Your Guide To The 2026 Tour de France

Now that we’ve covered two of the most interesting fellas who will be riding the 2026 Tour de France, and the theory of why they’ll be riding this particular route, it’s time to talk about the route itself. This year’s Tour will span 3,321 kilometers of Spain and France while flirting with the Swiss and German borders. The route’s 54,450 meters of vertical gain make it the third-most demanding Tour of the last 20 years, though that’s deceptive, since a lot of that gain is distributed across the many intermediate, hilly stages rather than condensed in set-piece mountain stages. The 26 kilometers of individual time-trialing are also the third fewest of the last 20 years. There are four obvious sprint stages, as well as two stages I am pretty sure will come down to bunch kicks. It’s a difficult route, but also quite fun. The second week is where I think I will crack, the third where the race will be decided.

As a means of previewing each stage, I’m less interested in picking winners than in discussing the possible shape of each day’s racing. I will also award each stage a number of radishes, on a scale from one to seven, to indicate how exciting I think it will be. Allez!