay.

Millau has vowed to promote the values of Olympism in schools and educational settings.

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee plans to use Millau, Montpellier and Sète as a training base prior to Paris 2024.

Mayer was pleased that Millau, Montpellier and Sète have agreed to host the Olympic Torch Relay.

"I am proud and very honoured to be at the headquarters of Paris 2024 for the formalisation of the Olympic Torch Relay in my adopted land," he said.

"I am therefore ready to invest myself in this operation."

The full route for the Olympic Torch Relay is expected to be finalised this year and be held over a three-month period in the build-up to the Opening Ceremony.

It is set to begin in Olympia in Athens, as it has done since the first Torch Relay before Berlin 1936.

Reported costs of between €100,000 (£87,500/$108,300) and €150,000 (£131,200/$162,500) for staging the Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay have led to some regions turning down the opportunity to stage a leg.