2028 Tour de France set for June start to avoid Los Angeles Olympic clash, Luxembourg and Prague contenders for early Grand Départ

The men’s 2028 Tour de France will reportedly start on June 23, a week earlier than usual, to ensure leading riders can finish the Grande Boucle and compete in the road race at the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Luxembourg has emerged a favourite to host the 2028 Grand Départ, with Prague also a contender despite the Tour starting outside of France in Barcelona in 2026 and Edinburgh in 2027. Slovenia is reportedly targeting the Grand Départ of the 2029 or 2031 Tour, perhaps to coincide with the final years of Tadej Pogačar‘s career.

A Friday, June 23 start for the 2028 Tour de France would mean the race ends three weeks later on Sunday, July 16. It would impact the traditional UCI racing calendar in June, especially with the Giro d’Italia hoping to move the Corsa Rosa finish to the first weekend in June.

You may like

It is unclear when the 2028 Tour de France Femmes will be held. In 2024, to avoid a clash with the Paris Olympics, the Tour de France Femmes was held between August 12-18 instead of immediately after the men’s race. The UCI only confirms its major race calendar 12 months ahead of the dates.

The 2028 Olympic Games will officially start with the opening ceremony on Friday, July 14, with the men’s and women’s time trials scheduled for Wednesday, July 19, while the women’s and men’s road races will be held on July 22 and 23 and start and finish at Venice Beach. The track racing is scheduled for the third week of the Games between July 25-30.

The clash between the end of the Tour de France and the Olympic time trial will create some difficult choices for the likes of 2024 double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, while the riders opting only for the road race will probably travel directly from the Tour to Los Angeles.

​​According to L’essentiel, Luxembourg hopes to host three stages of the 2028 Tour, paying a fee of between eight and nine million Euros. Tour organiser ASO is expected to make a final decision in the spring of 2026. Tour director Christian Prudhomme has already visited Luxembourg and received the official dossier for the bid. Prague is a major rival due to Czech car manufacturer Škoda being a long-time race sponsor.

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!

The first stage would be a 13.5-kilometer individual time trial in the Luxembourg capital. The rolling stage 2 would start in Luxembourg City, climb through the valleys of the Ernz Blanche and the Mullerthal and finish in Esch-sur-Alzette. Stage 3 would start in Echternach and then leave Luxembourg, probably entering France for the remaining stages.

Luxembourg hosted Tour Grand Départs in 1989 and 2002 and the race last visited the nation in 2017.

2028 would mark the 100th anniversary of Nicolas Frantz’s second Tour victory and the 70th anniversary of Charly Gaul’s victory in 1958.