ROULEUR

Tour de France

Tour de France 2024:
Date: Saturday June 29, 2024 - Sunday July 21, 2024 
Start: Florence, Italy
Finish: Nice, France 
Total distance: 3,492km
Stages: 21
Riders: 176
Teams: 22
Defending champion: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

Key info: Route | Start list | Favourites

TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 OVERVIEW 

The Tour de France is unquestionably the world's biggest bike race. While many other races on the cycling calendar hold historic and exceptional prestige in their own right, there is nothing quite like the Tour. It reaches beyond dedicated cycling followers and permeates the consciousness of millions of sports fans around the world and is, for many people, their only engagement with professional cycling each year.

As such, the race and its trademark elements have almost taken on a life of their own. The yellow jersey – the signifier of the leader of race's individual general classification and at the end, the overall winner – for instance, is an item of sacred sporting status that is instantly recognisable. Likewise, many of the race's most famous climbs including Alpe d'Huez, Mont Ventoux, and the Col du Tourmalet are revered landmarks of their respective mountain ranges.

But while the status of the Tour is unique, it is not the only race of its kind in cycling. Taking place over three weeks and 21 stages, it is one of cycling's three Grand Tours along with the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. Winning any of these races is an exceptional physical challenge, and few riders are capable of achieving it, let alone winning multiple editions.

However, winning the Tour catapults a rider's career into the highest echelons of cycling and sporting history. Now in its 111th edition, only 64 riders have etched their names into the roll of honour at the Tour, the most recent of whom is Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, a two-time winner.

The Tour is much more than just the yellow jersey however, with riders chasing individual stage wins throughout the race, as well as victory in the race's other classifications; the points classification (green jersey), the mountains classification (polka-dot jersey), and the best young rider classification (white jersey).

This year's Tour begins on June 29 in Florence, Italy, before ending away from its usual location in France's capital, Paris. This year it will conclude on the south coast in Nice due to the Olympic Games taking place in Paris.

TOUR DE FRANCE ROUTE 2024

The Tour de France is not a race that bucks tradition often. One of the things that makes it such a famous and hallowed sporting institution is its history, and, having now run for 120 years, it has been long and firmly established what works for the race. Yet the 2024 edition will mark one significant break from tradition as, for the first time ever, the race will finish in Nice rather than Paris. For the first time in decades, the Tour won’t end with a closing party along the Champs-Élysées of the nation’s capital, but rather with a time trial in Nice that could cause a late twist in the race for the yellow jersey.

Tour de France 2024 route map

While that change has been enforced by the external reason of the Olympics being hosted by Paris, the similarly novel decision for Italy to host the Grand Départ for the first time was the organiser's choice. Given that Italy hosts its own Grand Tour just a couple of months beforehand, the nation has never been high on the list of places for the Tour to visit but gets a chance to show off some of its most beautiful northern towns during the first four stages of the race. 

Even as the race heads into France, there are some more unconventional surprises in store. Most notably, a gravel stage at the end of the first week is sure to prove controversial, exciting some with its promise of thrilling, unpredictable racing over terrain not usually featured at the Tour, and angering others for being treacherous and too dependent on the whims of fortune.

In other respects, this Tour is like any other, with all the hallmarks that make the race what it is. The Pyrenees and the Alps will, as ever, feature, this time with the Pyrenees featuring first (leaving aside a brief crossing of the Alps as the riders travel into France from Italy during the first week). In these mountain ranges, there will be four summit finishes and enough mountains to encourage the climbing specialists among the GC contenders.

Yet there will also be a return to more time trialling after last year’s paltry total of just over 20km. This time, there will be two rather than one stage against the clock, amounting to 60km in total. There might be a lot of climbing in store, but these stages should make for a well-balanced GC race with something for everyone.

Stage one: Florence - Rimini, 206km

Stage two: Cesenatico - Bologne, 200km

Stage three: Plaisance - Turin, 229km

Stage four: Pinerolo - Valloire, 138km

Stage five: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Saint-Vulbas, 177km

Stage six: Mâcon - Dijon, 163km

Stage seven: Suits-Saint-Georges - Gevrey-Chambertin, 25km

Stage eight: Semur-en-Auxois - Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, 176km

Stage nine: Troyes - Troyes, 199km

Stage 10: Orléans - Saint-Amand-Montrond, 187km

Stage 11: Èvaux-Les-Bains - Le Lioran, 211km

Stage 12: Aurillac - Villeneuve-Sur-Lot, 204km

Stage 13: Aged - Pau, 171km

Stage 14: Pau - Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet, 152km

Stage 15: Loudenvielle - Plateau de Beille, 198km

Stage 16: Gruissan - Nimes, 187km

Stage 17: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Superdévoluy, 178km

Stage 18: Gap - Barcelonnette, 179km

Stage 19: Embrun - Isola 2000, 145km 

Stage 20: Nice - Col de la Couillole, 133km

Stage 21: Monaco - Nice, 34km

See the full route stage-by-stage

TOUR DE FRANCE TEAMS 2024

  • Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale 
  • Alpecin-Deceuninck
  • Arkéa-B&B Hotels
  • Astana Qazaqstan
  • Bahrain-Victorious 
  • Bora-Hansgrohe
  • Cofidis
  • EF Education-EasyPost
  • Groupama-FDJ
  • Ineos Grenadiers
  • Intermarché-Wanty
  • Visma-Lease a Bike
  • Lidl-Trek
  • Movistar
  • Soudal–Quick-Step
  • Team dsm-fermenich PostNL
  • Jayco AlUla
  • Israel-Premier Tech
  • Lotto Dstny
  • Uno-X Mobility
  • Total-Energies

TOUR DE FRANCE HISTORY 

The Tour de France will be in its 111th edition in 2024, first starting in 1903. Having only stopped for the two world wars, the Tour rose to become the premier event of the cycling calendar and is now one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. The Tour has changed significantly since its first iteration, but at its heart remains a gruelling test of physical and mental endurance for the participants.

Such is the Tour's prestige, overall wins and stage wins are often defining moments in the careers of riders. Some riders however have shaped the history of the Tour through their exceptional exploits, winning the general classification multiple times throughout their careers. Jacques Anquetil (1957 - 1964), Eddy Merckx (1969 - 1974), Bernard Hinault (1978 - 1985) and Miguel Indurain (1991 - 1995) hold the joint record of five for the most Tour wins, while Indurain is the only rider to win his titles in five-consecutive years. American Lance Armstrong held the record of seven until he had his titles stripped in 2012 after admitting to doping. 

Chris Froome is the only current rider with more than one Tour de France overall victory, having secured four titles between 2013 and 2017.

As for stage wins, Eddy Merckx's record of 34 was matched in 2019 by Britain's Mark Cavendish, who is undoubtedly the most successful sprinter in Tour de France history. Cavendish attempted to take this record by securing a final stage win before he retired at the end of the year, however, he crashed on stage eight and broke his collarbone, forcing him out of the race.

In the other classifications, Peter Sagan has a record seven victories in the green jersey points competition, while former French rider Richard Virenque has the same number in the polka-dot jersey of the King of the Mountains.

Most Tour de France wins: 

  • 5 wins - Jacques Anquetil (1957 - 1964), Eddy Merckx (1969 - 1974), Bernard Hinault (1978 - 1985) and Miguel Indurain (1991 - 1995)
  • 4 wins - Chris Froome (2013 - 2017)
  • 3 wins - Philippe Thys (1913 - 1920), Louison Bobet (1953 - 55), Greg LeMond (1986 - 1990)

Recent Tour de France winners: 

  • 2023 - Jonas Vingegaard, Jumbo-Visma
  • 2022 - Jonas Vingegaard, Jumbo-Visma 
  • 2021 - Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates
  • 2020 - Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates
  • 2019 - Egan Bernal, Team Ineos
  • 2018 - Geraint Thomas, Team Sky
  • 2017 - Chris Froome, Team Sky
  • 2016 - Chris Froome, Team Sky
  • 2015 - Chris Froome, Team Sky
  • 2014 - Vincenzo Nibali, Astana ProTeam
  • 2013 - Chris Froome, Sky Procycling
  • 2012 - Bradley Wiggins, Sky Procycling
  • 2011 - Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team
  • 2010 - Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank
  • 2009 - Alberto Contador, Astana
  • 2008 - Carlos Sastre, CSC ProTeam
  • 2007 - Alberto Contador, Discovery Channel
  • 2006 - Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne