After Barcelona was officially confirmed as the start location for the 2026 Tour de France by organiser A.S.O. in June 2024, the French have now unveiled the first two stages. Accordingly, the 113th Tour de France will start on 4 July 2026 with a team time trial in Barcelona with a special mode, where the 2nd stage will also finish.
Stage plan: The Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2026 in detail
Stage 1: 4th July 2026 | Barcelona - Barcelona | 19.7 kilometres (team time trial)
The start promises to be spectacular. The team time trial will be held in the same format as at the Paris-Nice The time for the team, i.e. for the daily classification, stops after the first rider of each team. For the overall classification, each rider is timed individually. The course is also a tough one with the finale over Montjuïc and up to the Stade Olympique. It is also the 50th team time trial in the history of the Tour de France - the last one to date took place in 2019 as part of stage 2 in Brussels.
Stage 2: 5 July 2026 | Tarragona - Barcelona | 178 kilometres
Stage 2 will start in Tarragona, which is also the southernmost town ever visited by the Tour de France. Here too, the classification riders will be challenged in the finale, which will take them over Montjuïc and to the Stade Olympique three times.
Stage 3: 6 July 2026 | Granollers - ?
The third day will start in Granollers. It is not yet clear where this stage will end. The organisers only say that it will head back towards the French border.
Southernmost Grand Départ of the Tour de France
The start in Barcelona is also the most southerly Grand Départ in the history of the Tour de France. The Catalan metropolis, which lies on the 41st parallel, replaces Porto-Veccio on Corsica, where the Tour of France began in 2013. This year, the Tour de France starts in Lille.
Previous stage arrivals and starts in Barcelona
2009
- Stage 6: Girona - Barcelona | 181.5 kilometres, won by Thor Hushovd
- Stage 7: Barcelona - Andorra Arcalis | 224 kilometres, won by Brice Feillu
1965
- 11th stage: Ax-les-Thermes - Barcelona | 240 kilometres, won by Jose Perez Frances
- 12th stage: Barcelona - Perpignan | 219 kilometres, won by Jan Janssen
1957
- Stage 15a: Perpignan - Barcelona | 197 kilometres, won by Rene Privat
- Stage 15b: Barcelona - Barcelona | 9.6 kilometres (individual time trial), won by Jacques Anquetil
- 16th stage: Barcelona - Ax-les-Thermes | 220 kilometres, won by Jean Bourles
