TheTour de France is an annualroad bicycle race held over 23 days in July. Established in 1903 by newspaperL'Auto Grand Tours "; the others are theGiro d'Italia and theVuelta a España .[ 1] [ 2]
The course changes every year, almost always finishing in Paris; since1975 (except for 2024) it has finished along theChamps-Élysées . The start of the course is known as theGrand Départ . Since the 1950s it has typically taken place in a different town each year, and since the 1970s it has been common to award the Grand Départ to cities outsideFrance as a way of increasing international interest in the competition and the sport. In all, the Grand Départ has occurred outside France 26 times: 13 times in the Low Countries, 4 times in Germany, and 9 times elsewhere. The right to host the Grand Départ is now highly sought after, with cities bidding to host, and has been shown to increase economic activity as well as interest in cycling in the host area.[ 3] [ 4] [ 5]
In recent years, cities outside France have paid organisersAmaury Sport Organisation around €6 million to host the Grand Départ. French cities pay less, withBrest paying €3.6 million in 2021 and Lille paying €4.2 million in 2025.[ 6]
In 2024, the first Grand Départ outside France for theTour de France Femmes took place inRotterdam , in theNetherlands .[ 7]
Tour de France Femmes [ edit ] [ edit ] Countries that have hosted the Grands Départ No. Country Cities 6 Netherlands s-Hertogenbosch, Amsterdam, Leiden, Rotterdam, Scheveningen, Utrecht 5 Belgium Brussels (2), Liège (2), Charleroi 4 Germany West Germany Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, West Berlin 2 Luxembourg Luxembourg City (2) 2 Spain Barcelona (future) , Bilbao, San Sebastian2 United Kingdom Leeds, London,Edinburgh (future) 1 Denmark Copenhagen 1 Ireland Dublin 1 Italy Florence 1 Monaco Monte Carlo 1 Switzerland Basel
Notes and references [ edit ] ^ FAQ Union Cycliste Internationale . Archived fromthe original on 23 July 2009. Retrieved17 August 2009 .^ Dauncey, Hugh; Hare, Geoff (2003).Tour de France: 1903-2003 . Routledge. p. 149.ISBN 978-0-7146-5362-4 ^ "Yorkshire tourism boost after Tour de France Grand Depart" .BBC News . 2015-07-13. Retrieved2025-03-25 .^ Guide Historique (PDF) .Tour de France . Retrieved13 July 2015 .^ Startt, James." .Rouleur . Retrieved2025-03-25 . ^ "For Tour de France, foreign starts are a money-spinner" .The Straits Times . 2025-03-01.ISSN 0585-3923 . Retrieved2025-09-18 .^ Farrand, Stephen (2023-07-10)."Tour de France Femmes to start in the Netherlands in 2024" .cyclingnews.com . Retrieved2023-07-10 . ^a b c d e f g h i j k Fotheringham, Alasdair; Ostanek, Dani (2022-06-29)."Tour de France: 10 memorable foreign starts" .Cyclingnews . Retrieved2025-09-04 . ^ "Tour '87 start in West-Berlijn" .Leidse Courant . Retrieved1 December 2013 .^ McArdle, Jim (3 April 1997)."Irish stages confirmed for 1998 Tour de France" .The Irish Times Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved16 April 2019 . ^ "Tour de France 2000 – Route" .Tour de France .Amaury Sport Organisation . Archived fromthe original on 3 December 2000. Retrieved4 April 2020 .^ "Tour de France 2001 – The route" .Tour de France .Amaury Sport Organisation . Archived fromthe original on 3 May 2004. Retrieved25 March 2019 .^ "Tour de France 2002 – All the stages" .Tour de France .Amaury Sport Organisation . Archived fromthe original on 3 August 2002. Retrieved4 April 2020 .^ "www.cyclingnews.com presents the 90th Tour de France, 2003" .autobus.cyclingnews.com . Retrieved2025-03-20 .^ "Tour de France 2004 – All the stages" .Tour de France .Amaury Sport Organisation . Archived fromthe original on 5 March 2005. Retrieved4 April 2020 .^ "Tour de France 2005 – List of stages" .Tour de France .Amaury Sport Organisation . Archived fromthe original on 6 August 2005. Retrieved4 April 2020 .^ "Tour de France 2006 – List of stages" .Tour de France .Amaury Sport Organisation . Archived fromthe original on 26 November 2006. Retrieved4 April 2020 .^ Fotheringham, William (2006-01-25)."Tour départ has £60m riding on it for London" .The Guardian .ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved2025-03-20 . ^ "Tour de France 2008 – The Tour 2008" .Tour de France .Amaury Sport Organisation . Archived fromthe original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved4 April 2020 .^ Brown, Gregor (2007-12-16)."2009 Tour de France's stages in Monaco confirmed" .cyclingnews.com . Retrieved2025-03-25 . ^ "Tour de France 2010 – The route" . Tour de France. 14 October 2009. Archived fromthe original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved14 October 2009 .^ "Tour de France ditches prologue for 2011" .The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved30 October 2016 .^ Wynn, Nigel (29 October 2010)."2012 Tour to start in Liege" .Cycling Weekly Time Inc. UK . Archived fromthe original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved27 August 2011 . ^ "Tour de France: Corsica lands centennial grand départ" .The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved20 August 2015 .^ "Tour de France: Yorkshire to host start of 2014 race" .BBC Sport . Retrieved31 October 2016 .^ Brown, Gregor (8 November 2013)."2015 Tour de France to start in Utrecht" .Cycling Weekly . Retrieved31 July 2015 . ^ "2016 Tour de France to start at Mont Saint-Michel" .Cyclingnews.com . Retrieved9 December 2014 .^ Hood, Andrew (22 December 2015)."2017 Tour to begin with Dusseldorf time trial" .VeloNews Competitor Group, Inc. Archived fromthe original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved14 January 2016 . ^ "Tour de France announces 2018 Grand Départ" .VeloNews Agence France-Presse . 12 February 2017. Retrieved1 August 2018 .^ "2019 Tour de France Grand Depart routes revealed" .Cyclingnews.com Future plc . 16 January 2018. Retrieved6 July 2019 .^ Wynn, Nigel (12 March 2018)."Nice announced as host for Tour de France 2020 Grand Départ" .Cycling Weekly . Retrieved6 July 2018 . ^ Frattini, Kirsten (2020-08-10)."2021 Tour de France Grand Départ officially moves from Copenhagen to Brittany" .cyclingnews.com . Retrieved2022-07-25 . ^ Robinson, Joe (14 October 2021)."Full route for the 2022 Tour de France announced" .Cyclist . Retrieved2022-07-25 . ^ Farr, Stephen (2022-01-26)."2023 Tour de France to start in the Basque Country" .cyclingnews.com .Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved2022-11-02 . ^ "Tour de France 2024 to start in Italy for first time in history of race (+ video)" .road.cc . 21 December 2022. Retrieved2 January 2023 .^ "Les trois premières étapes du Tour de France 2025 dans le Nord dévoilées" [The first three stages of the Tour de France 2025 in the North revealed] (in French). L'Équipe. 30 November 2023. Retrieved30 November 2023 .^ Thewlis, Tom (2025-02-26)."Tour de France 2026 to start with Barcelona team time trial" .cyclingweekly.com . Retrieved2025-03-21 . ^a b "Tour de France 2027: UK to host historic dual Grand Departs" .BBC Sport . 2025-03-19. Retrieved2025-03-21 .^ Whittle, Jeremy (14 October 2021)."Tour de France 2022: women's race reborn as eight-stage route unveiled" .The Guardian .ISSN 0261-3077 .Archived from the original on 14 Oct 2021. Retrieved15 February 2022 . ^ "Tour de France 2023: routes reach for the sky with limited sprint chances" .the Guardian . 2022-10-27.Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved2022-11-02 .^ Farrand, Stephen (2023-07-10)."Tour de France Femmes to start in the Netherlands in 2024" .Cycling News .Archived from the original on 10 July 2023. Retrieved2023-07-10 . ^ Moultrie, James (2024-06-10)."2025 Tour de France Femmes to be longest yet with nine stages" .cyclingnews.com . Retrieved2024-06-10 . ^ Giuliani, Simone (2025-06-05)."A Swiss Grand Départ for Tour de France Femmes in 2026" .cyclingnews.com .
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