The 2026 Tour de France will start from Barcelona with the ascent of Montjuic hill

Après Saint-Sébastien en 1992 et Bilbao en 2023, au tour de Barcelone en 2026.

Ce sera la troisième fois depuis sa création en 1903 que le Tour de France s’élancera du territoire espagnol après Saint-Sébastien en 1992 et Bilbao en 2023.

The Tour de France will start from Barcelona in 2026, which will constitute the third departure from Spain in the more than century-old history of the event, the organizing company Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) announced on Tuesday. "Barcelona is a prestigious city and it’is a city of sport", underlined Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, specifying that there would be "two complete stages and the start" of the third stage in Catalonia.

The 4th "grand departure" from abroad

This will be the third time since its creation in 1903 that the Tour de France will start from Spanish territory after San Sebastian in 1992 and Bilbao in 2023. It is also the fourth “grand departure” ; from abroad in five years (the 27th in 113 editions) after Copenhagen in 2022, Bilbao in 2023 and Florence in 2024, before that of Lille in 2025.

You have the prestige of the city. You have the beauty of the landscapes, the proximity of the sea.

"These big starts allow the Tour de France to shine even more, defended Mr. Prudhomme. I claim this on the express condition that there are small French villages in the stage towns of the Tour, such as Evaux-les-Bains this year, Castelnau-Magnoac in 2022 or Châtillon-sur-Chalaron in 2023. ;quot;

Bercelona had been a candidate for a long time

Barcelona, ​​host city of the 1992 Olympic Games, was "a long-time candidate" and the current socialist mayor of the city, Jaume Collboni, in office for a year, "dreamed" to welcome the Grande Boucle, according to the Tour director, delighted with this big start. "You have the prestige of the city. You have the beauty of the landscapes, the proximity of the sea. And then you have this sporting geography which means that you can imagine a meeting from the weekend of the big start for the favorites in the general classification."

Details of the first stages will not be revealed until September. At this stage, Christian Prudhomme only indicates that there will be "two complete stages and a start on the third day in Catalonia", before from "heading towards France".

Ascent of Montjuic Hill

Only clue on the route: the ascent of the Montjuic hill, in Barcelona, ​​"is obviously an indisputable asset", he added. As for the possible imperative of placing, as in 2023, the Pyrenees from the first week of the Tour on the course, Mr. Prudhomme just recalled that "the dogma is that there is no dogma. Anything is possible."

This year, the Tour de France will start on June 29 for the first time from Italy with an unprecedented arrival three weeks later in Nice and not in Paris, due to the Olympics.