Tour de France Tour de France 2026 route rumours

Apr 30, 2011
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The Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, hosted the director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, at an official ceremony held this morning to announce that the 113th edition will get under way in the Catalan capital on Saturday, 4 July 2026.
The host city of the 1992 Olympic Games has already rolled out the red carpet for the Tour de France on three occasions (1957, 1965 and 2009). It also provided the backdrop for the opening of the Vuelta in 2023. The 2026 route will feature two stages inside Catalonia and the start of a stage finishing on French soil.

The Catalan capital will host the race from July 4-6, 2026. It’s been reported that stage 1 will be run off completely within the bounds of the city, and that stage 2 will also start and finish in Barcelona. After another start in the city on stage 3, the Tour then heads towards more familiar terrain in France.
Alpe d'Huez and Finestre have been rumoured as well. I think Haag/Grand Ballon is a good bet too. Will the Pyrenees host the last mountain stages of the race again for the first time since 2022?

As Rotterdam/The Hague are rumoured for the 2027 Grand Départ, there's no need for the 2026 edition to go north of Paris.
 
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May 27, 2022
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It's mad that we already know where the TDF will start in two years, but no idea where the Giro will be starting in just over 6 months.
 
Feb 20, 2010
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At times like this... even I am at one with Richard Plugge... why not a circuit race around Parc Güell or Montjuïc?

You know what we're going to get here though... stage 1 TTT (after all, can't have anybody outside the cabal get even the briefest sniff of hope for glory), stage 2 goes up and down the Costa Brava with a couple of hills early and then a dangerous, crash-baiting run-in (they should go with something like the stage 6 2009 finish btw, so not a proper puncheur finish, but a curved slightly uphill drag that reduces the speed of the sprint and moves it to some wider avenidas that mean that the corners and roundabouts are at least sufficiently wide to allow multiple lines through), and then stage 3 will be Unipuerto to Arcalis.

What they need to do, is hand over the designing reins for the Grand Départ to a guy who comes from Barcelona, has a strong history with ASO races including a podium at the Tour de France itself, and has in fact even designed some well-received Grand Tour stages before.

Joaquím Rodríguez, come on down.
 
May 27, 2022
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I can't see it beginning with a TTT, when was the last time the TDF started with one? They could do a road stage then a TTT like Brussels in 2019.
There's potential for a really nice medium mountain stage round Barcelona, and tbf the last two foreign grand departs have been really good IMO (Italy and Basque country).
 
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Apr 30, 2011
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Jul 27, 2009
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If the 2027 Tour de France starts in The Hague it might be better to save Col du Haag & the Vosges for that edition!
 
Apr 10, 2019
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Jul 20, 2019
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I cant really decide if you are trolling or not.

I can see and argument for ITTs. Not TTTs of that length. Not at all.

nope

the proper TTs for a GT would be

an 8km flat prologue
an 85km flat TTT
a 70 km flat ITT
an MTT
a 40km flat to slightly rolling ITT

Balance it with 2 very hard mountain stages on the level of Morzine 1983 or Sestrieres 1992
 
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Nov 16, 2013
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nope

the proper TTs for a GT would be

an 8km flat prologue
an 85km flat TTT
a 70 km flat ITT
an MTT
a 40km flat to slightly rolling ITT

Balance it with 2 very hard mountain stages on the level of Morzine 1983 or Sestrieres 1992

No it wouldn't.
 
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