Tour de France

Tour de France coverage from Cycling Weekly, with up to date race results, rider profiles and news and reports.

2026 Tour de France route
(Image credit: ASO)

The route of the Tour de France 2026 was revealed in Paris today with an opening team time trial in Barcelona, the race's 27th foreign Grand Depart. It reaches the Pyrenees as early as stage three and later in the race the riders face two finishes at the top of the iconic Alp d'Huez in two days.

The final stage in Paris will once again visit the cobbled climb of le Montmarte, as it did this year when Wout van Aert became the first rider at the race to drop Tadej Pogačar on his way to a stage win.

Several mountains will make their debut in the race, including the Montée de Gavarnie-Gèdre, Col de la Griffoul, Col du Page, Col du Haag, Plateau de Solaison and the Cold de Sarenne.

Tour de France 2026: Key details

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Date

4 July 2026 - 26 July 2025

Total distance

3,333km

Number of stages

21

Start location

Barcelona, Spain

Finish location

Paris, France

UCI ranking

WorldTour

Edition

113th

Total climbing / elevation gain

54,540m

Leader's jersey colour

Yellow (Maillot Jaune)

Last year's winner

Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia)

Tour de France 2026: The route

The route of the 2026 Tour de France

Route map showing the stages of the Tour de France 2026 (Image credit: ASO/Tour de France)

Tour de France 2026 route: Stage list

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Stage

Date

Start

Finish

Distance

Terrain

Stage 1

4 July

Barcelona

Barcelona

19km

TTT

Stage 2

5 July

Tarragone

Barcelona

182km

Hilly

Stage 3

6 July

Granollers

Les Angles

196km

Mountains

Stage 4

7 July

Carcassonne

Foix

182km

Mountains

Stage 5

8 July

Lannemezan

Pau

158km

Flat

Stage 6

9 July

Pau

Gavarnie-Gèdre

186km

Mountains

Stage 7

10 July

Hagetmau

Bordeaux

175km

Flat

Stage 8

11 July

Périgueux

Bergerac

182km

Flat

Stage 9

12 July

Malemort

Ussel

185km

Hilly

Rest day

Row 9 - Cell 1 Row 9 - Cell 2 Row 9 - Cell 3 Row 9 - Cell 4 Row 9 - Cell 5

Stage 10

14 July

Aurillac

Le lioran

167km

Mountain

Stage 11

15 July

Vichy

Nevers

161km

Flat

Stage 12

16 July

Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours

Chalon-sur-Saône

181km

Flat

Stage 13

17 July

Dole

Belfort

205km

Hilly

Stage 14

18 July

Mulhouse

Le Markstein Fellering

155km

Mountain

Stage 15

19 July

Champagnole

Plateau de Solaison

184km

Mountain

Rest day

Row 16 - Cell 1 Row 16 - Cell 2 Row 16 - Cell 3 Row 16 - Cell 4 Row 16 - Cell 5

Stage 16

21 July

Evian les Bians

Thonon-les-Bains

26km

ITT

Stage 17

22 July

Chambery

Voiron

175km

Flat

Stage 18

23 July

Voiron

Orcières-Merlettee

185km

Mountain

Stage 19

24 July

Gap

Alpe d'Huez

128km

Mountain

Stage 20

25 July

Le Bourg d'oisains

Alpe d'Huez

171km

Mountain

Stage 21

26 July

Thiory

Paris Champs-Élysées

130km

Flat

Tour de France: The jerseys

The Tour de France jerseys and classifications are yellow for the overall leader, green for the leader in the points standings, polka-dot for the mountain classification, and white for the best young rider.

Along with the jersey prizes, there is an award for the most combative rider of each stage, with the winner wearing a red number on the following day. This is awarded each day, with a 'Super Combativity' award decided by a jury at the end of the race for the most active rider throughout the entire event.

There is also a team classification where the time of the first three riders from each team is put together to create a single time. This is then done in a similar way as the individual general classification.

In addition, there are bonus seconds up for grabs at the race. There are ten, six and four bonus seconds available at the end of each stage for the first three riders, as well as bonus sprints that are dotted throughout the race on key climbs to try and make the racing more entertaining for spectators.

Tour de France 2026: The teams

The Tour de France peloton consists of 23 teams of eight riders. One more team that previous years. This includes all 18 UCI WorldTour teams, as well as the two best-ranked UCI ProTeams, and three further squads that were invited by the organiser, ASO.

Tour de France 2026: General classification riders

Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard stick together on Stage 20 of the Tour de France 2024

Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard stick together on Stage 20 of the Tour de France 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)

When it comes to potential yellow jersey winners, there is already a standout favourite. Tadej Pogačar. Undoubtedly the greatest rider of his generation, probably the greatest rider of all time, the Slovenian is going for his fifth overall win, a feat that would put him on level terms with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.

The Slovenian has already committed to the Tour next year, saying he will not ride either the Giro d'Italia or the Vuelta a España

2022 and 2023 champion and last year's runner-up Jonas Vingegaard will likely be his biggest rival while we still wait to hear from other GC riders what they will target in 2026.

Tour de France: previous winners

Tour de France FAQ

How does the Tour de France work?

The Tour de France takes place over 21 stages, with the winner - the man who claims the yellow jersey - being the rider with the lowest cumulative time over the three weeks. Each stage has its own individual winner, but the person who wins overall might not win a single one of these.

It is one of the three Grand Tours, along with the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, and is the most famous and prestigious.

What makes up the Tour de France?

The race takes on varying terrain with flat days for sprinters, hilly days for puncheurs and mountains for the climbers and GC riders, along with time trials, so that a winner of the race has to be able to perform on all types of road.

What's the general classification?

The Tour, like all Grand Tours, The main prize in the race, known as the general classification, is based on time with the overall leader wearing the yellow jersey. The race leader and eventual winner is the rider who has the lowest accumulated time over the 21 days of racing. Riders can win the Tour de France without winning a stage, as Chris Froome did in 2017. Time bonuses of 10, six, and four seconds are given to stage winners though, creating incentive for those general classification riders to chase individual victories and lower their overall time.

In 2024 it took race winner Tadej Pogačar 83 hours, 38 minutes, 56 seconds to complete the race with the second-placed rider, Jonas Vingegaard, overall 6:17 slower. That continues all the way down to the last place rider, which was Mark Cavendish, who finished 6 hours, 23 minutes, 11 seconds behind.

Read our full general classification guide.

What are the other competitions?

The white best young rider's jersey is worked out in the same way but only riders under the age of 26 on 1 January are eligible for the jersey. This means anyone born in 2000 or after.

The polka-dot mountains jersey and the green points jersey are based on a points system and not time, gained throughout the race on climbs and at sprint points respectively.

The team classification is based on the general classification times of the first three riders of a team on each stage. The time of those three riders is added up and put onto their team's time, creating a GC list much like in the individual classifications. The leading team gets to wear yellow numbers and helmets on each stage.

The final classification available is the combativity prize. This is decided by a race jury or, in more recent years, social media. This takes place just before the end of each stage and often goes to a rider from the breakaway who has put in a daring performance or attempted to liven up the stage by attacking. The winner of the combativity award gets to wear a special red race number on the following day's stage.

There is a final prize added to this with the Super Combativity prize being awarded on the podium in Paris. This is decided in a similar fashion to pick out the most aggressive, entertaining, and daring rider of the whole three weeks. Again, usually going to a rider who has featured regularly in the breakaway.

Who rides the Tour de France

All 18 UCI WorldTour teams automatically qualify for the Tour de France, another five spots are given to 'wild card' teams, chose by organisers ASO. These places typically go to smaller French teams along with the best performing ProTeams - the category below WorldTour. Each team then picks it's eight man squad depending on the riders ability, form and the team's target for the race.

How long is the Tour de France?

The Tour de France takes place over 23 days with 21 of them being race days. The riders get two rest days that usually fall on the second and third Monday of the race.

How long is a stage?

Road stages can range from anything around 100km to something approaching 250km, sometimes more.

Road stages often take around four to five hours with the longer days sometimes nudging over seven hours.

Time trials are always much shorter. Team time trials have long since gone out of fashion in the world of road racing so individual time trials are the main focus these days.

When does the Tour de France start?

The 2026 Tour de France starts on 4 July in Barcelona, Spain, with a road stage and finishes in Paris three weeks later, with the traditional procession for the general classification riders and full-blooded sprint for the fast men on the iconic Champs-Élysées.

The 2026 edition of the race runs from 4-26 July, covering 21 stages.

Why isn't it starting in France

Foreign Grand Departs - the first three days of the race - are becoming more and more common for the three Grand Tours. Hosting three days of racing, and the build up, costs several million euros and it is becoming harder and harder for smaller cities to be able to afford it.

Taking the race to other countries also helps ASO introduce the race to new fans, and virtually guarantees massive crowds. The 2027 Tour will start in the UK. The 2026 Giro d'Italia is starting in Bulgaria

Tour de France 2026: On TV

As per this year, the race should be live-streamed on Discovery+ and TNT Sports in the UK. Subscription currently costs £6.99/month or $8.99/month, and £39.99 or $49.99 for a year. The race is also streamed, for the final time, on ITV4 in the UK, and is free to view.

A Flobikes annual subscription will cost you $209.99 if you want to watch in Canada, while in the USA NBC Sports via Peacock Premium ($4.99 per month) will show the race. Australians can can watch the Tour for free on SBS on Demand.

And, of course, if you want to watch your local stream from anywhere in the world you'll need a VPN from a trusted company like NordVPN.

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