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2026 Tour de France

113th edition: July 4 - July 26, 2026

2025 Tour | Profiles of many upcoming stages | Start list, teams presentation photos, stage list, race description | Tour de France database
Stage 1

Map of the 2026 Tour de France. 3,333.3 km

From Renaissance man David Stanley, a Tour de France sonnet:

From its outset in 1903, the Tour de France has been an insanely brutal test of rider and machine. That first race covered 2,428 km, spread across 19 days and comprised of only 6 stages. The early racers, on rudimentary bicycles, covered 400 km per day over unpaved backcountry roads. Founder Henri Desgrange often said that if more than 1 rider survived, his race was a failure.

Today’s Tour is equally vicious. 3,333 kilometers spread over 21 stages. In addition, there are well over 120 kms of riding through each stage’s pre-race neutral zones. Yes, one extra stage that counts for nothing. The men will climb 54,450 meters of vertical through 5 mountain ranges. That’s 6 times up Everest. This summer’s temps are projected to hit 40C/105F as a heatwave dominates the continent. Imagine, 4-6 hours each day of racing a bike full-gas in a sauna.

The bikes have changed in 123 years yet the pain of speed, climbing, and crashes is a constant companion. The dread of the mountains keeps riders up at night. The failure of one-third of the field to reach Paris on the last day haunt riders until their final sleep. The deep sense of satisfaction and contentment for those who pass this examination of the soul, this ordeal of brutality, this rolling cathedral of the will- those sensations last across generations.

Le Tour de France; toujours aussi sauvage
The Tour de France begins in just eight days.
A journey round the land and of the soul.
Three weeks, the sun will scorch them with its blaze.
Few shall reach Paris with their body whole.

Across the Alps and Pyrenees they climb.
The North Sea winds will scour off their faces.
Ventoux and Alpe d’Huez, each in their time,
Eight hour days; few endure such savage races.

Le Tour tests rider bodies and their minds.
The agony of climbing has no peer.
The tarmac, when you crash, scrapes your skin clear.
There is no quick relief from Le Tour’s grind.

Ah, at last to sprint down Champs Elysees.
Fair: the bravest of the strong reach this day.

Saturday, July 4: Stage 1, Barcelona 19.6-kilometer team time trial

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 1: 1903 - 1975 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the race city of Barcelona

Rated ascent:

Km 19.6: Côte du Stage Olympique de Montjuïc, 0.8 km @ 7%

The stage: The 2026 Tour de France begins with an innovation. The last team time trial was held in Brussels during the 2019 edition, but on this occasion the teams will be competing under a very different format. The idea of individual times being taken in a team time trial has been successfully tested at Paris-Nice since 2023. What’s absolutely certain is that the favourites won’t be able to hide: the Montjuïc finale will highlight the strongest riders. - Tour boss Christian Prudhomme

The race:

Results:

GC after stage 1: