Tadej Pogačar’s expected bid to win the Tour de France for a record-equalling fifth time next July will be shaped by the double ascent of Alpe d’Huez on back-to-back stages in the final weekend, a difficult first week visit to the Pyrenees and the race’s first opening team time trial since 1971.
Also on the menu of the 2026 Tour de France will be a return to the Vosges mountains in the east of the country, the unprecedented ascent of Plateau de Solaison on stage 15 and – just as in 2024 – another final stage across the Montmartre climb in Paris.
Jonas Vingegaard will also be pleased to see a week 2 repeat of the finish in Le Lioran in the Massif Central, the scene of Pogačar’s one defeat by the Dane in the Tour – or indeed in any race – since 2023. The summit finishes in Gavarnie-Gedre in the Pyrenees and Orcières-Merlette in the Alps, scene of Luis Ocaña’s legendary defeat of Eddy Merckx in the 1971 Tour, and an individual time trial on stage 16, will also be high points of the 2026 Tour.
However, it’s the double ascent of the Alpe d’Huez on stages 19 and 20 that form the most striking feature of next year’s race.
More to come…
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