{"id":520256,"date":"2025-10-22T18:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T18:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/520256\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T18:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T18:30:32","slug":"what-i-hope-the-2026-tour-de-france-route-dares-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/520256\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Hope the 2026 Tour de France Route Dares to Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated5 min read<\/p>\n

With the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 2026 Tour de France routes revealed Thursday in Paris, I\u2019m hoping the organizers dare to build a 2026 that keeps the race for yellow alive deep into the final week, gives the sprinters a few more chances, and preserves the late-race chaos that made last year\u2019s Montmartre finale so electric to watch. <\/p>\n

The fan in me wants to see the organizers find a way to make the men\u2019s race more exciting GC-wise. Don\u2019t get me wrong: I’m fully aware that when it comes to Poga\u010dar, we\u2019re all witnessing someone who will likely go down as one of the greatest riders in the history of professional cycling.<\/p>\n

But dominance is also dull. Other than the Tour, this year I watched less pro cycling than I have in a while\u2013partially because #adulting has given me less freedom to enjoy it\u2013but also because I felt like the outcomes of many of the sport\u2019s most exciting races were easy to predict simply because Poga\u010dar was on the starting line. I don\u2019t want to see that happen at the Tour.<\/p>\n

I have no idea how the Tour\u2019s organizers can pull it off\u2013Poga\u010dar\u2019s that good\u2013but I\u2019d love to see what tricks they might have up their sleeves to make the race for the yellow jersey a bit more compelling.<\/p>\n

\"Play\"france's<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a thought: what about making the race a bit more sprinter-friendly? I get it: flat stages can be boring. However, they also provide balance to a race that becomes increasingly challenging each year. If folks like me want more of a battle for the yellow jersey, we all (including the organizers) might need to accept a few more days that give the GC riders a breather by letting the teams with sprinters set the pace. <\/p>\n

\"laval,<\/p>\n

Dario Belingheri<\/p>\n

Speaking of sprinters: they won\u2019t like me saying this, but I loved the new finish to Stage 21. I\u2019ve always fancied myself to be a bit of a purist, but adding a few trips up and over the C\u00f4te de la Butte Montmartre made for one of the most exciting stage finishes in the entire Tour. More, please!<\/p>\n

And as far as the Femmes are concerned, I\u2019d love to see the race hit the high Alps right after the summit finish on Ventoux. The race has given us back-to-back mountain stages in recent editions, but three days in the high mountains would be a fantastic way to conclude an event that\u2019s already pretty perfect. (Adding another stage or two couldn\u2019t hurt, but that\u2019s not in the cards for 2026.)<\/p>\n

Tour Route Rumors and What We’re Expecting <\/p>\n

After leaving Spain, the rumor sites seem pretty sure that the men\u2019s Tour de France will head into the Pyrenees soon after leaving Spain (which makes sense). Details will be confirmed during Thursday\u2019s announcement, but signs are pointing to a summit finish at the end of Stage 3, which is the earliest summit finish in any Tour that I can remember. (If I\u2019m a sprinter, I\u2019m wondering what I need to do to get an opening week that doesn\u2019t have me worried about missing the time cut before the Tour\u2019s first Rest Day.)<\/p>\n

The race is then expected to pass through the Massif Central during the second week, with a possible stage finish in Le Lioran, the mountain resort where Denmark\u2019s Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) shockingly caught and then outsprinted Poga\u010dar to win Stage 11 in 2024. This stage could take place on Bastille Day, which means lots of climbing and massive crowds. Coming out of the Tour\u2019s first Rest Day, I can see a stage like this blowing the race apart. <\/p>\n

The second week is rumored to end with a trip through the lesser-known\u2013but still challenging\u2013Jura and Vosges mountains, where we could see summit finishes on climbs like La Planche des Belles Filles (less confident) and Le Markstein (more confident), both of which have featured prominently in recent editions of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s races. <\/p>\n

\"alpe<\/p>\n

Tim de Waele<\/p>\n

The third week should bring the race into the Alps and features a return to one of the most famous climbs in Tour de France history: Alpe d\u2019Huez. Rumors suggest that an individual time trial will take place at some point during the third week, but we\u2019ll have to wait until Thursday to learn the details, including the location, timing, and what it will entail. <\/p>\n

As far as the Femmes are concerned, after leaving Switzerland, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift heads into France, possibly through the Jura mountains. A midweek individual time trial is expected to take place in Dijon (the mayor has confirmed it), and I\u2019m eager to see the impact this stage has on the race overall, as it occurs before the high mountains arrive. <\/p>\n

But the highlight of the race is rumored to be a \u201cqueen stage\u201d (possibly Stage 7) with a summit finish atop Mont Ventoux, whose windswept, lunar landscape will be familiar to fans who watched France\u2019s Valentin Paret-Peintre hold off the GC favorites to win Stage 16 of the Tour de France this past July.<\/p>\n

\"malaucene,<\/p>\n

Michael Steele<\/p>\n

The Tour organizers always include at least one legendary summit (such as the Tourmalet, Alpe d\u2019Huez, and La Planche des Belles Filles) in each edition of the Femmes, and I think this stage could prove to be the most spectacular yet.<\/p>\n

Confirmed Route Details <\/p>\n

Tour de France begins on Saturday, July 4th in Barcelona Spain, with the Tour\u2019s first team time trial since 2019. I don\u2019t usually get too excited about team time trials, but this one should be interesting, thanks to a new timing format and two steep, punchy climbs in the final 4 kilometers of the 20-kilometer stage. <\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s Stage 2 should continue the action with a 178km road stage featuring eight categorized climbs and another uphill finish in Barcelona. If Slovenia\u2019s Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates) isn\u2019t wearing yellow by the end of the first weekend, I\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n

It has also been announced that the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will begin on Saturday, August 1st, with a punchy 137km road stage that starts and ends in Lausanne, Switzerland. A steep climb to the finish line should produce an exciting battle to take the Tour\u2019s first yellow jersey. <\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s Stage 2 shifts the attention to the sprinters with a 150km stage from Aigle to Geneva. The riders will tackle three categorized climbs (it is Switzerland after all), but the last one comes about 35km from the finish line, which should leave plenty of time for the sprinters\u2019 teams to reel in any survivors from the day\u2019s main breakaway. <\/p>\n

We’ll have the full route details on Thursday, so please remember to come back here after the announcements. We\u2019ll have videos and analysis from me, as well as some of Bicycling\u2019s other Tour de France super-fans. I know it\u2019s only October, but it\u2019s never too early to start thinking about the Tour(s). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 min read With the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 2026 Tour de France routes revealed Thursday in Paris, I\u2019m…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[45789,169269,199,4230,2000,299,36,63052,31323,169271,86391,169270,84993,84991,169268,84992,169267,104,169273,169275,2600,16152,169274,20680,11185,169272,113527],"class_list":{"0":"post-520256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-45789","9":"tag-alpe-dhuez","10":"tag-barcelona","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-france","15":"tag-gc","16":"tag-jonas-vingegaard","17":"tag-jura-mountains","18":"tag-lausanne","19":"tag-le-lioran","20":"tag-massif-central","21":"tag-mont-ventoux","22":"tag-montmartre","23":"tag-pyrenees","24":"tag-route-reveal","25":"tag-spain","26":"tag-sprinters","27":"tag-summit-finish","28":"tag-switzerland","29":"tag-tadej-pogacar","30":"tag-team-time-trial","31":"tag-tour-de-france","32":"tag-tour-de-france-femmes","33":"tag-vosges","34":"tag-yellow-jersey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115419246965029920","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}