The Tour de France 2026 !!!

Posted in France, Paris, Europe

This is a special post on a special race the family on my dear late wife Martine used  follows dearly every year, They are gone now , but we try to continue the tradition and either go to Pau or watch on tv the race, Lately, lucky they have passed near us and allows to see them in person, Next year will be another opportunity! Let me tell you about it now to allow for planning by those afar, and be aware this is a wonderful time to visit my belle France ,Of course, this post will be in my black and white series, no pictures, Therefore, let me make this special post on the fabolous Tour de France 2026 !!! Hope you enjoy it as I,

The third start of the du Tour de France in Spain, following San Sebastian (in 1992) and Bilbao (in 2023), will be the first welcomed by Barcelona, to kick off the 113th edition of the race which has already welcomed the Tour de France for stages on three occasions in 1957, 1965 and 2009, In Barcelona, it shares a long history with cycling, especially on the roads of Montjuïc hill, which has hosted stages of the Vuelta a España (see posts) ,and Volta a Catalunya as well as races at the World Championships and Olympic Games. The main site of the 1992 Olympics will also be at the heart of the programme on the first two stages on 4th and 5th July 2026, because the finishes of the inaugural team time-trial (19.7 km) and the following day’s stage (178 km) will both take place on Montjuïc hill in front of the Olympic stadium,

Briefly, the stages are set up so far as follows :

Stage 1 – July 4th – Barcelona > Barcelona – Team time-trial – 19.7 km, After starting out from the beaches, the course will initially favor cyclists’ collective strength with a beautiful out-and-back along the seafront, followed by a series of flat, straight boulevards at the foot of the Sagrada Família taken on at full speed. The final stretch, punctuated by two successive climbs up to the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium,
Stage 2 – July 5th – Tarragona > Barcelona – 178.4 km
Stage 3 – July 6 – Granollers > Les Angles – 196 km

Stage 4: Carcassonne – Foix (Tuesday 7 July) 182 km
Stage 5: Lannemezan – Pau (Wednesday 8 July)
Stage 6: Pau – Gavarnie-Gèdre (Thursday 9 July) 186 km
Stage 7: Hagetmau – Bordeaux (Friday 10 July)
Stage 8: Périgueux – Bergerac (Saturday 11 July)
Stage 9: Malemort – Ussel (Sunday 12 July) 185 km

First day of rest in Cantal (Monday 13 July)

Stage 10: Aurillac – Le Lioran (Tuesday, July 14) 167 km, Much of the 3,900 meters of elevation gain will be accumulated in the final 75 km with the short but demanding climbs to Col de la Griffoul, Puy Mary – Pas de Peyrol, Col de Pertus and Col de Font du Cére.

Stage 11: Vichy – Nevers (July 15 )
Etapa 12: Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours – Chalon-sur-Saône ( July 16)
Etapa 13: Dole – Belfort (Viernes July 17)

Stage 14: Mulhouse – Le Markstein-Fellering (Saturday, July 18) 155 km, A day of over 3,800 meters of elevation gain, the riders will climb the Grand Ballon, the Col du Page, and the Ballon d’Alsace before the 11.2-km climb to the Col du Haag at 7.3%, which will reach its summit 6 km from the finish in Le Markstein.

Stage 15: Champagnôle – Plateau de Solaison (Sunday, July 19) The climb to Le Salève – Col de la Croisette, 4.7 km at 11.2%, which will be the prelude to one of the unprecedented giants of this Tour: the Plateau de Solaison, an 11.3-km climb at 9.1% that was climbed in the Dauphiné. (A sentimental stage see post Champagnôle)

Second rest day in Haute-Savoie (Monday, July 20)

Stage 16: Évian-les-Bains – Thonon-les-Bains (Tuesday, July 21) 26km, time trials covering a route between Évian-les-Bains and Thonon-les-Bains. A very demanding time trial starts with the climb to the Côte de Larringes, with 9.5 km at 4.3% before the descent, and a final 9 km of flat terrain ideal for riders to make up ground.

Stage 17: Chambéry – Voiron ( Wednesday May 22)

Stage 18: Voiron – Orcières-Merlette (Thursday, July 23) 185 km, The climb to the Côte d’Engines right at the start could lead to some moves for the breakaway before the climb to the Côte de Montereynard and the final climb to Orcières-Merlette, with its 7.1 km at 6.7%.

Stage 19: Gap – Alpe d’Huez (Friday, July 24) 128 km, A 3,500 meters of elevation gain. The climbs near the start of the Col Bayard, and especially the Col du Noyer, a 7.2-km climb at 8.5%, could give the GC teams a chance to shake things up before entering favorable terrain leading up to the Col d’Ornon, a prelude to the classic climb of the 21 corners of Alpe d’Huez, a 13.8-km climb at 8.1%.

Stage 20: Le Bourg d’Oisans – Alpe d’Huez (Saturday, July 25) 171 km ,The peloton will face the climbs of three giants: the Col de la Croix de Fer, a 24-km climb at 5.2%; the Col du Telegráphe, 11.9 km at 7.1%; and the Col du Galibier, with 17.7 km at 6.9% gradient, before tackling the 12.8-km climb to the Col de la Sarenne at 7.3% gradient, on one of the slopes leading to Alpe d’Huez in this unprecedented double finish at the legendary Alpine ski resort.

Stage 21: Thoiry – Paris Champs-Élysées (Final Sunday, July 26) , A stage in which the cyclists will climb the Rue Lepic in Montmartre up to three times, on a circuit that has come to stay on this final day of the Tour, before the finish on the Champs-Élysées, where the winner of the 2026 Tour de France will be crowned.

As usual my five cents worth , this again will cross national boundaries which has become a habit of this great race over the last years, My favorite stages are the stages 4-8, 15, and of course the final 21, Can’t guarantee as too far ahead but will try to be at Bordeaux for the end of stage 7 or at Pau for end stage 5 or start of stage 6,

The official Tour de France 2026 route : https://www.letour.fr/en/the-race/grands-departs/grand-depart-2026

There you go folks, plenty of beautiful scenery and great commentators as always, A fun family day ,we look forward every year for the memories of always, now with less at home but big on our hearts, Again, hope you enjoy the post and the Tour de France 2026 !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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