le Tour de France:
the greatest show on Earth

advertising disclaimer

the tour de france 2024 - what to look forward to

Very soon it will be the extraordinary three weeks that is cycling’s biggest race, the Greatest Show on Earth, the Tour de France. This year, for the first time, the Tour will not finish on the Champs-Élysées (the first time in 100 years), to not clash with preparations for the  Olympic and Paralympic Games being held in Paris.

The TDF speeds away on Saturday 29th June with the first Grand Départ from Italy.

By the time the race finishes in Nice, a total of 3,492 kilometres will have been covered. The TDF will have visited four countries - Italy, Saint-Marino, Monaco, and France. In France, 7 regions and 30 departments will be visited. The final day, on Sunday July 21st, will be a second individual time trial. (The last time trial on the final day was 35 years ago in 1989, from Versailles to Paris, Champs-Élysées.)

The new generation of 'big hitters' -  Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogacar, Primož Roglic, and Jonas Vingegaard - will be fighting to prove who's best, while sprinter and newly knighted Sir Mark Cavendish is back, no doubt to achieve a 35th stage win and so beat Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage wins in the Tour de France.

The 2024 Tour de France route includes

3,492 km

• eight flat stages,
• four hilly stages and
• seven mountain stages, with
• four high altitude finishes:

• Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet, 1669 m (stage 14),
• Plateau de Beille, 1784 m (stage 15),
• ISOLA 2000, 2024 m (stage 19),
• Col de la Couillole, 1676 m (stage 20).

• 37 mountain stages, uphill and summit finishes
• four mountain ranges: Apennines (Italy), the Italian and French Alps, Massif Central and Pyrenees

• the summit of the Tour will be the Bonette pass in the Alps, the highest tarmac road in France at 2802 m.
• 32 km "routes blanches", in 14 sections of white gravel lanes/tracks (stage 9, Troyes – Troyes)
• two individual time trials:

• Nuits-Saint-Georges – Gevrey-Chambertin (stage 7), 25 km
• Monaco – Nice (stage 21), 32.5 km

• two rest days

Although there is an emphasis to providing work for the race's climbers, sprinters, puncheurs and daredevils will also have the opportunity to shine on the roads of France.

Twelve cities will host the Tour de France for the first time, in order of visit :
Florence, Rimini, Cesenatico, Bologna, Piacenza, Saint-Vulbas, Gevrey-Chambertin, Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, Évaux-les-Bains, Gruissan, Superdévoluy, Col de la Couillole. 

Tour de France 2024 route in full, 5:25 mins

For full details of this year's Tour de France, including
the stages, the teams, the climbs and more, go to

2024 Tour de France - so much climbing - Italy to Nice !

some history

The first Tour de France took place in 1903, with a first stage from Montgeron to Lyon, lasting an overwhelming 467 kilometres. There were six stages. The first Tour was 2,428 kilometres long and the prize was 6,075 francs.

watching the race on tv

The Tour de France is being televised throughout the world. The following table lists the broadcasters by country including those providing live broadcasts.

Note, Eurosport broadcasts in Britain on Sky channels 410 - 413, as well as in mainland Europe .
Frances broadxasts on France 2 or France 3.

For more details, see the TDF Broadcasters page.

Official TDF broadcasters, 2022

There is no immediate indication whether or not broadcasts are free to view, h

background art to the Tour

I have been trying to get round to doing a section illustrating another part of the fun of the Tour. Everywhere that you go on the Tour route, in among the banners and other festivities, you will see installations by farmers, school children, local villages, trade organisations and individuals. I hope to collect these together. The best way to give you a flavour is to collect a picture gallery.

Welcoming guardian, with Occitan flag, at the entrance to Bastanes village, 2007

Two of an avenue of bike decorations at Orthez, 2007

The final day, by Xavier:
The last stage, on the final Sunday, is a stage of two, three, or is it four parts?

First comes a jolly afternoon ride through French countryside. Arch Tour rivals start to chatter, teams ride in formation - not in Indian file - but as a most un-aerodynamic array, in line across the road. The whole peleton is together - no break-aways, no competition, after all this is a travelling party celebrating a job well done. The team director will crack open a bottle or two of bubbly, and everyone will be toasting each other as they ride along. Even TV motorcyclists will join in, particularly the past spotty jersey multi-winner, now reporter - Laurent Jalabert : JaJa the Panda.

This socialising and partying continues as the peleton enters into Paris. Landmarks start to be recognisable, is that the TV Channel 2 building going past, the Eiffel Tower? Now, the champagne flutes are returned to the team cars and the riders start to settle down to the work of the last day. Up and down the cobbled Champs d’Elysée they go, round the Arch de Triumph and down the other end, to go round the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, past the serried lines of Norbert Dentressangle trucks, transporting the Tour - Norbert! (Norberts are now official suppliers to the Tour de France until 2013.)

The tension starts to build as each of the eight or ten laps are made, and then it happens. The final lap has been made and.... pow, they’re off for the final crazy dash, the sprint to the finish that will determine the overall winners of the stage, the green points jersey and, maybe one day, the overall winner of this year’s Tour de France.

The last evolution of the day is the final podium. Bouquets are held high, while the attendant colour-coordinated girls appear to be sniffing the cyclists’ underarms, much shaking of hands with public worthies, bestowing of medals, national anthems, the now traditional display by the winning cyclists of their very sweet young children, suitably dressed in green, or red and white, or yellow cycling grab.

end notes

1. Points allocations prior to 2011
   Best climber: For the mountain stages, if the last climb is classed as 2nd or 1st difficulty, or out of classification [hors catégorie] the points for that last ascent are doubled.
   
   Best sprinter: For every stage except the individual against-the-clocks, the three first riders of the intermediary sprints gain 6,4 and 2 seconds respectively, while the first three arrivals for each stage gain 20,12 and 8 seconds respectively. [There are three intermediate sprints on flat stages, 2 sprints on other stages.]
   
   
2. On 28 April 2015,  XPO Logistics group bought Norbert Dentressangle, including acquired debt, for $3.56 billion (3.24 billion euros). This acquisition was completed on 8 June 2015, and the Dentressangle brand was phased out from June 2015. However, shoutig out "XPO" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Nrbert", nr are the lorries as striking.
   XPO Logistics has taken over being the Tour de France carriers.

email email_abelard [at] abelard.org

© abelard, 2004 - 2024


all rights reserved

the address for this document is https://www.abelard.org/france/le-tour.php