Tour de France returns to Montmartre for grand finale in 2026, men face Alpe d’Huez double

By Canadian Press on October 23, 2025.

PARIS (AP) — After this year’s popular success, the Tour de France will return to Montmartre for the grand finale of the 2026 edition that also includes two stage finishes at the Alpe d’Huez.

Tens of thousands of fans packed the streets of Paris’ picturesque Montmartre district this summer to witness the final showdown between four-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar and his rivals.

Including the Butte Montmartre and the Sacré-Cœur basilica in the route brought fresh excitement and broke the monotony of the final stage, which is traditionally a processional ride before the sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées.

Race organizers, who unveiled the 2026 Tour route on Thursday, have decided to repeat the experience next year, concluding an event that will start in Barcelona.

The host city of the 1992 Olympic Games has previously hosted stages of cycling’s biggest race, but never its start.

The 113th edition of cycling’s biggest race will be launched on July 4 with a team time trial.

After leaving Spain and entering France, the peloton face the mountains as early as Stage 3, which will finish at Les Angles ski station.

Covering 3,333-kilometer (2,071-mile), the Tour will visit France’s five mountain ranges — the Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura, Vosges and the Alps, featuring eight mountain stages including five summit finishes.

Two stages will culminate at the famed Alpe d’Huez, including for the first time the ascent via the Col de Sarenne, just 24 hours before the arrival in Paris.

“The climb to Alpe d’Huez will be revealing its two sides for the first time, making it very possible that the deck could be reshuffled over these two days,” race director Christian Prudhomme said.

Sprinters will have many occasions to shine, notably during the first half of the race. The only individual time trial will take place against the backdrop of Lake Geneva on Stage 16.

Pogačar, the best rider of his generation, could become only the fifth rider to win the sport’s most prestigious race five times after Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Induráin and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.

The women’s race, featuring nine stages and a climb up the daunting Mont Ventoux, will start with a loop around the Swiss city of Lausanne on Aug. 1. The Tour de France Femmes riders will cover 1,175 kilometers, the longest distance since the race’s revival in 2022.

French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt won the event at her first attempt this year.

It will be the second time that the women’s Grand Départ takes place beyond French borders.

After a 21-kilometer time trial in Dijon, the race is expected to reach its climax on Stage 6, with the punishing 15.7km ascent to the summit of the Mont Ventoux. The final two stages will conclude in Nice, with the last day promising high drama over the four ascents of the Col d’Èze before a finish on the Promenade des Anglais.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

The Associated Press

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