25/07/2026
Tour de France in Montmartre tomorrow 😁
This Sunday, the Tour de France will finish its three-week race in Paris, and for the second year in a row, the route runs straight through Montmartre.
The final stage starts far outside the city, in Thoiry, a small town about 82.6 miles (133 kilometers) from the finish line. From there, riders pass through Versailles, cross into the Hauts-de-Seine suburbs, and finally enter Paris itself. Once inside the city, they do not head straight for the finish. Instead, they climb the cobblestone streets of Montmartre, right past the Sacré-Coeur, three separate times before making their way to the Champs-Élysées.
That Montmartre climb is short but brutal by cycling standards: about 0.7 miles (1.1 kilometers) at a 5.9 percent grade, similar in steepness to the toughest hills on the NYC Marathon course, except paved in centuries-old cobblestones instead of asphalt. The last time the riders tackle it, they are just 6.4 miles (10.3 kilometers) from the finish line, which makes it the moment most likely to decide who wins the stage.
Organizers only brought this detour back last year, after the climb proved so popular during the 2024 Paris Olympics that they made it a permanent part of the race. Riders are expected to cross the finish line on the Champs-Élysées around 7:30 p.m.
