Tour de France 2024
Stages
01 Florence – Rimini
29 June / 206km
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Range finder
Today’s stage visits the Apennines, one of four mountain ranges on this year’s route (with the Alps, Pyrenees and Massif Central)
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The first act
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) to repeat his 2023 trick and capture the opening yellow jersey
This is not a misprint. The 2024 Tour de France really is starting in Italy. After 25 starts outside France in the Tour’s 121-year history, this is the first for Italy, home of the second biggest Grand Tour of the season, the Giro d’Italia. Florence, the capital of Tuscany, and the neighbouring region of Emilia-Romagna, play host before the race works its way northwest, via Turin and Pinerolo, across the border into France.
Opening stages of the Tour are notoriously fast and twitchy, especially on flat stages where the sprinters’ teams are vying for yellow. The abundance of climbing on the menu today, however, is good news for the yellow jersey contenders, who won’t mind it one bit – they’re built for steep hills, not flat boulevards, after all. The Tour has never started with more than 3,600m of climbing before. “It’s also the first time the race has visited the home city of Gino Bartali [winner of both Tour and Giro from the 1930s],” says race director Christian Prudhomme. “The succession of hills in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna are likely to be the setting for a testing confrontation between the contenders for the title, particularly the final climb into San Marino (7.1km at 4.8%), where the race will add a 13th name to its catalogue of foreign visits.”
02 Cesenatico – Bologna
30 June / 200.8km
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Italian masters
There are seven Italians to win the Tour de France. The first was exactly 100 years ago – Ottavio Bottecchia
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Matej victorious?
Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) is a former winner at Milan-Sanremo and will relish the descent to the finish
We pick up in Emilia-Romagna again, in Cesenatico, where 1998 Tour winner Marco Pantani began cycling. Long before ‘Il Pirata’ came along, this coastal town on the Adriatic Sea had a close relationship with the Giro d’Italia since 1935, as does the finish line 200km away in Bologna, which hosted the finish of the first ever Giro stage in 1909. The stage starts flat with a few short, sharp climbs, but the action will be at the finale. “The passage across Emilia-Romagna is straightforward enough to begin with as it takes the peloton to Imola and its motor racing circuit,” says Prudhomme. “The final part of the stage featuring the climb to the Sanctuary of San Luca (1.9km at 10.6%), the traditional finale of the Giro dell’Emilia, which will be tackled twice in the final 40k, offers fertile terrain for the puncheurs.
One for the yellow jersey contenders to steal some seconds? Giro dell’Emilia is a late-season one-day race, held shortly before Il Lombardia, the final major race of the season. Primož Roglič, one of the top four contenders for the race, has won there in three of the past five editions, as well as the prologue of the 2019 Giro, which finished on the climb. The difference today is that the stage descends from the summit and finishes in the centre of town.
03 Piacenza – Turin
01 July / 231.1km
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Long and short of it
Even at 231.1km the longest stage of this year’s race is 253km shorter than the 482km stage 5 of the 1919 race
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Speed merchant
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the fastest man in the world and will want to make a statement
By now you could be forgiven for thinking we were talking about a different race – the third 200+km stage in a row is more characterful of the Giro d’Italia than a Tour de France. It’s necessary, though, to avoid a significant transfer to France. The way they’re doing it allows a smooth transition all the way to the border on bikes. If the largely flat profile feels like one of those dull, mid-Giro schleps up the east coast, remember that this is the first stage for the sprinters at this year’s race, so the finish should be electric, particularly with Mark Cavendish having a chance, once again, to stand alone as the race’s leading stage winner (he’s tied with Eddy Merckx on 34). It’ll be Turin’s second dose of Grand Tour action in 2024, having hosted the start of the Giro in May.
“The sprinters will have started the 2024 Tour with their teeth gritted, but now they’ll have something to sink them into with the finish in Turin,” says Prudhomme. “Prior to that, the peloton will pay a passing tribute to Fausto Coppi by heading through Tortone, where Il Campionissimo died. By that point, though, the sprinters’ domestiques will already be hard at work, their focus on ensuring a sprint finale. There’ll be little room for manoeuvre for the breakaway riders.”
04 Pinerolo – Valloire
02 July / 139.6km
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Summit to be proud of
This will be the Galibier’s 64th cameo in the Tour since its debut in 1911, the most of any Alps climb
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Art of descent
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) put on a descending masterclass on the Galibier in 2022 and will relish today’s finish
With its geography – close to the mountains and the French border – it should come as no surprise that Pinerolo was the last Italian town to host a stage (finish and start) of the Tour de France, in 2011. That start, stage 18, had an ultimate destination of the summit of the Col du Galibier (2,642m), and while today scales the same side, the finish line comes after a descent into the town of Valloire.
That 2011 stage being a late-race mountain showdown, it also included a longer length (200.5km) and a tougher passage to the Galibier, initially over the towering border crossing of Col Agnel (2,744m) and then the majestic Col d’Izoard (2,360m). Acknowledging this is only stage 4, the distance is much reduced, as is the severity of climbs prior to the Galibier. To pay a visit to this legendary climb so early is a classic Prudhomme curveball as he continues his favourite pastime of messing with the Tour formula.
“The race leaves Italy after a long climb to the resort of Sestriere, where Fausto Coppi triumphed in 1952, the border subsequently reached at the Col de Montgenèvre,” he says. “After ascending the Lautaret pass, the riders will tackle the Galibier. This will be the first opportunity for the favourites to test themselves in the high mountains.”
05 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Saint-Vulbas
03 July / 177.4km
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The price of fame
To host the finish of a Tour stage costs around 120,000 euros. Saint-Vulbas does so for the first time
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Ready for launch?
Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) to finally get that 35th stage win in almost certainly his final Tour
The town of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, at the foot of the Croix de Fer, is usually a springboard for further Alpine derring-do. That was the case the last time it hosted a start, in 2019, though what was set up to be a classic finish into the ski resort of Tignes was ruined by a landslide. Heavy rain plastered debris across the route, rendering it unpassable, ultimately gifting Egan Bernal his first and only Tour de France win. More mountain madness in the Alps will have to wait until the back end, when the race returns. There’s a modest climb in the Chartreuse midway through the stage and another closer to the finish, but the break will have to be going some to fend off the challenge of the fast men come Saint-Vulbas.
“The race’s temporary exit from the Alps will be made via Chambéry,” says Prudhomme. “Soon after, the peloton will be in La Bridoire, where the finish of the Classique des Alpes Juniors is regularly held. That’s a race for climbers, but they won’t get a look-in here as they head for Saint-Vulbas. After the Côte de l’Huis, tackled with 34km remaining, the wide roads beyond will be ideal for keeping a close eye on the breakaway riders. The winner’s bouquet looks destined to go to a sprinter today.”
06 Mâcon – Dijon
04 July / 163.5km
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Keeping order
Some 300 law enforcement officers are seconded to work across the whole race
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Groove rider
Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) will be motivated on his new team to make up for a disappointing 2023 Tour
This is the seventh time the central-east city of Mâcon has hosted a stage, including several time trials, notably on its debut in 1991. The two starts to have taken place here since 2006 have been won by a couple of Thomases: Thomas Voeckler, who won in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine in 2012, and Thomas De Gendt, who won solo in Saint-Étienne in 2019. Both riders are known as escape artists and won their respective stages by getting in the early break and staying away. Those hilly stages, however, had significant obstacles along the way and today is pretty flat the whole way. It’s unlikely, this early in the race and with much to play for among the sprinters’ teams, that a break will succeed this time round on the road to Dijon.
A regular on the Tour programme, the home of French mustard is hosting for the 18th time. A most unlikely winner in his home town in 1987, Régis Clère was allowed back into the race after finishing outside the time a few days earlier and would go on, much to his rivals’ chagrin, to win again. “The breakaway will set off with the ambition of holding off the peloton’s pursuit though the vineyards of the Côte Chalonnaise, but the sprinters should have the last word on the 800m straight into Dijon,” says Prudhomme.
07 Nuits-Saint- Georges – Gevrey- Chambertin
05 July / 25.3km
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Going places
Out of the 39 stages’ towns on the map, 12 are new for 2024 and Gevrey-Chambertin is one of them
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About time?
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), world TT champion, will need to be at his best against the clock to contend for yellow
Gone are the days of long, flat time trials at the Tour de France. Invariably, there’s now some sort of climbing thrown in, whether it’s mountainous (see the finale of the 2020 race on Les Planche des Belle Filles), hilly or rolling. Today’s solo time trial edges closer to the latter – a rolling course with one significant climb around the midway point. Elevation is a mere 100m over 1.6km at a modest gradient, so it’s nothing that would trigger a debate over mid-race bike changes, like last year’s decisive TT to Combloux, in which Jonas Vingegaard obliterated chief rival for yellow, Tadej Pogačar.
The winner today, if they can afford such indulgences, might celebrate with a small glass of Burgundy red over dinner – both stage towns have distinguished viticultural history. Gevrey-Chambertin, it’s believed, saw the first planting of Burgundy vines, way back in the 1st century BC. “Before venturing into the heart of the vineyards, the time trial specialists will spend almost two-thirds of this time trial on forest roads,” says Prudhomme. “The climb of the Côte de Curtil-Vergy (1.6km at 6.1%) will test their tolerance to pain. On the face of it, there shouldn’t be any big gaps between the best riders, but who knows?”
08 Semur-en-Auxois – Colombey-les-Deux-Églises
06 July / 183.4km
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God-fearing souls
In a population of a mere 750, there are no fewer than nine churches in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises
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Racing green
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceueninck) to bag another victory to add to his growing collection
The race enters unfamiliar territory – between them, these two stage towns have hosted the Tour just twice and both were in Semur-en-Auxois. For debutant Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, the race has actually stopped here once before, in 1960, when the peloton came to halt so that president Charles de Gaulle, who lived there, could congratulate yellow jersey Gastone Nencini on the penultimate stage before the Paris finale.
The race is about as far north as it’s going to get in 2024. After tomorrow, it’ll head south to the Pyrenees via more climbing in the Massif Central. There’s no shortage of climbs today, travelling largely through the Forêts National Park, the largest national park in mainland France and established recently, in 2019. Despite the hills, it may prove to be another day for the sprinters, ahead of the unpredictable gravel stage tomorrow. “Although no altitude records will be broken, the first two-thirds of this stage does feature five categorised climbs,” says Prudhomme. “The relentless ups and downs may put a strain on the legs at the point when the sprinters’ team-mates are starting to think about setting up a bunch finish. But the last 3km of the final straight, which rise slightly but steadily, could be the ideal place to bring the peloton back together.”
09 Troyes – Troyes
07 July / 199km
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Two-wheel town
Troyes is one of 133 designated ‘Cycling Cities’ by the Tour, which promote bicycle use there
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Gravel greats
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is the one GC rider at home on the gravel (as well as everywhere else)
In Tour de France past it was always the stage that traversed the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix which the GC riders dreaded. Unfamiliar terrain to those whose natural habitat is mountains, the volatility of a stage on uneven ground often claims a team leader (Chris Froome in 2014). Now they have a new nemesis to deal with: gravel roads. This stage is riddled with trapdoors. If the bulk of the climbing occurs in the first two-thirds of the route, the gravel sectors are backloaded into the final third once the road flattens out. Predicting what might happen today is a fool’s errand, but one thing is for certain: Tadej Pogačar will have an advantage over his rivals for the yellow jersey.
In March the Slovenian vaporised the rest of the field at Strade Bianche, a one-day race held on similar gravel sections. Attacking solo 81km out, he prevailed by almost three minutes, and has experience where Jonas Vingegaard doesn’t. “The white roads are already an emblematic feature of Strade Bianche and Paris-Tours,” says Prudhomme. “The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift made the first passage across Champagne’s gravel roads in 2022. There will be 14 sectors, including six in the final part of the stage, extending to 32km in total, each sector pitching the riders onto the gravel and into the dust.”
10 Orléans – Saint-Amand-Montrond
09 July / 187.3km
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Caravan of love
The race’s publicity caravan that precedes the riders and delights the crowd stretches for 10 kilometres
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Lidl chance
Mads Pederson (Lidl-Trek) is the sort of sprinter who will thrive in a reduced bunch
Respite for the GC contenders on a stage following the rest day… or is it? On seemingly placid terrain in the farming heartland of France, Saint-Amand-Montrond in central France has thrown us a curveball in the past, back in the centenary edition of 2013 when crosswinds splintered the peloton on the road to the town (Julian Alaphilippe’s home town, incidentally) and saw Alejandro Valverde caught out and drop out of contention. The final, much-reduced sprint saw the unusual sight of GC favourites such as Alberto Contador mixing it with sprinters such as Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish. The latter took the win, one of his most satisfying of his 34 total stages. This will be the first visit to the town since that day in 2013, though in the meantime it has been a staging post of sister race Paris-Nice, such is its positioning between the capital and the Mediterranean.
“Heading through the Sologne forest, it’ll be difficult to predict the outcome of this stage as the weather may play a significant role,” explains Prudhomme. “After leaving Issoudun, the riders will find themselves on roads exposed to the crosswinds that scattered the peloton a decade ago. With three changes of direction in the last 30km, there’s a real chance of echelons forming.”
11 Évaux-les-Bains – Le Lioran
10 July / 211km
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Home advantage?
It’s 39 years since a Frenchman won the Tour, though French riders have triumphed twice as often (36) as any other nation
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Up and comer
Felix Gall’s (DecathlonAG2R La Mondiale) performance was a revelation last year and he will thrive in the hard finish
The département of Creuse is the second-least populated in the whole of mainland France (after Lozère), so it should come as little surprise that the appetite to host the race there didn’t emerge until 2004 – over a century after the Tour de France started (despite race legend Raymond Poulidor being born here). Sprinter Robbie McEwan won a fast, flat stage that day. Another 20 years have passed until its second Tour visit this year, though it’ll be a very different proposition, especially in the final quarter of the stage through Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d’Auvergne, which takes the race over 1,500m for the first time since stage 4.
“There’s only one stage across the rugged Massif Central, but what a stage it is!” says Prudhomme. “With 4,350m of vertical gain, the riders will have to be on their mettle at all times, and particularly in the final 50km, when the degree of difficulty rises a level with a series of very challenging obstacles: the climb to the Col de Néronne, then to the Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol with its fearsome final two kilometres, then continuing on to the Col de Pertus, the Col de Font de Cère and the ascent to Le Lioran. They provide all manner of opportunities for eager climbers to attack.”
12 Aurillac – Villeneuve-sur-Lot
11 July / 203.6km
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Share the wealth
€500,000 – the princely sum that the winner of the race pockets. He typically shares it among the rest of his team
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Market day
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) has a Giro stage win to his namecould today be the day when he goes one better?
The race continues its passage southwest to the Pyrenees and, though defined in the road book as a ‘flat’ stage, there’s plenty here to keep the breakaway motivated. The climbing today is more apparent in the first half of the stage than the second, so any break will want to bank as much time as possible early on to give them a cushion once the chasers get focused later.
Aurillac is historically the French capital of the umbrella, something that is rarely needed at the Tour de France in July, aside from for a heavy afternoon thunderstorm. Villeneuve-sur-Lot is better known for its passion for rugby league, which might explain why this is only the town’s third time hosting the race.
“The aesthetic landscapes of the Cantal and Lot regions won’t distract the breakaway specialists from the knowledge that there’s something for them to play for,” says Prudhomme. “The terrain here is all hills, with the climb to Rocamadour standing out – it’ll be tackled in the opposite direction to the route of the 2022 Tour time trial. The second part of the stage is more suited to the sprinters’ teams that are set on chasing the break down. However, on two previous and similar stages into Villeneuve-sur-Lot, the breakaway managed to hold off its pursuers.”
13 Agen – Pau
12 July / 165.3km
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Director general
This will be Prudhomme’s 20th race as director. Only seven people have held the post since the race began in 1903
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Runaway train
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceueninck) is once again the man to beat in the sprints and it’s hard to see past him today
The city of Pau is fast on its way to being second on the all-time stage host list. This will be its 75th Tour de France visit in 2024. It’s favoured by the Tour for its location, just north of the Pyrenees, and has seen all kinds of rider lifting their arms in celebration on the finish line: climbers, rouleurs, sprinters, even time triallists, when TTs are organised here. The last time a stage finished here, in 2019, saw Julian Alaphilippe summon the power of the yellow jersey to retain it, despite more talented testers such as Geraint Thomas breathing down his neck.
Today will be the final chance for the sprinters to shine ahead of the rigours of the Pyrenees, but they will need good legs and savvy to reel in the break in a tricky finale. “The Lot-et-Garonne serves up some lovely balcony roads early in the stage, when the formation of the breakaway will be closely monitored by the sprinters’ teams, who will have studied the route carefully,” says Prudhomme.
“If they judge their effort correctly, they won’t be caught out by the day’s escapees. However, amidst the hilly terrain approaching the finish, the Blachon and Simacourbe climbs could pose a problem for those sprinters who don’t feel comfortable in the hills.”
14 Pau – Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet
13 July / 151.9km
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Battle of…
Tadej Pogačar has won two out of the three stages that have begun in mega-host city Pau during his Tour career
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…the Titans
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) to put on a demonstration on the first major summit finish of the race
The failed experiment of the 65km Pyrenean stage from the 2018 race, forever remembered for its utterly pointless F1-style grid start, is yet to be repeated. That stage felt all a bit one-speed, the short distance failing to separate evenly matched talent. Though its brevity played well for a TV audience, it lacked a first half, which builds fatigue for the second. Today adds that first half, with 70 f latter kilometres transitioning into the heights of the Col du Tourmalet and then the ski resort at Pla d’Adet above Saint-Lary-Soulan – one of the toughest finishes (10.6km at 7.9%).
In recent years the race has taken a turn off the road to Pla d’Adet to finish on the harder and higher Col de Portet, but today sticks to the traditional finish, where the likes of Joop Zoetemelk (1975) and Lucien Van Impe (1976 and 1981) won the stage. “The dynamic format of the first Pyrenean stage is accentuated by the fact that battle is unlikely to commence until the riders have gone through Lourdes,” says Prudhomme. “From that point, with 80km remaining, there’ll be a festival of climbing, featuring the Tourmalet, the Hourquette d’Ancizan and the climb to Pla d’Adet. Fifty years on, the finish line will be exactly where it was when Raymond Poulidor celebrated victory in the 1974 Tour.”
15 Loudenvielle – Plateau de Beille
14 July / 197.7km
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High Fives
The Col de Peyresourde is the fifth most visited mountain in Tour history (30 as of 2024). The Tourmalet is top at 61
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Showing Hart
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) to crown his comeback after recovering from his horror crash at the 2023 Giro
Prudhomme likes to go big on Bastille Day, France’s July public holiday, and they don’t come much bigger in the modern Tour than this. Almost 200km, five-and-a-bit cols culminating in the giant above the Ariège valley in the Pyrenees, Plateau de Beille. The Col d’Agnes (10km at 8.2%) at 128km will be where the action hots up, before a summit finish on the 15.8km, 7.9% monster. It’s not a frequent Tour climb; first discovered at the Route du Sud (now Route d’Occitanie) in 1995, it made its debut in 1998 (stage and race won by Marco Pantani), with five subsequent visits, the last in 2015.
“The third Sunday of the Tour could prove crucial,” says Prudhomme. “Whatever’s happened on the previous days in the mountains, the terrain on this stage is ripe for revenge or confirmation, with 4,850m of vertical gain on the menu over almost 200km of racing. All manner of scenarios could play out, and it’s not unrealistic to imagine that team-mates of the GC contenders will attempt to infiltrate the breakaway climbing the Peyresourde. That would prove invaluable given what lies ahead, especially in a finale that features the climbs of the Col d’Agnes and the Port de Lers followed by the final haul up to Plateau de Beille.”
16 Gruissan – Nîmes
16 July / 186.6km
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Wind power
The Mistral (translates as ‘masterly’ in English) is a strong, cold northwesterly wind that can reach speeds of 100mph
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Undisputed?
Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) to put more daylight between him and Eddy Merckx on the all-time stage win tally
For the second time in this year’s edition of the Tour, the stage following the rest day has potential for chaos-generating crosswinds, so as the race makes its way to the Alps the leading contenders will need to be on alert. This stage is similar to the first road stage of the 2017 Vuelta a España, which ran from Nîmes to Gruissan, and was won by Yves Lampaert. Today the route heads more inland, adding altitude, but on a benign day weather-wise this will be a slam dunk for the sprinters.
Mark Cavendish and Caleb Ewan are among the fast men who’ve won here in the past. They’ll be especially motivated by the fact that this is their final opportunity for a stage win of the race – because of the Paris Olympics, the race is finishing outside of Paris for the first time ever, on the southern coastal city of Nice.
“The sprinters may be heavily tipped for success when the race heads away from the coast near Narbonne, and maybe even when the riders pass over the Pic Saint-Loup,” posits Prudhomme. “But the Mistral can blow fiercely at this time of year and could well upset the plans of the sprinters if those teams that feel at home when it’s windy end up scattering the peloton.”
17 Saint-Paul-Trois- Châteaux Superdévoluy
17 July / 177.8km
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Bigger and better?
There is 52,230m of elevation in this year’s race, compared with 42,900m at the Giro d’Italia
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Time for a break
Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) won a mountain stage last year and would be a big threat in a break
The race returns to the Alps, its favourite mountain playground, after departing it back on stage 5, for the first of four stages packed with climbing. Today will be more of an aperitif ahead of meatier courses at the back end of the week, likely won by a rider from the breakaway, with further minor skirmishes breaking out in the GC group further back.
Despite being created in 1966, this is the first-time hosting for ski station Superdévoluy, stepping up their interest in the sport having hosted several stages of the Critérium du Dauphiné since 2013. The final climb to the resort is modest (3.8km at 5.9%), though the pass immediately before it, Col du Noyer, holds much more threat. “As the race homes in on the southern Alps, there will be no significant obstacles crossing the Drôme,” says Prudhomme. “The tests beyond that, though, are likely to encourage the formation of a large breakaway group, whose members will have a chance to shine, assuming they can deal with the climbs in the final 40km. We’ll get a clearer idea of this on the ascent of the Col Bayard, although the final selection should be made on the Col du Noyer (7.5km at 8.4%), with the final decision coming on the approach to the Superdévoluy ski station.”
18 Gap Barcelonnette
18 July / 178.8km
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Manx missile
Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) has made 14 appearances at the race, more than any other UK rider
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French fancy
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) hasn’t won a stage for three years but isn’t done yet at a relatively young 32
“The altimeter drops temporarily, although the sprinters will still have to go right to their limits in order to claim the final bouquet within their grasp,” says Prudhomme. “That’s down to the fact that once the peloton has admired Lake Serre-Ponçon, the day’s attackers will have a few hills to exploit as they seek to maintain their lead. A strong puncheur might be able to go clear on the Côte de Saint-Apollinaire, and they’ll have even more opportunity to do so on the Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées.”
It appears doubtful that there’ll be any kind of organised sprint among the teams today – the route up until the admittedly flat finish looks far too difficult for the fast men and the win looks more likely to fall to the break. We begin in Gap, a familiar town of the Tour making its 27th appearance and itself a place where breakaway riders have often tasted success in years gone by. Today it hosts the start, on a chunky stage to Barcelonnette, which is hosting for just the second time. The previous time was way back in 1975, when Frenchman Bernard Thévenet would inflict terminal damage to Eddy Merckx’s bid for an unprecedented sixth yellow jersey. For Thévenet, it was the first of two victories in the world’s biggest bike race.
19 Embrun – Isola 2000
19 July / 144.6km
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Into Italy
The climb to Isola 2000 is actually the 21.2km Col de la Lombarde, the summit of which is the border crossing into Italy
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Going the distance
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) loves to win from a long way out and today’s finish offers him that chance
The debut of one Alpine ski resort, Superdévoluy, on stage 17 is followed today by a very infrequent one, Isola 2000, in the southern French Alps. Its one and only previous occasion on hosting duties came in 1993 when Swiss rider Tony Rominger triumphed here on the way to second overall. This part of the Alps is home to many of the highest road passes in the French Alps, and this relatively compact stage manages to squeeze three of them in: Col de Vars, Cime de la Bonnette and the road to Isola 2000. The Bonnette’s appearance is a rare treat – this is its fifth appearance since its debut in 1962, the days of Spanish flyweight Federico Bahamontes, who relished its altitude. It’s the highest paved road in France, though not the highest pass, as the ‘Cime’ of its name is a scenic loop around the mountain, separate to the actual pass.
“The menu for this ultra-mountain stage could well make you dizzy, but it’ll also whet the appetite of the very best climbers,” says Prudhomme. “Although the stage is less than 150km long, the riders will climb above 2,000m on three occasions, the biggest test the climb to the summit of La Bonette, the highest road in France at an altitude of 2,802m. Its 360° panorama is breathtaking.”
20 Nice – Col de la Couillole
20 July / 132.8km
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Nice is nice
Nice, France’s fifth-largest city, has hosted the race 41 times, the fifth most frequent Tour host – and its location is good reason
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Sure bet
Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) has 19 Grand Tour stage wins at the start of the race and will surely make it 20 at some point
Nice hosted the Grand Départ in 2020 and this year it’s hosting the finale. The timing of the Paris Olympics in July meant the Tour had to find a new location to close the race for the first time in its 121- year history. Nice, a large city on the Mediterranean and the finish of Tour organiser ASO’s big spring race, Paris-Nice, felt like the obvious choice. Its proximity to the Tour’s major crucible, the Alps, allowed organisers to design a challenging weekend. While this is Nice’s 39th time hosting, the finish, atop Col de la Couillole, is making its debut. Tadej Pogačar won here on his way to winning the 2023 Paris-Nice, outwitting Jonas Vingegaard. The two will hopefully do battle again, as the Dane recovers from his severe spring injuries.
“The Paris-Nice regulars will be racing over familiar terrain, but that won’t make things any easier if the contest for the yellow jersey is still raging, particularly over such a short distance,” says Prudhomme. “Battle could commence as early as the climb to the Col de Braus. There will then be no respite on the climbs of the Cols de Turini, de la Colmiane and finally de la Couillole, the final ascent extending for 15.7km at an average gradient of 7.1%. We’ll all be holding our breath!”
21 Monaco – Nice
21 July / 33.7km
Did you know?
Slim margins
It’s 35 years since the Tour ended with a time trial. Greg Lemond won the 1989 race with the smallest winning margin ever (8 secs)
Smart money
Big finalé
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) to pulverise the competition on a course designed for his talents
Fans who don’t quite buy into the usual processional finish to the Tour in Paris are in for a treat. This final stage in Nice isn’t just a competitive stage, it’s so tough it may well be what decides the whole outcome, just as it did the last time the race finished this way. “Everyone remembers the last occasion the Tour finished with a time trial, when Greg LeMond stripped the yellow jersey from the shoulders of Laurent Fignon on the Champs-Élysées in 1989, by just eight seconds,” says Prudhomme. “Thirty-five years on, we can but dream of a similar duel, involving two or three riders, an authentic athletic confrontation whose outcome would determine the final podium of the 111th edition, and the first to finish far from its familiar Parisian setting.”
As far as time trials go at the Tour, this is as tough as it gets. The initial climb from Monaco, La Turbie, gains almost 500m over 8.1km, before a short descent that rises to the summit of Nice’s great climb, Col d’Eze (1.6km at 8.1%). Then it plateaus before a long descent and a flat 6km into the finish. As always in hilly TTs, there will be a debate about mid-race bike changes (to allow riders to climb better on a road bike) but the design of the course – flat start and finish – will make it difficult to enact.
