The longest stage of the 2026 Tour will offer a chance for a breakaway while also serving up some GC fighting.
Updated July 16, 2026 10:54AM
Dole – Belfort: 205.8km, 2400m+
What is the longest stage of the Tour de France is also a place of history: close to the finish the riders will tackle the Ballon d’Alsace, a category 1 ascent which has the distinction of being the first ever big pass encountered in the Tour.
That happened 121 years ago, beginning the famous struggle between man and mountain, and helped accentuate the drama and myth of the race.
It is fitting then that one of the best French climbers in recent years will be honored on the stage. Thibaut Pinot retired in 2023 after a career where he won three Tour stages and took third overall in 2014. The peloton will race through his home town of Mélisey 137.8km after the start, tackling the day’s intermediate sprint there.
It will then race onto the category 3 climb of the Col des Croix before then encountering the far-harder Ballon d’Alsace.
A breakaway may or may not be sufficiently ahead at that point, but with just 25 mostly downhill kilometers from the summit, expect the GC riders to cross swords and the strongest to have a gap over the top.
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