Tour de France route presentation Live – The 2026 men’s and women’s race route unveiled in Paris

And Christian Prudhomme posing by the men’s route.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Marion Rousse with the Tour de France Femmes route.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Alpe d’Huez looks set to be the definitive climb of the 2026 men’s Tour de France, featuring as not one but two stage finishes. Earlier, we had a look at what makes the climb so special, and the long history the riders will be adding to this coming summer.

Alpe d’Huez – A history of the most famous 21 turns of the Tour de France

Prudhomme and the map for the men’s race.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

That’s it for the presentation – Prudhomme has wrapped things up and left the stage. We’ve been left with plenty to digest and look more closely at.

There isn’t much on offer for the GC contenders who depend on time trials. Stage 16 is the only individual stage, lasting only 26km, and starting with a 10km climb to make things easier for the climbers. Remco Evenepoel won’t be happy.

One thing that stands out is the difficulty of that final stage to Alpe d’Huez which, as well as that iconic summit finish, also includes Alpine giants the Galbier,Télégraphe,Croix de Fer and Sarenne.

Here’s our write-up of that men’s route that’s just been announced.

2026 Tour de France route marked by double ascent of Alpe d’Huez in final weekend

The route of the 2026 men’s Tour de France.

(Image credit: ASO)

Finally, the Parisian finale will this time begin at Thoiry, before what will be a near-enough repeat of the Montmartre circuit that was so popular last year.

Of the two, the second will be the biggest, with over 5,000m elevation gain.

Then comes the stages that will grab the headlines – the Alpe d’Hue double.

Another montain top finish on stage 18, Orcières Merlette.

The only individual time trial at the 2026 race will be held on stage 16.

Stage 15 will be another mountain top finish, atop a new climb for the Tour – Plateau de Solaison

Almost 4,000m of climbing is on the menu on stage 14 in the Vosges, where the GC race looks set to ignite again.

Stage 13 is the only stage longer than 200km, most of it flat, but with one climb towards the end.

Stage 12 is also flat. The sprinters might have to wait a while at this Tour, but they’re being thrown some bones during this middle phase of the race.

Stage 11 is another chance for the sprinters, as they head out of the Massif Central for a finish in Nevers.

Seven climbs await the riders on stage 10, a really testing day in the Massif Central, finishing atop Le Lioran.

Stage 9 to Ussel is an undulating, hilly affair, which looks good for the breakaway specialists.

Another day for the sprinters await the riders on stage 8, in Bergarac.

Another day for the sprinters on stage seven in Bordeaux, the Tour’s second most visited town.

Stage 6 is the biggest day in the Pyrenees, featuring the Tourmalet, and will be a summit finish, atop Gavarnie-Gèdre. This is the first proper mountain finish of the race.

Stage five will be flat, the first realistic chance for the sprinters.

Stage four is similar, featuring climbs but nothing too big, and won’t be an uphill finish.

Stage three’s stage will feature almost 4,000m elevation – a lot of climbing so early in the race, even if it’s not a full blown Pyrenean stage.

Now Prudhomme goes over each stage one by one. He confirms that the times for the opening team time trial will be taken individually rather than collectively, as has been the case in other stage races recently.

And as expected, the finale in Paris will repeat last year’s climbs of Montmartre.

The big news – there will be two finishes atop Alpe d’Huez, on stages 19 and 20.

The second week routes are being announced, with plenty of climbing in the Massif Central and Vosges featured.

It seems there will be no big montain stage in the Pyenees.

Stage three will, as rumoured finish atop the ski station in Les Angles.

We already know the parcours for the first two stages, a team time trial and hilly road stage in Barcelona.

And indeed, here comes the video presentation of the route.

Prudhomme’s back on stage, so it looks like we’re poised to get some more announcements.

The mayor of Barcelona is here and on stage to give a brief speech.

Barcelona will, of course, host the men’s Grand Départ, and a video showcasing the city is currently being played.

Now, the focus turns to the men. At present a (long) video going over the highlights of last year’s race is being played in the arena.

The map for the 2026 Tour de France Femmes is revealed on stage.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

See here our full write-up of the Tour de France Femmes route that’s just been announced.

Tour de France Femmes 2026 route revealed featuring Swiss Grand Départ, Mont Brouilly, and Mont Ventoux

The main take from this Tour de France Femmes route is the lack of climbing. While there are plenty of punchy efforts to keep us entertained and encourage the GC contenders to attack, aside from the Ventoux there are no high mountain passes to take on, with no additional stages in the High Alps.

So there will be two stage finishing in Nice following the Ventoux stage: the first a mostly flat one with a couple of small late climbs, the second a short, punchy one centred around four ascents of the Col d’Èze.

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

(Image credit: ASO)

Here’s the parcours for each stage.

Rousse and Prudhomme on stage.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

That looks like more of a puncheur stage than a mountainous one, as had been expected, which will only serve to increase the importance of the summit finish atop Ventoux the day before.

Stage eight – the one succeeding the Ventoux stage – was the one we knew least about before today. It’s been announced that it will be 99km, and feature a loop around the iconic climb of Paris-Nice, the Col d’Eze.

Three climbs will be in store on a punchy stage five, starting in Mâcon and finishing in Belleville-en-Beaujolais.

Stage four’s time trial in Dijon will be 21km – apparently a reference to how many cantons there are in Switzerland.

And the mystery of the final stage is at last revealed – it will start in Sisteron and finish in Nice.

The Mont Ventoux finish of stage 7 is also confirmed.

We already know much of the Tour de France Femmes, and the three Swiss stages are confirmed.

After some speeches from representatives of the Swiss Grand Depart, Marrion Rousse is back on stage. It seems, at last the route is to be announced!

A video is now being shown of Swiss under-17 rider Valentine Rousseau, and her feelings about the Tour starting in her home country next year.

Rousse is greeted with applause as she announces the news of Zwift’s extended partnership.

The big names we’re here to are at least on stage – Marion Rousse and Christian Prudhomme.

Zwift will again be sponsoring the Tour de France Femmes in 2026, and today announced that it will extend their partnership with the race to 2029.

“Growing women’s participation in cycling is a critical mission,” said the company’s CEO Eric Min in a press release. “We truly believe that to be successful, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is essential.”

After the first speech of the day, we’re now seeing a highlights reel of last year’s Tour de France Femmes.

Well, any minute now. First a promo video for ASO, organisers of the Tour de France.

Right, here we go. The parcours is about to be announced.

Now some of the men are being brought on stage, including Dylan Groenewegen, and Valentin Paret-Peintre.

Squiban is from Brittany, which hosted the Grand Départ of this year’s race. In 2026, Switzerland has that honour.

Swiss Grand Départ announced for Tour de France Femmes in 2026

Some of the peloton’s stars are brought on stage ahead of the Tour de France Femmes announcement, including Kasia Niewadoma, Maeva Squiban and Dominika Włodarczyk.

The presentation is taking place at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

We’re underway! The lights go down, and the familiar song from the Tour de France podium ceremony plays.

We’re just a few minutes away from the beginning of the presentation.

The routes might only be being officially announced today, but we already know lots of the details, plus many more rumours concerning them. We’ve rounded up everything we know already prior to today’s confirmation.

Tour de France 2026 – All the route rumours ahead of the official presentation

The routes for both the women’s Tour de France and the men’s race will be announced here, the former run by Marion Rousse and the latter Christian Prudhomme.

The presentation is due to begin in about fifteen minutes, at 11:00 CET. As with pretty much any glitzy sporting ceremony like this, it’ll take a while to get to the point, but we’ll get to the juicy details of what’s on the Tour routes before long.

This day always has a feeling a bit like Christmas Eve for cycling fans – albeit one that precedes Christmas Day by over half a year. We’re given a host of reasons to get excited for the upcoming Tour de France, and the next eight months or so from now will be spent in eager anticipation of what is revealed and confirmed today.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Tour de France route presentation.