2026 Tour de France

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2026 Tour de France
2026 UCI World Tour
Race details
Dates4–26 July 2026
Stages21
Distance3,333 km (2,071 mi)
  2025
2027  

The 2026 Tour de France is the upcoming 113th edition of the Tour de France. The race will take place from 4 to 26 July 2026, starting in Barcelona. [1] The race will be organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).

Contents

Route and stages

Stage 19 will finish at the top of Alpe d'Huez; the climb is 13.8 km (8.6 mi) long, an average gradient of 7.9% and features 21 hairpin turns. Alpe d'Huez, France (7957045090).jpg
Stage 19 will finish at the top of Alpe d'Huez; the climb is 13.8 km (8.6 mi) long, an average gradient of 7.9% and features 21 hairpin turns.

In February 2025, race organisers ASO announced that the Barcelona in Spain would host the Grand Départ. [2] Both stage 1 and 2 will finish on the Montjuïc hill above Barcelona, next to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys used for the 1992 Summer Olympics. [3] The team time trial will return to the Tour for the first time since 2019, and will use new rules first tested at the 2023 Paris–Nice. In this format, each rider is given an individual finish time, rather than all riders who finish together getting the same time. This format allows tactics by general classifications contenders – whether to ride as a team, or ride solo to achieve a better time. [3]

Following protests against the Gaza war that disrupted the 2025 Vuelta a España, the City Council of Barcelona expressed a desire to host the Grand Départ without the Israel–Premier Tech team taking part. However, Israel–Premier Tech is likely to have an automatic invitation to the Tour. [4] [5] Protesters noted that if Israel–Premier Tech are present, protests in Barcelona were "very likely". [5]

Rumours regarding the rest of the route included a return to Alpe d'Huez for the first time since the 2022 edition and a final stage on Montmartre in Paris – following the large crowds and high television viewership of the final stage in 2025. [6] [7]

The full route was announced on 23 October 2025 by Christian Prudhomme, with Prudhomme describing the route as having a "crescendo" towards the finish. [8] [9] The race will feature 5 summit finishes, including Plateau de Solaison for the first time and two finishes at Alpe d'Huez. [10] The race will feature just 26 km (16 mi) of individual time trial, with a team time trial starting the Tour for the first time since 1971. [10] Some stages in the race will feature multiple intermediate sprints, for the first time since the 2010 edition of the race. [11]

Stage characteristics [10]
StageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner
1 4 July Barcelona (Spain)19.7 km (12.2 mi)Team Time Trial Stage.svg Team time trial
2 5 July Tarragona (Spain) to Barcelona (Spain)178 km (111 mi)Hillystage.svgHilly stage
3 6 July Granollers (Spain) to Les Angles 196 km (122 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
4 7 July Carcassonne to Foix 182 km (113 mi)Hillystage.svgHilly stage
5 8 July Lannemezan to Pau 158 km (98 mi)Plainstage.svgFlat stage
6 9 JulyPau to Gavarnie-Gèdre 186 km (116 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
7 10 July Hagetmau to Bordeaux 175 km (109 mi)Plainstage.svgFlat stage
8 11 July Périgueux to Bergerac 182 km (113 mi)Plainstage.svgFlat stage
9 12 July Malemort to Ussel 185 km (115 mi)Hillystage.svgHilly stage
13 July Cantal Rest day
10 14 July Aurillac to Le Lioran 167 km (104 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
11 15 July Vichy to Nevers 161 km (100 mi)Plainstage.svgFlat stage
12 16 July Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours to Chalon-sur-Saône 181 km (112 mi)Plainstage.svgFlat stage
13 17 July Dole to Belfort 205 km (127 mi)Hillystage.svgHilly stage
14 18 July Mulhouse to Le Markstein Fellering 155 km (96 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
15 19 July Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison 184 km (114 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
20 July Haute-Savoie Rest day
16 21 July Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains 26 km (16 mi)Time Trial.svg Individual time trial
17 22 July Chambéry to Voiron 175 km (109 mi)Plainstage.svgFlat stage
18 23 JulyVoiron to Orcières-Merlette 185 km (115 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
19 24 July Gap to Alpe d'Huez 128 km (80 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
20 25 July Le Bourg-d'Oisans to Alpe d'Huez171 km (106 mi)Mountainstage.svgMountain stage
21 26 July Thoiry to Paris (Champs-Élysées)130 km (81 mi)Plainstage.svgFlat stage
Total3,333 km (2,071 mi)


References

  1. "Grand depart 2026". letour. 24 July 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
  2. "Un contre-la-montre par équipes et une étape vallonnée à Barcelone pour lancer le Tour de France 2026" [Team time trial and hilly stage in Barcelona to kick off 2026 Tour de France] (in French). L'Équipe. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  3. 1 2 Weislo, Laura (25 February 2025). "2026 Tour de France to start with team time trial in Barcelona". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  4. González, Marco (16 September 2025). "Barcelona no quiere al Israel en la salida del Tour de Francia 2026" [Barcelona doesn't want Israel at the start of the 2026 Tour de France]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  5. 1 2 Whittle, Jeremy (12 September 2025). "Vuelta protesters threaten to disrupt start of next year'..." The Observer. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  6. Farrand, Stephen (30 July 2025). "Tour de France could return to L'Alpe d'Huez in 2026 after stages in the Massif Central and the Vosges mountains". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  7. "Tour de France 2026 route rumours, from Alpe d'Huez to Le Lioran". Cycling Weekly. 9 October 2025. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  8. Whittle, Jeremy (23 October 2025). "Tour de France unveils 2026 route with double Alpe d'Huez for men and Ventoux debut for women". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  9. Farrand, Stephen (23 October 2025). "'It's a Tour in crescendo' – 2026 Tour de France designed to limit early Tadej Pogačar dominance". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 "Tour de France 2026 Press kit" (PDF). Tour de France. ASO. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  11. "DOUBLE intermediate sprints? 2026 Tour de France to change things up in green jersey battle". CyclingUpToDate.com. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 24 October 2025.