cycle the tour de france route

Ride the Tour de France route: Q&A with Le Loop

Have you ever found yourself riding along or pouring over a copy of the TdF magazine, lazily daydreaming about riding the Tour de France route?

Well, if you’re ready to turn your daydream into a reality, Le Loop will help you do just that.

Their annual event follows the entire Tour de France route, one week ahead of the pros. You can choose to do anywhere between two and all twenty-one stages of the tour, fully supported by mechanics, medics and massage therapists. At the same time, you’ll be raising funds for the William Wates Memorial Trust, supporting some of the most disadvantaged young people in the UK.

We spoke to Kate, one of the organisers of the event, about what it involves and just how much training you need to do to cycle the Tour de France route!

Please note that the information in this article is based on the 2019 event. As the Tour de France route and prices changes each year, some of the information in this article will not be accurate in future years. 

If you’re looking for a Tour de France cycling holiday without a charity element (or one that’s spectator only), read this article about what to look for in a  Tour de France cycling tour .

Part 1: The event

1. tell us about your event – what, where and why.

Le Loop follows the exact route of the entire Tour de France, one week ahead of the pros.

This usually means the very end of June through July. In 2019, we ride from Saturday 29th June to Sunday 22nd July. Riders sign up for one of our ‘Loops’: anything from two to all twenty-one stages of the Tour de France route. Either join us for the Pyrenees, or the Alps, the Grand Depart or anything in between. Just find the stages and the dates that work best for you.

Tour de France route 2019 (credit: letour.fr)

2. Why do people enter your event?

People ride Le Loop because they’re looking for a cycling challenge. Maybe they’ve been life-long fans of Le Tour and would love to cycle in the footsteps of their cycling heroes … maybe they’ve cycled a 100 miler and want to find out if they could get up and do the same again … and again!

Or maybe they’ve never done anything on this scale before and this is the challenge of a lifetime.

There’s a loop to suit everyone.

Some ride because they want their bucket list tick to mean more than just their own personal achievement. Le Loop was created by the William Wates Memorial Trust as their main fundraising event. Each year we raise, on average, £390,000 that is given by the Trust in grants to charities that work with some of the most disadvantaged young people in the UK, helping them to keep away from a life of crime and violence.

Our riders get the chance to meet some of the young people we’re helping and that inspires them to climb that next col and even make it all the way to Paris.

We also have a huge number of riders returning year after year. Why do they come back? Well the route is different every year of course – whatever A.S.O (the official TDF organisers) have designed for the pros, we ride – so they come to experience riding different parts of France. They also return for the legendary camaraderie on tour and the pleasure of a cycling trip where everything (apart from the pedalling) is done for you; from four fantastic and varied feedstops each day, to medical and massage support, and our cheery team of mechanics to fix any bike troubles.

3. What do people love about taking part in your event?

Time and again the same word comes up: camaraderie.

Yes, the route is incredible and watching the pros ride it one week later allows huge bragging rights and yes, the support on tour from our team is fantastic, but it’s the teamwork and friendships built out on the road that turn this into something so much more than just a sportive.

Every rider will have their good days and their bad days on tour. On a bad day there is always someone to offer you their wheel to hang onto and on a good day, there’s the opportunity to pay them back. We get through stages of the Tour de France route just as the pros do – by supporting each other through thick and thin. The fact that this correlates perfectly with what the young people are going through who we are supporting through the William Wates Memorial Trust is the icing on the cake.

4. What are the highlights of the route?

Every year of course is different, but for 2019 we’re looking forward to the extra extension to the Planche des Belles Filles (whether it will still be gravel, or have some tarmac on it in time for the Tour).

The Mur d’Aurec sur Loire on Stage 9 brought on slightly hysterical laughter from our lead cyclist Emily Chappell when she recced it last week. ‘It’s a beast’ according to Emily.

Stage 14 takes us up the Tourmalet which is a big tick for many riders. It’s a beauty of a climb. Stage 18 takes us over the highest paved road in Europe on the Col de l’Iseran, dropping down into Val d’Isere and back up to Tignes – it’s always quite good fun to ride roads where in the winter you may have skied. But this will be a beautiful, Alpine stage with stunning scenery in every direction we look.

But it’s not all about the climbs. Stage 5 in the Vosges may not be flat, but it’s nothing like the Pyrenees or Alps either. This region has a real Germanic feel with lovely architecture, leafy sweeping roads glorious smooth descents.

And of course the Grand Depart in Brussels will have beer, frites and waffles – what’s not to love?

5. What’s the hardest thing about taking part in your event?

For the riders who take on the whole route from the Grand Depart to Paris, I honestly think the hardest part can be coming home! We live in a bubble for 3 weeks and the transition back to ‘normal’ life can be bewildering.

But of course before all that, to take on multiple stages of the Tour de France there needs to be a serious commitment to training through the winter which can be tough when the weather is grim. With busy lives, finding the time to put the hours in is also a challenge and it needs friends and family to be on board and supportive.

On the ride itself … getting enough rest is the challenge. Some years ASO give us a route that requires more early morning transfers to the next stage start than others. These all eat into critical sleep time, but our riders soon master the art of sleeping on coaches at the drop of a hat!

6. How fit do you have to be to take part in your event?

By the time you arrive on tour you need to not be phased by taking on 100 miles in a day. I don’t mean that should feel like a breeze … 100 miles is never a breeze … but it shouldn’t freak you out. You’re then going to have to get up and do that again the next day after all.

The speed of the group varies enormously and on a big mountain day we could be spread out 3 or 4 hours apart.

To help this along we ‘neutralise’ the first 40km to the first feed stop. This gives everyone the chance to take it easy at the start of the day, ride with folk you’ll maybe not see for the rest of the day and just warm the legs up.

Once everyone’s arrived at that first feed stop all riders are free to ride at their own pace. Quickly people find others going a similar speed and work together often in small pelotons. If a rider gets dropped, they just relax and wait for the next little group to come past and hop on the back with them. We have a back van but we won’t actually pull anyone off the course unless they are becoming a danger to themselves. Our team stays out there with the riders on a big mountain day until the last rider is in – which will probably be in the dark. They’re guaranteed a hero’s welcome when they come in to dinner!

It’s well worth getting some practice in during the winter at riding in a peloton so that you can take advantage of this on some of the flatter, faster sections of the tour. We run a couple of training weekends (free) in the Spring that are a great opportunity to gain those skills. Our lead cyclist Emily writes a monthly training blog for all our riders to help them build up mileage and endurance (physical and mental) through the winter and spring so that they’re in great nick for the start of the tour.

7. What are your top tips for anyone thinking of taking part?

Embrace the winter training – buy the kit you need to make that as comfortable as possible and for every mile in the cold and wet you can visualise the sunny roads of France in the knowledge that the miles you’re putting in now will pay off in spades on tour.

Come on the training weekends in the Spring – they will fill you with confidence and you’ll go home even more excited than you already were.

Embrace the fundraising aspect of taking part in Le Loop just as much as the training – don’t put it off – just throw yourself into it with enthusiasm and you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll hit your minimum sponsorship requirement AND how rewarding the experience will be.

Part 2: Your charity

8. why do you organise this event.

Le Loop was created by the William Wates Memorial Trust as their principal fundraiser and as a way to remember William (who was killed during his gap year in Honduras in 1996 in a bungled street robbery).

Le Loop was first run in 2006 and 2010 for William’s friends and family, it was opened up to the general public in 2012 and hasn’t looked back. It’s operated every year since and is going from strength to strength.

Each year our riders raise on average £390,000.

They pay the full cost of their ‘holiday’ to Le Loop, then have a minimum fundraising requirement that goes directly to the William Wates Memorial Trust.

On average, 28% of funds raised cover the Trust’s overheads for running Le Loop. Our goal is to get our fundraising to cost ratio down to below 10% and we’re working hard to achieve that through corporate sponsorship.

Funds raised are given in grants to charities that work with some of the UK’s most disadvantaged young people, helping to keep them away from a life of crime and violence. They use sport, music, mentoring, the arts and education to engage with young people.

For a full list of the charities we are currently supporting visit www.wwmt.org  and download their  Annual Report .

We give all our riders opportunities to visit the charities we’re supporting so they can see the work for themselves. This never fails to inspire them and redouble their fundraising efforts.

We also invite two young people from the projects to join us on tour – either to ride a stage (or as much of it as they can) or work with our support team. They and their support worker tell their story to the riders in the evening, giving our riders a chance to really understand what life is like for these young people. It is humbling and massively inspiring in equal measure: we all appreciate just how lucky we are to be doing something we love and that we have opportunities that we should never take for granted. Many of our riders tell us that meeting these young people is a highlight of their tour.

9. How much does it cost to enter?

The cost and fundraising depend on how many stages you will be riding. It ranges from £495 to ride two stages, with £800 fundraising, to £4,060 to ride all 21 stages of the tour with £3,000 fundraising. The majority of our riders are somewhere in between with a minimum fundraising requirement of £1,200.

What’s included?

• Accommodation – mostly twin share. Single supplements are available to buy in January. Unlike the pros, we usually sleep at the place the stage ends, and that sometimes means our accommodation options are limited. One night we’ll be in a major town and might be treated to a 5* hotel, but other times we might be in the only hotel on a mountain col and it’ll be much more basic. The norm is somewhere in the middle. Occasionally we’re in exactly the same hotels that the pros use (for example, four pro teams are staying the same hotel as us in Brussels this year – just one week later!). The extreme variety becomes one of the more fun parts of the tour!
• All food – 3 meals and the best feedstops you’ve ever seen
• Fully signed route – the stuff of legend!
•  Mechanical, medical and moral support
• Luggage Transfers
• Coach transfers to the next stage start when the stages aren’t contiguous

What’s not included?

• Travel to and from France (but we’ll give you advice on the best travel routes)
• Bike Transport (£30 each way if you want us to drive your bike there and back)
• Evening massage (£10 or €10 per massage if you’d like one – highly recommended)
• Beer/wine/dinner drinks

10. Where can people find out more?

Website: www.rideleloop.org Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/RideLeLoop/ Instagram:  @rideleloop Twitter:  @RideLeLoop Linkedin:  ride le loop

A big thank you to Kate for sharing these insights on the event. We think it sounds fantastic fun – and a brilliant charity to be raising money for. 

Have you done Le Loop before? Or planning to do it this year? Drop us a comment below to let us know!

Want more event ideas?

If you’re seeking inspiration for your next cycling challenge, but Le Loop isn’t quite what you’re after, check out our events hub page , which has guides to tons of cycling events including

Col de la Loze sportive

Best sportives in Europe

Ultimate cycling challenges

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Kate Norris is one of the organisers of Le Loop, the charity event that allows cyclists to cycle the Tour de France one week before the pros.

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Grand Loop: The whole Tour de France

Florence - Nice

21 June - 15 July

21 Stages. 3592km

The ultimate sporting challenge, one week ahead of the pros!

Cycle the entire Tour de France route from Florence to Nice. Sporting challenges don’t come any bigger or better than this, nor as historic with a Nice final stage for the first time ever (due to the 2024 Paris Olympics). You will tackle the flat, the mountains, the even bigger mountains, the time trial and the finale into Nice. Surviving this gruelling challenge will give you a real insight into the life of a pro-rider. The sense of achievement from completing the Grand Loop challenge cannot be underestimated.

Fri 21st June: Travel under own arrangements to Florence hotel by 5pm. Meet the team, meet your fellow cyclists, arrival briefing and dinner Sat 22nd June – Sun 14th July: Cycle stages 1-21 Mon 15th July: Depart after breakfast, under own arrangements from Nice hotel.

Full dates and our own descriptions of each stage, including profiles where available, are on the route page .

The Grand Loop does it all!

• Booking Notes and payment deadlines
• Travel Advice for all Loops
• Note on Speed to reassure
• View All Loops 2024 options
• Accommodation (Mostly twin share. Single supplements are available to buy by January)
• All food (3 meals and the best feedstops you’ve ever seen)
• Fully signed route, the stuff of legend
• Mechanical, medical and moral support
• Luggage Transfers
• Coach transfers to the next stage start when the stages aren’t contiguous
• Travel to and from France (but we’ll give you advice on the best travel routes)
• Bike Transport (£40 each way if you want us to drive your bike there and back)
• Evening massage (£10 or €10 per massage if you’d like one – highly recommended)
• Beer/wine/drinks at dinner

Official games

2023 Edition

• Stage winners
• All the videos

Tour Culture

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• key figures
• Sporting Stakes

"Maillot Jaune" Collection

• The jerseys

D-100: ITALY TURNS YELLOW

2028 : the future remains green with škoda.

The 2025 Tour de France in the land of the Giants

Discover the official Tour de France 2024 mobile...

2023 rankings

Stage 1 | 06/29 Florence > Rimini

Stage 2 | 06/30 cesenatico > bologne, stage 3 | 07/01 plaisance > turin, stage 4 | 07/02 pinerolo > valloire, stage 5 | 07/03 saint-jean-de-maurienne > saint-vulbas, stage 6 | 07/04 mâcon > dijon, stage 7 | 07/05 nuits-saint-georges > gevrey-chambertin, stage 8 | 07/06 semur-en-auxois > colombey-les-deux-églises, stage 9 | 07/07 troyes > troyes, rest | 07/08 orléans, stage 10 | 07/09 orléans > saint-amand-montrond, stage 11 | 07/10 évaux-les-bains > le lioran, stage 12 | 07/11 aurillac > villeneuve-sur-lot, stage 13 | 07/12 agen > pau, stage 14 | 07/13 pau > saint-lary-soulan pla d'adet, stage 15 | 07/14 loudenvielle > plateau de beille, rest | 07/15 gruissan, stage 16 | 07/16 gruissan > nimes, stage 17 | 07/17 saint-paul-trois-châteaux > superdévoluy, stage 18 | 07/18 gap > barcelonnette, stage 19 | 07/19 embrun > isola 2000, stage 20 | 07/20 nice > col de la couillole, stage 21 | 07/21 monaco > nice, tour culture, grand départ florence émilie-romagne 2024, grand départ lille-nord de france 2025, 2024 tour de france finale in nice, riding into the future, all the news, official tour operators, history of tour de france, accessories.

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Tour de France 2023 stage-by-stage guide: Route maps and profiles for all 21 days

A closer look at every day of the race from bilbao to paris, article bookmarked.

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The 2023 Tour de France has all the ingredients of a classic: two leading protagonists ready to tear lumps out of each other in reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard and the deposed Tadej Pogacar; entertaining multi-talented stage hunters Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe and Tom Pidcock; the great Mark Cavendish chasing a historic 35th stage win; all facing a brutal route with 56,000m of climbing and four summit finish.

The Tour began in the Spanish Basque country on Saturday 1 July, where Adam Yates edged twin brother Simon to win the opening stage, and these hilly routes will throw open the yellow jersey to a wide range of contenders. The race crosses the French border for some flat stages and an early jaunt into the high Pyrenees, where the Col du Tourmalet awaits. The peloton takes on the Puy de Dome volcano on its journey across France towards the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and it is in the mountains that this Tour will ultimately be decided. It all ends on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday 23 July.

Here is a stage-by-stage guide to how the race will unfold.

Stage 1: Bilbao to Bilbao, 182km

The 2023 Tour de France starts outside Bilbao’s iconic Guggenheim Museum, and winds north to the Bay of Biscay coastline before returning to the city where the stage winner will take the yellow jersey. This 182km opening stage is a hilly route with 3,000m of climbing featuring five categorised ascents, of which the final two are sharp and testing: they are tough enough to shake off the dedicated sprinters and open up early glory for the best puncheurs – those riders with the legs to get over short climbs and the power to surge away on the other side.

The profile of this stage is a great choice by organisers as it could suit just about anyone, from the speed of Wout van Aert to the climbing strength Tom Pidcock or Simon Yates – even two-time champion Tadej Pogacar.

• Jumbo’s Death Star and Pidcock’s dog: Inside the Tour de France’s Grand Depart

Stage 2: Vitoria Gastiez to Saint Sebastian, 209km

The peloton will head east from Bilbao, touching more picturesque Basque coastline before arriving at the finish in San Sebastian. At more than 200km this is the longest stage of the 2023 Tour and, with the sizeable Jaizkibel climb (8.1km, 5.3% average gradient) shortly before the finish, this is even more tough on the legs than the first day. Another puncheur with the climbing strength to get over the steeper hills can capitalise, like two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe.

• ‘ Coup du kilometre’: How to win a Tour de France stage hiding in plain sight

Stage 3: Amorebieta to Bayonne, 187km

Stage three starts in Spain and ends in France, and the finale in Bayonne is ripe for a bunch sprint. Mark Cavendish will get his first shot of this race at trying to win a historic 35th Tour de France stage, but he will be up against a stacked field including former QuickStep teammate Fabio Jakobsen and the awesome speed of Wout van Aert. It will be fascinating to get a first glimpse of how the power riders stack up.

• ‘Jasper the Disaster’ rebuts Netflix nickname with controversial win

Stage 4: Dax to Nogaro, 182km

Another flat day and an even faster finish in store on the Circuit Paul Armagnac, a race track in Nogaro. The 800m home straight will almost certainly tee up a showdown between the Tour’s serious fast men.

• Cavendish falls short as Philipsen wins crash-laden sprint

Stage 5: Pau to Laruns, 163km

The first major mountains of the Tour come a little earlier than usual, as the peloton heads up into the high Pyrenees on day five. The Col de Soudet (15km, 7.2%) is one of the toughest climbs of the race and rears up halfway through this 163km route from Pau to Laruns. The category one Col de Marie Blanque (7.7km, 8.6%) guards the finish 20km out, and holds bonus seconds for those first over the top to incentivise the major contenders to come to the fore and fight it out.

• Hindley grabs the yellow jersey as Vingegaard punishes Pogacar

Stage 6: Tarbes to Cauterets, 145km

This has the potential to be a thrilling day: the 145km route takes on the double trouble of the category one Col d’Aspin (12km, 6.5%) followed by the monstrous hors categorie Tourmalet (17.1km, 7.3%), before a fast ascent and a final climb to the summit finish at Cauterets (16km, 5.4%).

It is a day with several possible outcomes. The general classification contenders could fight it out in a showdown to the summit. Then again, a breakaway could be allowed to escape which would open up victory – and perhaps the yellow jersey – to an outsider. The last time the Tour finished in Cauterets in 2015, breakaway specialist Rafal Majka surged clear of his fellow escapers to win. Keep an eye on Ineos’s Tom Pidcock, who could use the long, fast descent from the Tourmalet summit to speed to the front, as he did before winning atop Alpe d’Huez last year.

• Pogacar responds to send message to Vingegaard

Stage 7: Mont de Marsan to Bordeaux, 170km

The first week of racing finishes in the Tour’s second most visited city, Bordeaux, and it’s a third flat day for the sprinters to contest. Much will depend on who has best preserved their legs through the high mountains when they come to this tight, technical finish on the banks of the Garonne river in the city centre.

• Philipsen pips Cavendish in thrilling finish to deny Brit all-time record

Stage 8: Libourne to Limoges, 201km

A long, hilly day will see the peloton head 201km east from Libourne outside Bordeaux to Limoges. The lumpy stage should suit a puncheur but it is not a particularly taxing set of climbs – only three are categorised and the toughest of those is just 2.8km at 5.2%. So could a determined team carry their sprinter to the finish and the stage win? Look out for Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, superstars with the all-round talent to conquer the climbs and still finish fast.

• Cavendish crashes out to end Tour de France record hopes

Stage 9: Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dome, 184km

The final stage before the relief of the first rest day is relatively flat and gentle – until a brutal finish atop the iconic Puy de Dome volcano, a 13.3km drag at a gruelling 7.7% average gradient that last appeared in the Tour in 1988. The summit finish will require a serious climber’s legs to clinch the stage win, and the general classification contenders may well let a breakaway get ahead and fight for that prize.

• Woods takes win as Pogacar hits back at Vingegaard

Rest day: Clermont-Ferrand, Monday 10 July.

Stage 10: Parc Vulcania to Issoire, 167km

The race resumes in the centre of France from Vulcania – a volcano-themed amusement park – where riders will embark on a hilly 167km route through the Volcans d’Auvergne regional park, finishing down in the small town of Issiore. With five categorised climbs, including the sizeable Col de Guery (7.8km at 5%) and the Croix Saint-Robert (6km at 6.3%), it will be a draining ride with virtually no sustained flat sections, and a long descent to the finish town. It looks like a good day to plot something in the breakaway, as the big GC contenders save their legs for bigger challenges to come.

• Bilbao dedicates emotional stage win to late Gino Mader

Stage 11: Clermont Ferrand to Moulins, 180km

The final flat stage before the hard Alpine climbs will present an opportunity for those fast men who managed to haul themselves through the Pyrenees to get here – although there is still some climbing to be done including three category-four leg-sappers along the 180km route. The day begins in the university city of Clermont-Ferrand before the riders wind north and then east to Moulins, a small town on the Allier river. Any breakaway is likely to be reeled by those teams with dedicated sprinters eyeing their only opportunity for a stage win between the two rest days.

• Philipsen continues flat-stage dominance even without van der Poel

Stage 12: Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, 169km

The race caravan will shift east to start stage 12 in Roanne in the Loire region, before taking a 169km route to Belleville, situated on the Saone river north of Lyon. This has been categorised as a hilly or medium mountain stage, but it might feel harder than that by the time the peloton reaches the foot of the fifth categorised climb of the day, the Col de la Croix Rosier (5.3km at 7.6%). That should be enough to put off the best puncheurs like Van der Poel and Van Aert, because the stage winner will need strong climbing legs. The GC riders will want to conserve energy, so expect a breakaway to stay clear and fight amongst themselves.

• Izagirre solos to victory

Stage 13: Chatillon-Sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier, 138km

The first of three brutal stages that could decide the destiny of this year’s yellow jersey is only relatively short – 138km – but will provide a stern enough test to reveal any weaknesses in the major contenders. The peloton will enjoy a relatively flat and gentle first 75km from Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne before entering the Jura Mountains. A short climb and fast descent precedes the big climax: all 17.4km (7.1%) of the Grand Colombier providing an epic summit finish. This could be another day for a breakaway away to get free, but the overall contenders like Pogacar and Vingegaard will also fancy stage glory and the chance to stamp their authority on the race.

• Kwiatkowski wins as Pogacar eats into Vingegaard’s lead

Stage 14: Annemasse to Morzine, 152km

Part two of this triple header of mountain stages sees the peloton ride into the Alps with a 152km route from Annemasse to Morzine ski resort. Three tough category one climbs line the road to the hors categorie Col de Joux Plane (11.6km at 8.5%), a brutally steep grind where bonuses await the first few over the top – and stage victory is the prize at the bottom. This is another potential spot for yellow jersey fireworks.

• Rodriguez wins first Tour stage as Pogacar thwarted by motorbike

Stage 15: Les Gets to Saint Gervais, 180km

The last ride before the final rest day will take the peloton further east into the Alps, towards the French border with Italy. The 179km route is almost constantly up and down, with a fast descent before the final two climbs, and the summit finish atop Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc will require strong climbing legs once more.

• Pogacar and Vingegaard in stalemate as Poels wins stage

Rest day: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, Monday 17 July.

Stage 16: Individual time trial from Passy to Combloux, 22km

This year’s home stretch begins with the only time trial of the race: a short, relatively flat 22km from Passy to Combloux in the shadow of Mont Blanc. The route includes one categorised climb, the steep but short Cote de Domancy (2.5km at 9.4%). There is an opportunity here to make up crucial seconds for those that need them.

• Vingegaard takes control of yellow jersey

Stage 17: Saint Gervais to Courchevel, 166km

Put Wednesday 19 July in the diary: this will surely be the most brutal day of the entire Tour de France and it could be decisive. The 166km route features four big climbs, the last of which offers up this year’s Souvenir Henri Desgrange for the first rider over the highest point of the race. To get there the riders must endure a 28.1km slog averaging 6% gradient to the top of the Col de la Loze, towering in the clouds 2,304m above sea level. There are bonus seconds up here too, before a short descent down to the finish at Courchevel.

A breakaway will probably form, but can they last the distance? Whatever happens up the road, the fight for the yellow jersey will be fierce – only the strongest handful of riders will be able to stand the pace and this will likely be the day that the 2023 winner is effectively crowned.

• Vingegaard dominates to put seal on Tour de France

Stage 18: Moutiers to Bourg en Bresse, 186km

After a potentially explosive stage 17, stage 18 is classified as “hilly” but is really a relatively sedate 185km which the sprinters are likely to contest if their teams can haul in the inevitable breakaway. The big question is whether there will be many sprinters left in the peloton after such a demanding set of stages in the Alps. For those fast men still in the race, the descent into Bourg-en-Bresse precedes a technical finish, with roundabouts and a sharp corner before a swinging right-hand turn on to the home straight where the stage will be won and lost.

• Breakaway stays away as Asgreen takes win

Stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny, 173km

Another flat day gives a further opportunity for those sprinters left in the field, as the peloton travels 173km from Moirans, near Grenoble, north to Poligny. The general classification contenders will be happy to rest their legs before one final push to Paris.

• Matej Mohoric takes photo finish to win stage 19

Stage 20: Belfort to Le Markstein, 133km

The final competitive stage of the Tour is a 133km ride from Belfort to Le Markstein ski resort in the Vosges mountains, and it offers just enough for one final attack to steal the yellow jersey, should the overall win still be on the line. The last two climbs of the day are both steep category one ascents: first the Petit Ballon (9.3km, 8.1%) followed by the Col du Platzerwasel (7.1km at 8.4%). Whoever is wearing yellow just needs to hang on to the wheel of their fiercest rival here, and that should be enough to see them home.

• Chapeau, Thibaut Pinot

Stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to Paris Champs-Elysees, 115km

As is tradition, the peloton will transfer to Paris and ride a truce to the Champs-Elysees. The stage will start at France’s national velodrome, home of cycling for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It will finish with one final sprint: Cavendish has won four times in Paris and it would be a fitting way to end the race that has defined his career if he were to repeat the feat one last time. And once the race is done, the winner of the 2023 Tour de France will be crowned.

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Tour de France 2024 route: Two individual time trials, five summit finishes and gravel sectors

Tour de France 2024 route totals 3,492km of racing with 52,320 metres of overall elevation across 21 stages

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• Stage summary

The Tour de France 2024 route will include five summit finishes, 59km of individual time trialling, and gravel sectors on stage nine, it has been announced by its organiser ASO.

The route for the 111th edition of the race was unveiled in a presentation inside Paris's Palais des Congrès on Wednesday. 

It begins on the 29 June, and finishes on the 21 July, three weeks later. 

As was confirmed last year, the race will begin in Italy for the first time , with stages from Florence to Rimini, Cesenatico to Bologna and Piacenza to Turin. It will mark 100 years since the first Italian winner of the Tour, Ottavio Bottecchia.

Another first is that the Tour will not conclude in Paris for the first time ever, due to the 2024 Paris Olympics, with the final stage coming in Nice. It also means that for the first time since 1989, the final stage will be contested, in a time trial. 

On the way, the race tackles the Alps, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, including four summit finishes at Pla d'Adet, the Plateau de Beille, Superdévoluy, Isola 2000 and the Col de la Couillole, and 59 kilometres of time trialling across stages seven and 21.

There are 14 gravel sectors on stage nine from Troyes to Troyes, totalling 32km, with six packed into the final 35km in what could be a decisive point of the race. The longest is 4km.

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With the final day a hilly time trial in Nice and not the usual procession in to Paris, it is hoped that the race will be alive right to the end of the race. The whole final week, in fact, will be crucial for general classification, with four of the six days potentially decisive.

According to the race organisers, there are eight sprint opportunities along the way, although some are not as straightforward as others, with a breakaway sure to contest some of them. Mark Cavendish will be looking forward to Saint-Amand-Montrond on stage 13, where he won in 2013, and Nîmes on stage 16 especially, where he won in 2008.

Last year, the race was dominated by Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), who crushed all of his competition, including Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), on the stage 16 time trial to Combloux and stage 17's summit finish in Courchevel .

Tour de France 2024 route: stage by stage

Full tour de france 2024 route map.

Tour de France 2024 route week one

The 2024 Tour de France begins how it means to go on, with a lot of climbing. Stage one begins in Florence, and includes 3,800km over 205km, the most ever in an opening stage, according to race director Christian Prudhomme.

The second stage is also hilly, starting from Marco Pantani's hometown of Cesenatico, finishing in Bologna through Emilia-Romagna. It copies the route of the Giro dell'Emilia, including the final climb of San Luca - 1.9km at 10.6 per cent - which is tackled twice.

There is a chance for the fast men on stage three, which covers 225km from Piacenza to Turin. 

Stage four sees the race finally reach France, via the Alps. The Sestriere, the Col de Montgenèvre and the Col du Galiber are all tackled before a descent to Valloire.

Stages five and six, to Saint-Vulbas and Dijon, should be sprint opportunities, but the fast men could be ambushed.

The race's first individual time trial comes on stage seven, but it will be a technical affair as opposed to a pure rouleur 's course, before stage eight should be another chance for the sprinters.

Stage nine could be the highlight of the opening week, and is certainly something new, using the gravel roads of the Champagne region to mix things up. The 32km of gravel across 14 sectors is inspired from the Tour de France Femmes 2022, which used two of the same tracks; it is the biggest use of gravel at the Tour to date.

Tour de France 2024 route week two

After a rest day in Orléans, the closest to Paris the race gets in 2024, there are four stages which head south towards the Pyrenees.

Stage ten will surely be a sprint stage, but the winds could blow, as they did in 2013, when Cavendish won, while stage 11 is a return to medium mountains. The stage to Le Lioran is similar to the one which Greg Van Avermaet triumphed on in 2016, taking the yellow jersey in the process. 4,500m of climbing will make this a tough test for everyone.

It's back to sprinting or breakaways on stages 12 and 13 to Villeneuve-sur-Lot and Pau, respectively, with the latter looking more nailed on for a bunch finish.

Stage 14 is the first Pyrenean test, finishing atop the Pla d'Adet, which marks Raymond Poulidor's victory up there 50 years ago; it follows the Col du Tourmalet and the Hourquette d’Ancizan in just 152 km.

After that, the climbing does not stop. On Bastille Day, Catorze Juillet , the race heads from Loudenvielle to Plateau de Beille, in a stage that covers 198 km, with 4,850 metres of climbing. The Peyresourde is tackled first, followed by the Col de Menté, the Col de Portet d’Aspet, the Col de la Core, and Col d’Agnès, before the final test to Plateau de Beille. It will surely help decide the direction of the race.

Tour de France 2024 route week three

A classic transition stage follows the second rest day from Gruissan to Nîmes, which is planned as a sprint stage, but if the winds blow, mayhem could ensue.

Stage 17 is a return to the mountains with a finish in the ski resort of Superdévoluy on the fringes of the Alps, before stage 18 looks set to be a breakaway day as the race travels from Gap to Barcelonnette.

It is the final three days where the 2024 champion will be crowned, however, with two back-to-back summit finishes in southeast France. Stage 19 finishes atop Isola 2000, with the Col de Vars, at 2,120m, before the Col de la Bonnette, at 2,802m, marks the high point of the race, and then there's Isola 2000.

Stage 20 feels like a Paris-Nice penultimate stage, and kind of is, with some of the favourite climbs from the race tackled consecutively. The Col de Braus is first, 10.2km at 6.3 per cent, before the Col de Turini, 20.6km at 5.6 per cent, and then the Col de La Colimiane, 7.6km at 6.8 per cent, and then, finally the Col de la Couillole, 15.7km at 7.1 per cent. That's 4,500m of elevation in just 132km.

However, that is not the end of the race. This year, there is a final day time trial around Nice, not a procession in Paris. The 35km course includes La Turbie, 8.1km at 5.6 per cent, and the Col d’Eze, 1.6km at 8.1%, before concluding on the Promenade des Anglais.

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Adam is Cycling Weekly ’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.

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Tour de france route 2021: stage profiles, previews, start times, dates, distances.

A stage-by-stage look at the 2021 Tour de France route with profiles, previews, distances, dates and estimated start times (all times Eastern). Check out extended highlights here.

• Click here to watch the 2021 Tour de France live on Peacock

Stage 1: BREST→LANDERNEAU

• Date : Saturday, June 26
• Start time : 6:00 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 197.8 km (122.9 miles) - Hilly
• Preview : The 1st stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers approximately 198 km. The race starts in Brest and ends in Landerneau in what should be an exciting finish to see who can claim the first yellow jersey of the Tour. It includes 6 categorized climbs, though none tougher than a Category 3, and an intermediate sprint at 135.1 km.
• Extended highlights: Click here to watch

Stage 2: PERROS-GUIREC→MUR-DE-BRETAGNE

• Date : Sunday, June 27
• Start time : 7:00 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 183.5 km (114 miles) – Hilly
• Preview : The 2nd stage of the 2021 Tour de France is a 183.5-kilometer hilly stage that starts in Perros-Guirec and ends on the Mur-de-Bretagne in Guerledan. It features another 6 categorized climbs, all Category 3 or 4, including two climbs of the Mur-de-Bretagne. Between bonus seconds behind awarded atop the first Mur-de-Bretagne ascent and an uphill sprint to the finish line on the last climb, there could be an early swap of the yellow jersey.

Stage 3: LORIENT→PONTIVY

• Date : Monday, June 28
• Distance : 182.9 km (113.6 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 3rd stage of the 2021 Tour de France is simpler flat stage, covering approximately 182.9 km and only featuring a pair of Category 4 climbs. In between those two climbs on the route from Lorient to Pontivy is an intermediate sprint at 118.3 km. With a flat road to the finish line, this stage should see the “pure” sprinters compete head-to-head for the first time in this year’s Tour.

Stage 4: REDON→FOUGERES

• Date : Tuesday, June 29
• Start time : 7:15 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 150.4 km (93.5 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 4th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 150.4 km, as the best sprinters in the world will be on display for a second straight flat stage. The race from Redon to Fougeres is the only non-time trial stage in this year’s Tour without a single categorized climb. The stage features an intermediate sprint in the 2nd half of the stage at 114.4 km before another bunch sprint is expected at the finish line.

Stage 5: CHANGE→LAVAL

• Date : Wednesday, June 30
• Start time : 6:05 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 27.2 km (16.9 miles) – Individual Time Trial
• Preview : The 5th stage of the 2021 Tour de France is the first of two individual time trials, this one starting in Change and ending in Laval. It’s the first year since 2017 that the Tour has featured multiple individual time trials, which suggests the yellow jersey could be decided by which of the GC riders are the best time trialists. The rider who finishes the 27.2 km route on Stage 5 could very well be the new leader until at least the second week of racing.

Stage 6: TOURS→CHATEAUROUX

• Date : Thursday, July 1
• Start time : 7:45 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 160.6 km (99.8 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 6th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 160.6 km from Tours to Chateauroux and is another stage designed for a finish-line showdown between the sprinters. One Category 4 climb comes at 72.6 km before the green jersey race takes over. An intermediate sprint at 104.3 km precedes what should be another exciting bunch sprint to end the day.

Stage 7: VIERZON→LE CREUSOT

• Date : Friday, July 2
• Start time : 4:50 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 249.1 km (154.8 miles) – Hilly
• Preview : The 7th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 249.1 km, the longest stage since 2000. The race starts in Vierzon and ends in Le Creusot. The intermediate sprint comes before five categorized climbs, including the first Category 2 climb of the Tour, which will award bonus seconds atop the Signal d’Uchon. The course suggests it could be a successful day for the breakaway or a small group of all-rounders contending to wear yellow at the end of the first week.

Stage 8: OYONNAX→LE GRAND-BORNAND

• Date : Saturday, July 3
• Distance : 150.8 km (93.7 miles) – Mountain
• Preview : The 8th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 150.8 km and is the first mountain stage of the race. After a first week without a lot of difficult climbing, the stage from Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand features three Category 1 climbs. With bonus seconds being awarded at the top of the Col de la Colombiere, the final climb of the day, the attention turns to the best climbers in the peloton.

Stage 9: CLUSES→TIGNES

• Date : Sunday, July 4
• Start time : 6:50 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 144.9 km (90 miles) – Mountain
• Preview : The 9th stage of the 2021 Tour de France from Cluses to Tignes covers approximately 144.9 km and will be the most grueling stage of the Tour to this point. There’s five categorized climbs, all of which are Category 2 or higher, including the first HC climb of the Tour on the Col du Pre. Plus, the finish line marks the first of three summit finishes of the Tour, following a 21 km ascent up the Montee de Tignes.

Stage 10: ALBERTVILLE→VALENCE

• Date : Tuesday, July 6
• Start time : 6:55 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 190.7 km (118.5 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 10th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 190.7 km following the first of two rest days. Unless there’s extreme crosswinds, expect a simple day on the course from Albertville to Valence. Just a single Category 1 climb and the intermediate sprint come in the first half of the stage before the peloton sets itself up for a probable bunch sprint at the finish line in a day suited for the green jersey contenders.

Stage 11: SORGUES→MALAUCENE

• Date : Wednesday, July 7
• Start time : 5:50 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 198.9 km (123.6 miles) – Mountain
• Preview : The 11th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers approximately 198.9 km and features two different climbs up the same mountain. After leaving Sorgues, riders will encounter five categorized climbs in total, the last two a Category 1 climb and an HC ascent both up Mount Ventoux. Bonus seconds will be awarded atop the final climb before the majority of the final 22 km are downhill to the finish line in Malaucene.

Stage 12: SAINT-PAUL-TROIS-CHATEAUX

• Date : Thursday, July 8
• Start time : 7:20 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 159.4 km (99 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 12th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 159.4 km. The route from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Nimes is another flat stage that suits the sprinters, with no obstacles until a Category 3 climb at 83.7 km, just after the halfway point in the stage. With a late intermediate sprint in play, the green jersey race will be the highlight of the day.

Stage 13: NIMES→CARCASSONNE

• Date : Friday, July 9
• Start time : 5:55 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 219.9 km (136.6 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 13th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers a lengthy 219.9 km on the second straight day with a flat stage, starting where the previous day finished in Nimes. Once an early Category 4 climb is out of the way, the attention turns to the sprinters. While it does look like a straightforward day for the green jersey race, the finish town of Carcassonne has never seen a bunch sprint when it has hosted a finish line in the Tour.

Stage 14: CARCASSONNE→QUILLAN

• Date : Saturday, July 10
• Start time : 6:15 a.m. on Peacock , NBC
• Distance : 183.7 km (114.1 miles) – Hilly
• Preview : The 14th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 183.7 km. The race starts where it finished Stage 13 in Carcassonne and finishes in Quillan. The hilly stage features five categorized climbs, three of which are Category 2. The final climb of the day will award bonus seconds atop the Col de Saint-Louis. On paper, this looks like a day for the breakaway, with the heavier mountain stages still to come in the third week of the race .

Stage 15: CERET→ANDORRE-LA-VIEILLE

• Date : Sunday, July 11
• Start time : 6:10 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 191.3 km (118.9 miles) – Mountain
• Preview : The 15th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 191.3 km, a long mountain stage starting in Ceret and finishing in Andorre-la-Vieille. Let the third week of the Tour begin with four categorized climbs, including three Category 1 climbs, and bonus seconds up for grabs atop the Col de Beixalis. The riders will also endure the highest point of the Tour at over 2,400 meters on the Port d’Envalira.

Stage 16: PAS DE LA CASE→SAINT-GAUDENS

• Date : Tuesday, July 13
• Distance : 169 km (105 miles) – Hilly
• Preview : The 16th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 169 km following the final rest day of the race. Now that they’ve gotten another quick rest ahead of the most pivotal racing, the yellow jersey contenders might let the breakaway succeed on this hilly stage from Pas de la Case to Saint-Gaudens. Four spread-out categorized climbs make this an exciting opportunity for a strong breakaway specialist.

Stage 17: MURET→SAINT-LARY-SOULAN

• Date : Wednesday, July 14
• Start time : 5:45 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 178.4 km (110.9 miles) – Mountain
• Preview : The 17th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 178.4 km, kicking off the first of the final two mountain stages of the Tour, both of which are summit finishes. The GC battle heats up starting in Muret, where a flat lead-up to three tough categorized climbs will put the yellow jersey contenders to the test. The stage ends in Saint-Lary-Soulan on the Col du Portet - the HC summit finish taking riders to an elevation of over 2,200 meters.

Stage 18: PAU→LUZ ARDIDEN

• Date : Thursday, July 15
• Start time : 7:25 a.m. on Peacock , NBCSN
• Distance : 129.7 km (80.6 miles) – Mountain
• Preview : The 18th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 129.7 km, with the short-distance mountain stage a good indicator of a challenging day of climbing. After leaving Pau, the peloton will tackle two small Category 4 climbs in the first half of the day before two HC climbs in the second half. It’s the only stage in the Tour with multiple HC climbs, the latter a summit finish at Luz Ardiden. It’s the last opportunity for the GC riders to put themselves in good position ahead of the Stage 20 time trial two days later.

Stage 19: MOURENX→LIBOURNE

• Date : Friday, July 16
• Distance : 207 km (128.6 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 19th stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 207 km. Expect a casual day from the peloton on this flat stage following the last of the mountains the day earlier and the need for strong legs the next day in the time trial. If a courageous breakaway doesn’t take advantage of this, we should see another sprint finish in Libourne.

Stage 20: LIBOURNE→SAINT-EMILION

• Date : Saturday, July 17
• Distance : 30.8 km (19.1 miles) – Individual Time Trial
• Preview : The 20th stage of the 2021 Tour de France is the second individual time trial that covers 30.8 km. The stage starts in Libourne, where the previous stage finished, and ends in Saint-Emilion. After what happened on last year’s Stage 20 individual time trial, when the yellow jersey amazingly switched hands, brace for another exciting day that could decide the winner of the Tour for the second straight year.

Stage 21: CHATOU→PARIS - CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES

• Date : Sunday, July 18
• Start time : 10:05 a.m. on Peacock , NBC
• Distance : 108.5 km (67.4 miles) – Flat
• Preview : The 21st stage of the 2021 Tour de France covers 108.4 km. The race starts in Chatou and includes a Category 4 climb at 7.4 km and an intermediate sprint at 68.3 km. The Yellow Jersey is traditionally often solidly settled on the shoulders of the final winner at the start of this last stage, but for the sprinters who dream of triumphing on the Champs-Élysées, it’s the opportunity to take on one of the toughest challenges of the year.

Tour de France 2022: Route and stages

Read about the entire route of the Tour de France.

Please click on the links in underneath scheme for in-depth information on the individual stages.

Tour de France 2022 stages

Tour de france 2022: route, profiles, more.

Click on the images to zoom

More about the Tour de France

Tour de france 2022: the route, tour de france 2022 route stage 1: copenhagen - copenhagen.

Tour de France 2022 Route stage 2: Roskilde - Nyborg

Tour de France 2022 Route stage 3: Vejle - Sønderborg

Tour de France 2022 Route stage 4: Dunkirk - Calais

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Tour de France Route Steers Clear of Olympics, and Paris

The 2024 Summer Games have pushed the iconic bike race out of its traditional finish in Paris. The Tour will instead end in Nice, in the south of France.

By Victor Mather

Everything makes way for the Olympics. Even an event as important to the host nation as the Tour de France.

Because the 2024 Summer Games will be taking over Paris starting on July 26, the men’s Tour de France — the world’s most famous cycling race — will relocate its traditional finish this year, ending not in Paris but in Nice on July 21. The women’s race, an eight-stage event that typically starts just after the end of the three-week men’s race, will be pushed back to Aug. 12, after the Olympics conclude on Aug. 11.

Race organizers announced the routes on Wednesday at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

🤩 Here it is, the official route of the #TDF2024 ! 🤩 Voici le parcours officiel du #TDF2024 ! pic.twitter.com/3ORf31AS4T — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 25, 2023

Ending the race somewhere other than Paris is a major departure. After decades of finishing at the Parc des Princes Stadium near the Bois de Boulogne as well as the Bois de Vincennes, the Tour in 1975 began a tradition of concluding with several laps on the Champs-Élysées. The day often provides some of the race’s most iconic images: riders racing loops in a tight pack, crowds of spectators jamming the streets, the famous Arc de Triomphe as a backdrop.

When the Olympics comes to town, though, they fill a city’s hotels, restaurants, roads, stadiums and arenas, and dominate the attention of most sports fans and the security services. For those reasons, major sporting events, even in non-Olympic sports, are mostly kept away from host cities in the weeks surrounding the Games. In 1996, for example, the Atlanta Braves baseball team embarked on a 17-game, 20-day road trip while the Summer Olympics went on in their home city.

The Tour plans a different route every year, and it had previously announced some of this year’s featured changes, including the finish in Nice and a start in Italy. In between, the route this year will include the usual collection of flat roads, high mountain climbs and stages that blend both of those challenges — and a few new ones.

It is not uncommon for the Tour to begin in another country; it has done so six times in the last 10 years. Next year, the men’s Tour will start in Italy for the first time since its inception in 1903. The opening stage will travel east from Florence to Rimini on June 29, with Stages 2 and 3 in Italy as well before the race enters France.

There, riders will begin climbing in the Alps almost immediately with Stage 4, which features the grueling ascent of the Col du Galibier.

In Stage 9, near Troyes, riders who normally race on paved roads will face an unusual challenge: 14 sections — totaling just under 20 miles — of racing over white gravel roads in the countryside.

The Tour will reach the Pyrenees in the southwest of France on Stage 14, a day that includes a climb of the Col du Tourmalet, and eventually return to several extremely difficult days in the Alps.

Notable is Stage 19 in which riders, back near the Italian border, will climb three tough mountains, including the Col de la Bonette-Restefond, which at 9,193 feet is the highest point of the 2024 Tour and the highest paved through road in Europe. The peloton then will finish with a trip up to the ski resort Isola 2000.

The 21st and final stage will be the hilly time trial from Monaco to Nice. It will be the first time since 1989 that the Tour will close with a time trial. That year, on a dramatic final day, the American Greg LeMond overcame a 50-second deficit to Laurent Fignon and won the race’s overall title by eight seconds, the closest margin in history.

The women’s race will begin in the Netherlands, home of the defending champion, Demi Vollering, and then travel to Belgium before entering France.

From there, the race’s final three stages will travel south down the eastern side of France before finishing on the eighth and final stage with a potentially spectacular, and decisive, climb up the 21 switchbacks of L’Alpe d’Huez.

Some of the top women will face the Tour, among the biggest events on the women’s cycling calendar, only after competing for their countries in the Paris Games. Many of the men’s riders, meanwhile, will go straight from the Tour to the Olympics, though in both cases success in one of the events does not preclude success in the other: At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia followed a Tour de France win with a bronze medal in the Olympic road race.

Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark has won the men’s Tour de France the past two years.

The 2024 Tour will be broadcast on NBC channels and streamed on Peacock for viewers in the United States.

Victor Mather covers sports as well as breaking news for The Times. More about Victor Mather

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Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard Suffer Broken Collarbones at Itzulia Basque Country

Stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country was marked by a devastating crash, which left multiple top riders hospitalized.

Among the injured, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and several fractured ribs and will remain in the hospital. Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) also suffered a broken right collarbone and right scapula, according to each of the riders’ teams.

UAE Team Emirates’ Jay Vine also sustained fractures to three of his vertebrae, while Roglič (Bora-hansgrohe), already grappling with injuries from a prior crash, was forced to abandon the race but fortunately sustained less severe injuries and was attended to by medical staff on-site.

The incident occurred approximately 35 km from the finish line as the peloton navigated a tight right-hand bend within dense woodland. One rider’s slide triggered a domino effect, resulting in multiple riders tumbling down, some landing in unprotected concrete ditches. Initial reports suggest at least ten riders were affected, six requiring immediate hospitalization.

The severity of the crash prompted the race organizers to neutralize the competition, with concerns mounting as ambulances rushed to the scene to attend to the fallen riders. The extent of the injuries varied, with some riders, like Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates, requiring hospitalization for further evaluation.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. However, local rider Mikel Bizkarra shed light on the treacherous conditions of the road, citing the presence of underlying tree roots that rendered the asphalt uneven and prone to accidents.

As the race organization dealt with the aftermath, decisions were made to neutralize the GC battle for the day, with only the breakaway riders continuing their pursuit to the finish line. Riders like Vingegaard, conscious but under observation, were transported to hospitals for further assessment.

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Chris Froome: Another Tour de France stage win would be an 'amazing' way to end glittering career

Published 10/04/2024 at 10:20 GMT

Chris Froome was once the dominant force at the Tour de France, but after suffering serious injuries in a crash at the Criterium du Dauphine in 2019, his objectives have changed. Now 38, Froome has spoken about wanting to ride until he is 40 and also his hope to win another stage at the Tour de France. He has also given his thoughts on the "very impressive" Tadej Pogacar.

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Amstel Gold Race 2024 preview, schedule, how to watch live: Mathieu van der Poel goes for third win in three weeks

Mathieu van der Poel will look for a remarkable road cycling treble this weekend as he aims to regain the Amstel Gold Race crown he last won in 2019.

The Dutchman has won the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix Monument classics back-to-back, and has the chance to make it three wins in as many weeks in the first of the Ardennes classics on Sunday (14 April).

This race was one of the 29-year-old's first major breakthrough wins back in 2019, and it's no surprise he is one of the favourites.

But how can you watch the races? What is the route? What time does it begin? Find out below.

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With many other big names missing through injury , and defending champion Tadej Pogacar focusing on the Giro d'Italia, perhaps Van der Poel's biggest challenges will come from INEOS Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock – incidentally also a rival of his in mountain bike and cyclo-cross – and France's Benoît Cosnefroy .

Belgium's Jasper Philipsen , who was second to Van der Poel last week in Roubaix and won Milano–Sanremo earlier this season, is also a perennial threat in the one-day races.

American Matteo Jorgenson of Team Visma - Lease A Bike has also shown he can be someone to watch, having won the semi-classic Dwars door Vlaanderen at the end of March.

On the women's side, Demi Vollering of SD Worx is the defending champion; her teammate Lotte Kopecky – Van der Poel's road race world champion counterpart – enters as the winner from last weekend's Paris–Roubaix Femmes.

Another SD Worx rider, Vollering's fellow Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes , has five wins to her name this season and is also in good form.

Other challengers include the veteran Marianne Vos , Tour of Flanders winner Elisa Longo Borghini , and Katarzyna Niewiadoma – who was runner-up behind Longo Borghini in Flanders.

Amstel Gold Race 2024: Race routes

Both the men's and women's races begin in Maastricht and end in Berg en Terblijt. However, the women's race goes around a circuit following the first passage of the famed Cauberg climb – which is summitted four times in a 157.6km (97.9mi) race. There will be a total of 1812m (5945ft) of climbing.

Meanwhile, the men's route heads further south, reaching the German border at Aachen before doubling back north. The Cauberg is only climbed twice in the race, but there is far more ascending across the many punchy hills – the peloton will gain 3290m (10,794ft) of elevation across 253.6km (157.6mi) of racing.

Amstel Gold Race 2024: Women's and men's race schedules

The women's 2024 Amstel Gold Race begins at 10:00 local time (08:00 UTC). The first ascent of the daunting Cauberg is estimated at 12:12 local time (assuming an average speed of 37 km/h), with the final climb at 14:10 and the finish at 14:15.

Meanwhile, the men's peloton sets off at 10:45 local time (08:45). The first climb of the Cauberg comes 171.8km into the race, estimated at 14:50 local time (at an average speed of 42 km/h); it is only climbed one more time at 16:20 with 18.6km to go. The expected finish time is at 16:47.

How to watch Amstel Gold Race 2024 live

The men's and women's Amstel Gold Races will be broadcast live around the world, including on Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch on Flobikes .

Check local listings for more information.

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Lotte Kopecky to ride Giro d'Italia Women ahead of Paris Olympics

World Champion's Tour de France Femmes participation to be decided after Liège-Bastogne-Liège debut

SD Worx-Protime have confirmed that Lotte Kopecky will ride the Giro d’Italia Women in the lead-up to her big goal of the Paris Olympics but her participation in the Tour de France Femmes remains unknown. 

Sports manager Danny Stam confirmed the Belgian’s participation speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws , with a decision to be made on the French Grand Tour after she makes her debut at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes on April 21. 

“Lotte [Kopecky] will ride the Giro. An ideal race to score and improve stage wins yourself,” Stam told the Belgian newspaper.

“There is no long list for the Tour yet because certain riders are injured and it is not yet clear whether they will be fit. After Liège, I will sit down with Lotte and talk about the Tour. The most important thing is what she wants.”

The best in the world? Lotte Kopecky stays modest after storming to Paris-Roubaix victory 'We wanted to keep them both' - SD Worx didn't favour Kopecky over Vollering for 2025 World champion Lotte Kopecky aims high in 2024 with Paris-Roubaix, Olympic goals

Kopecky was imperious at the Tour in 2023 as she won the opening stage, claimed the green points jersey and finished second overall behind teammate Demi Vollering. 

However, she’s been doubtful about her participation ever since the dates and route were announced last year, due to close scheduling with the Omnium track event at the Olympics.

The last of four Omnium races finishes on August 11, just one day before the start of the Tour de France Femmes in Rotterdam. Kopecky definitely wants to ride, but conceded in October that “the Tour is every year while the Olympic Games are only once every four years”, making it a tough decision.

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In contrast, the rebranded Giro d’Italia Women fits perfectly with Kopecky’s Olympic goals, running from July 7-14 for eight stages of racing. This would give Kopecky three weeks to reach her absolute peak for the Olympic road race in Paris on August 4.

She missed the Italian stage race in 2023 but has raced it there in 2019, 2020 and 2022. The Giro was also where she took her first of many WorldTour wins on stage 7 four years ago while still riding for Lotto Soudal.

Fresh off the back of her thrilling Paris-Roubaix victory , Kopecky is next in action during the Ardennes Classics at the Amstel Gold Race and Liège.

Despite Kopecky being the long-term project at SD Worx-Protime having signed a contract extension until 2028 with Vollering set to depart the team in 2025 ,  she’ll play second fiddle to her Dutch teammate in the hilly Classics.

“Demi is our leader in the Ardennes. We hope to win at least one victory with her,” Stam said. “From now on, Demi is the leading lady and Lotte is a shadow leading lady. An important role. I still expect something from Lotte.”

Despite missing out on a third consecutive Tour of Flanders, Stam assured that the season has already been a success for the World Champion with big wins added to her palmarès.

“There was a lot of pressure on our team and Lotte as world champion, but she won Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix. Then you can call it a successful campaign,” he said, before admitting that it isn’t the Ardennes’ terrain that could be Kopecky’s undoing, but her form after a tough Classics campaign.

“It is not the course that will be decisive for Lotte in Liège, but the mental and physical freshness after a long spring. She has been working towards the Tour of Flanders and Roubaix. It remains to be seen how much is left in her tank compared to those who will be relatively fresh at the start.”

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James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.

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