The excitement is starting to be felt in the air for the departure of the 2024 Tour de France from Florence in a few days and yet we are already looking beyond: the director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, together with the mayor of the host city, announced yesterday that theThe 2026 Tour will start from Barcelona.
The 113th edition of the Grande Boucle will therefore start from the Catalan capital on July 4, 2026.
After the Grand Départ in the Basque Country in 2023, the Tour de France will experience another adventure on Iberian soil in two years.
The host city of the 1992 Olympic Games has already hosted the Tour de France on three occasions (1957, 1965 and 2009). It also served as the backdrop to the opening of the Vuelta in 2023.
Barcelona will also set a small record: being astride the 41st parallel, it will be the southernmost starting point of the race.
The Catalan city has a long-standing relationship with cycling as it is the focal point of one of the oldest and most prestigious races on the cycling calendar: the Volta a Catalunya, first held in 1911.
The Vuelta a España, however, has visited Barcelona 40 times over the years, including two starts. in 1962 and 2023.
The route of the 2026 Tour will include the former two stages in Catalonia and the start of the third stage, which will then end on French soil.
More information can be found directly on the letour.fr website.
HERE are all our previous articles regarding the Tour de France.
