Tour de France 2026

The Tour de France 2026 begins July 4 in Barcelona — the first Grand Départ on Spanish soil since the Vuelta visited the Catalan capital. From there, three days in Catalonia precede the long transfer north into France, where the race takes on the Pyrenees from the very first weekend.

Route at a glance

After the Barcelona prologue and two transitional days, stage 4 climbs to Andorra and stage 5 crosses the Tourmalet, Aspin, and Peyresourde in a brutal opening Pyrenean test. Sprinters get a brief window across southwest France before the time trial on the slopes of Mont Ventoux — a 22 km uphill ITT that will gap the GC like nothing else in the calendar.

The second week heads east into the Massif Central, then north for the Alps. Stage 14 climbs the Galibier and finishes atop Alpe d'Huez, and stage 15 — the queen stage — links the Madeleine, the Croix de Fer, and finishes at the top of the Col de la Loze at 2,304m. After a rest day, three Vosges stages, a Champagne sprint, and the closing Paris circuit on the Champs-Élysées (with the Côte de la Butte Montmartre integrated for the second consecutive year) round out the route.

Expected GC fight

This Tour pits a defending champion against a generational rival in a route built to settle the question. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) starts as the favorite — the Alpe d'Huez / Col de la Loze / Ventoux ITT triple ladder of difficulty is built for him. But Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) has spent the spring at altitude, and the Visma squad is the strongest in the race on paper. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) has openly targeted this Tour, and the long Ventoux ITT is the kind of stage that could put him on the podium.

Behind the big three, Primož Roglič, Mattias Skjelmose, and a young Ben O'Connor lead the chase for the remaining podium spots. The polka-dot jersey looks open with no clear sole hunter, and the maillot vert will likely come down to Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay on a route with seven legitimate sprint days.