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Not long to go now. The 2026 Tour de France route is ready and waiting; the race is almost upon us. On Saturday 4 July, this year’s riders start a team time trial in Barcelona to get started, before finishing three weeks later in the French capital, Paris. What exactly does the route between those two points look like? IDL Pro Cycling brings you a full TdF route breakdown
The 2026 Tour de France route:
Stage 1 - Saturday, July 4, 2026: Barcelona - Barcelona (team time trial, 19.7 km)
This year's Tour de France kicked off with a 19.6-kilometer team time trial in Barcelona, which hosted the Grand Départ during the opening weekend. The first 15.5 kilometers could be considered fairly flat, but then the teams had to climb Montjuïc twice. Incidentally, this was a new style of team time trial: the time of each individual rider counted. Jonas Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike won.
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 2 - Sunday, July 5, 2026: Tarragona - Barcelona (178 km)
So, on day two we also finished in Barcelona, at exactly the same finish line. Along the way, the riders had to cross the Begues (6.1 km at 6.5%), to complete three laps in the finale with the Montjuic (1.6 kilometers at 9.3%) as the anchor point. After 168.5 kilometers, we then finished in front of the Olympic Stadium.
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 3 - Monday, July 6, 2026: Granollers - Les Angles (134.2 km)
It looked like a perfect day for the breakaway, and indeed there was a fierce battle. But UAE Team Emirates-XRG wasn't having any of it: they set a very high pace. With an ideal lead-out from Isaac Del Toro, Tadej Pogacar then expertly finished it off. He took the stage victory, but also the yellow jersey.
Winner:
Stage 4 - Tuesday, July 7, 2026: Carcassone - Foix (182 km)
A stage with 2,700 meters. For the breakaway, right? Nothing seemed certain after stage four, but they finally received the blessing of the peloton. A large group rode away and shattered on the tricky final climb. The superior climbing Mads Pedersen was put in a perfect position by teammates Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek, after which he finished it off overwhelmingly in the sprint.
Winner:
Stage 5 - Wednesday, July 8, 2026: Lannemezan - Pau (158 km)
Finally a chance for the sprinters, and they seized it with both hands. Baptise Veistroffer was the brave soul who went off on his own, but the fast men were finally allowed to do their thing. It was a chaotic finale, with crashes and strange lead-outs, but Olav Kooij was ultimately by far the best: his first stage victory in the Tour de France!
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 6 - Thursday, July 9, 2026: Pau - Gavarnie-Gèdre (186 km)
And so, from Pau, we head back into the Pyrenees. The riders face five climbs in stage six, with the Aspin (12 km at 6.5%) and the Tourmalet (17.1 km at 7.3%) standing out, both literally and figuratively. The finish in Gavarnie-Gèdre, with its 18.7 kilometres at 3.7%, is a pale imitation of what comes before it.
Winner
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 7 - Friday, July 10, 2026: Hagetmau - Bordeaux (175 km)
After the Pyrenees there is some breathing space for the riders, with a 175-kilometre transition stage from Hagetmau to Bordeaux. There, it will probably be back to the sprinters, as there are not many obstacles on this route.
Winner
Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 8 - Saturday, July 11, 2026: Périgueux - Bergerac (182 km)
In the Dordogne, there is another flat stage on the menu, this time finishing in Bergerac. After 180 kilometres, whichever fast men are still left in the race will battle it out here.
Winner
Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 9 - Sunday, July 12, 2026: Malemort - Ussel (185 km)
Up, down, up, down. That is stage nine of this year’s Tour de France in a nutshell. It never gets really hard anywhere, so on paper it is a stage made for the breakaway. But on days like this, with 3,300 metres of climbing, anything can happen.
Winner
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Rest day - Monday, July 13 2026
Stage 10 - Tuesday, July 14, 2026: Aurillac - Le Lioran (167 km)
Le Lioran, the place where Jonas Vingegaard last beat Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian therefore set off on the mountain stage with a mission. The breakaway riders were given no chance, and on the penultimate climb, the yellow jersey wearer showed who was boss: he rode solo to his third stage victory of this Tour.
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 11 - Wednesday, July 15, 2026: Vichy - Nevers (161 km)
It was the sprinters’ turn again in the eleventh stage. It turned out to be a blistering stage, with an average speed of over fifty kilometres per hour. The sprint trains were only set up with two kilometres to go, after which the pace dropped to a standstill in the final few hundred metres. Soren Waerenskjold capitalised on this with a 350-metre sprint and narrowly held off the rest of the field.
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 12 - Thursday, July 16, 2026: Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours - Chalon-Sur-Saône (181 km)
Two sprint stages in a row! A sprint was expected in Chalon-sur-Saône, but it was not made easy for the fast men. With multiple attacks in the finale, it was a fantastic race, but it ended up coming down to a sprint. The final sprint was marred by a nasty crash, but Tim Merlier avoided everything and was clearly the fastest.
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 13 - Friday, July 17, 2026: Dole - Belfort (205 km)
This stage revolves mainly around the climb of the Ballon d'Alsace (8.9 km at 6.9%), which culminates thirty kilometers from the finish after a flat run-up. A classic case of too tough for the sprinters, too easy for the GC contenders?
Winner:
Stage 14 - Saturday, July 18, 2026: Mulhouse - Le Markstein (155 km)
By weekend three, we had arrived in the Vosges, and you know that means we would be dealing with elevation gain again. For the second day in a row, the Ballon d'Alsace (8.9 km at 6.9%) was on the course, but heading towards the beautiful finish in Le Markstein, it was primarily the Col du Haag (11.2 km at 7.3%) that would prove crucial. Tadej Pogacar won yet again.
Winner
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 15 - Sunday, July 19, 2026: Champagnole - Plateau de Solaison (184 km)
Now that’s a climb! In stage fifteen, the peloton will thunder towards the Plateau de Solaison, one of the tougher climbs in this Tour de France, with its 11.3 kilometres at a 9 per cent gradient. It’s likely that the general classification contenders will be going head-to-head here before the start of week three, so make a note of it in your diary!
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 16 - Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Évian-les-Bains - Thonon-les-Bains (26 km, time trial)
The time trial promised spectacle, and spectacle it was. Remco Evenepoel was the top favorite, and he struck mercilessly hard in the race against the clock. He beat Tadej Pogacar by nearly half a minute, but he had little other reason to cheer: teammate Florian Lipowitz crashed hard and had to abandon the Tour de France.
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 17 - Wednesday, July 22, 2026: Chambéry - Voiron (175 km)
The seventeenth stage took the peloton from Chambéry to Voiron, mainly through the valley. The climbing we faced was concentrated in the first section of around sixty kilometres. On paper, it looked more like a stage for the classic specialists than one for sprinters, but nothing could have been further from the truth. After a bizarre stage – with attacks from start to finish – Jasper Philipsen was able to strike.
Winner:
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Stage 18 - Thursday, July 23, 2026: Voiron - Orcieres-Merlette (185 km)
We are approaching the final weekend, but not before the riders get a preview of what is to come on Friday and Saturday, heading towards Orcières-Merlette (7.1 kilometres at 6.7% average). The strong attacking climbers, or riders who have dropped out of the GC battle, may see this as a major opportunity.
Favorites
Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS)
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious)
Stage 19 - Friday, July 24, 2026: Gap - Alpe d'Huez (128 km)
Here we are, Alpe d’Huez! From the start in Gap, the riders immediately face the Col Bayard (4.7 km at 7.2%), and later they also have the Col du Noyer (7.2 km at 8.5%) and Col d’Ornon (5.4 km at 6.4%). But the real focus is on the first showdown on the 13.8-kilometre Alpe d’Huez after 128 kilometres of racing.
Favorites
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)
Stage 20 - Saturday, July 25, 2026: Bourg d'Oisans - Alpe d'Huez (171 km)
What a beast of a stage. The absolute queen stage of the 2026 Tour de France takes place on the penultimate day, with a dizzying total of 5,600 metres of climbing. In succession, the Croix de Fer (24 km at 5.2%), Télégraphe (11.9 km at 7.1%), Galibier (17.7 km at 6.9%) and Alpe d’Huez via Sarenne (12.8 km at 7.3%) will deliver the definitive verdict after three weeks of racing.
Favorites
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Stage 21 - Sunday, July 26, 2026: Thoiry - Paris (130 km)
Based on the successful 2024 Olympic road race, this year’s final stage also includes the climb to Montmartre. One difference compared with last year’s stage won by Wout van Aert: that hill is now a little further from the finish, at 11 kilometres. That should, in theory at least, give the sprinters a slightly better chance.
Favorites
Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
