Tour de France riders will tackle the iconic Montmartre hill in Paris on this year’s final stage before the race concludes on the Champs-Elysees, organizers announced Wednesday, aiming to ride the wave of enthusiasm from last summer’s Olympic road race.
Last year’s finale was moved to Nice – the first time since 1905 that Paris didn’t host the Tour’s climax – due to Olympic-related security and logistical constraints.
Now, the world-famous Champs-Elysees returns to the spotlight, reclaiming its place as the grand finish of the 3,320-kilometer (2,063-mile) cycling spectacle.
“To mark the 50th anniversary of the first final finish on the Champs-Elysees, and one year after the excitement and cheers of the Paris 2024 Olympic road race, the peloton will return to the capital on a route that passes through the heights of Montmartre,” organizers said.
At last year’s Olympics, huge crowds of fans gathered in Montmartre – the area in the northern part of Paris that is popular among artists and offers grand vistas of the city – to cheer on riders.
“An exceptional route has been designed, inspired by the course of the 2024 Olympic road race, which drew over 500,000 spectators last August,” Tour organizers said. “Riders will climb the Montmartre hill and pass beneath the Sacre-Cœur before battling it out on a stage that may break from the traditions established over the past 50 years in the heart of the capital.”
Traditionally, the Champs-Elysees stage is largely processional until a sprint decides the day’s winner. The inclusion of the sharp Montmartre climb could change that scenario. Full details of the route will be presented at a news conference next week.
The Tour starts from the northern city of Lille on July 5, with the women’s race kicking off on July 26 from the Brittany town of Vannes.
