The Tour de France 2026 route was unveiled on Thursday (23 October), with the iconic road cycling race getting underway in Barcelona.
For the first time, the Catalan capital in north-western Spain will host the ‘Grand Départ’ in a team trial format on 4 July 2026. Riders will depart from Fòrum on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, head down the Olympic Port and finish at the Estadi Olímpic Lluis Companys, the stadium for the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992.
The first three stages will take place in Spain before crossing over to France and Les Angles in stage 3, where the cyclists will traverse the Pyrenees and head west to Bordeaux.
Towards the end of the tour, there will be two stages in Alpe d’Huez before the final stage leads to the finish line at Paris Champs-Elysées on 26 July. In 2026, the finish line will be 15km from Sacré-Cœur, set to create a similarly striking spectacle to the road race at Paris 2024.
Olympic bronze medallist Tadej Pogačar is the double defending champion, where he will aim to become the joint-most successful man in Tour de France history with five general classification victories.
For the Tour de France Femmes, Lausanne will stage the Grand Départ on 1 August 2026, the second consecutive year the women’s event will begin outside of France. It concludes on 9 August 2026 with the ninth stage in Nice.