The 2026 Paris-Nice route was unveiled on December 17, with eight days of racing featuring 1,245km of racing and 16,460 metres of elevation gain.
The route will take the peloton from Achères to Nice and features 27 classified climbs as well as a 23.5km team time trial in the middle of the race. The race runs between March 8, 2026 and March 15, 2026.
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Stage 1: Achères – Carrières-sous-Poissy, 171.2km
(Image credit: ASO)
The race opens with a hilly 171.2km challenge – a tribute to the historic French cycling race, the Polymultipliée de Chanteloup – which begins in Achères to the north-west of Paris. 1,950 metres of elevation fill out the stage, with four third-category climbs coming in the second half of the day.
The peloton will face two laps of a challenging finishing circuit in Carrières-sous-Poissy, each featuring the 1.1km, 8.3% ascent of the Côte de Chanteloupe-les-Vignes. The last of the two climbs comes 11km from the finish line, meaning a puncheur or Classics man could well use the hill to launch a bid for victory.
Stage 2: Epône – Montargis, 187km
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After the tough start to the week, stage 2 offers up a chance for the sprinters to make their mark with a flat finish to the 187km stage in Montargis.
Once again, there’s climbing to be done as the race heads south. Three third-category climbs offer up more mountain classification points, though none of them are close to the finish, leaving a clear and flat run to the line for the fast finishers.
Stage 3: Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire – Pouilly-sur-Loire TTT, 23.5km
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The third stage of the race figures to be the first main GC sort-out with a 23.5km team time trial, something of a rarity in modern cycling and a chance for the top teams to get some practice in ahead of the opening stage of the Tour de France in the summer.
The stage is mostly flat, but does feature 240 metres of climbing across the two small hills on the route. The run to the line is uphill, too, though only measures in at at 2.5% gradient.
Stage 4: Bourges – Uchon, 195km
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Stage 4 brings the toughest day of racing yet on the road to Uchon in eastern France. 2,520 metres of climbing pack the 195km route, with much of it coming in the final 65km.
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Along the way, riders will face the second-category tests of the Côte de la Croix de la Libération (4.6km at 5.3%), which features a maximum gradient of 12%, and the closing climb to Uchon (8km at 4.5%), featuring gradients of 16%. Expect GC movement on this stage.
Stage 5: Cormoranche-sur-Saône – Colombier-le-Vieux, 205.4km
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We’re fully into the hills now as the race heads south into the Ardèche with the longest stage of the race, a 205km stage to Colombier-le-Vieux, which also comes with the most climbing of the week at 3,020 vertical metres.
There are five classified climbs on the stage, including the first of five first-category climbs in the race. The Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Muzols (2.2km at 11%) will provide a major test for the GC legs at 19.9km from the finish.
The second-category climb of the Côte de Saint-Barthélemt-le-Plain (3.2km at 7.6%) lies 9.1km out, while the run to the line is uphill, too.
Stage 6: Barbentane – Apt, 179.3km
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Another stage and more hills after a two-hour transfer south – the longest of the race – to Barbentane. The 179.3km stage 6 features 2,100 meters of climbing and several challenges in the final kilometres of the stage.
Watch out for the final test of the Côte de Saignon (4km at 5%), which lies just 4.5km from the stage finish in Apt.
Stage 7: Nice – Auron, 138.7km
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The race hits Nice on the penultimate stage, with the eponymous city hosting the start of stage 7. There are three climbs on the route, which at 138.7km is the shortest road stage of the race.
Much of the 2,580 metres of climbing comes at the end of the day in the form of the mountain-top finish at Auron. The 7.3km finishing climb measures in at an average of 7.2%, though the road rises for a long time before the climb officially begins.
Auron hosted stage 7 of the 2025 race, too, with the day seeing Michael Storer taking the win from the breakaway ahead of Mauro Schmid.
Stage 8: Nice – Nice, 145km
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As ever, the race concludes with the final day fireworks in the hills around Nice. The 145km stage barely a metre of flat ground as five classified climbs fill out the route, with 2,780 metres of ascent along the way.
A couple of early tests give way to a trio of first-category climbs, including the Col de la Porte (7km at 7.2%), the Côte de Châteauneuf-Villevieille (6.6km at 6.6%), and the finale of the Côte de Linguador (3.3km at 8.8%).
The challenging terrain is set to decide the final GC, and if the gaps are close heading into the final day, it should once again be a thrilling finish to Paris-Nice.