Summer 2024 is in full swing, and in the cycling world it means that one of the most anticipated – if not the most anticipated – events of the year is rolling in (pun intended!). The 2024 Tour de France launched on June 29 in Florence, Italy, drawing in all the fans. The oldest among the three Grand Tours (with Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España launching in 1909 and 1935 correspondingly), its first edition was organized to promote sales of the French sports newspaper L’Auto. The yellow jersey of the race’s leader is a tribute to the yellow newsprint used for L’Auto.
The 2024 tour will last for the bigger part of July and end on July 21st. This year’s route will cover 3497.3 km, mostly running through the territory of France.
This year, the Tour de France will also see a couple of firsts in its run. Number one, the 2024 edition will be ending in Nice, France. This is the first time since the launch of the competition that the Tour de France live won’t be broadcasted from Champs-Élysées in Paris. The explanation for this is quite simple. As Paris is getting ready to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games, the organizers found it reasonable to move the final race elsewhere.
Another first to happen this year is the starting point. Officially called the Grand Départ, this year it takes place in Florence, Italy. 2024 will mark the 100th anniversary of the time Italy became the winner of the Tour de France for the first time. In 1924, Italian cyclist Ottavio Bottecchia won the race, bringing victory to his home country.
Tour de France Route
In its modern form, the tour covers approximately 3,500 km (2,200 mi). It usually consists of 21 stages, with the racers going through one stage per day. According to the Tour directors, these stages are categorized as “flat”, “hilly”, and “mountain”.
The 2024 Tour will include two individual time trials, one on July 5th between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey-Chambertin (Stage 7, 25.3 km) and another one on July 21st between Monaco and Nice (21st and final stage, 33.7 km). This is not a common practice in the history of the race. The last time individual time trials were set as the final stage was in 1989.
This year, the route will also run through the microstate of San Marino, making it the 14th country in the history of Tour de France to be visited during a stage.
The full route was announced in October 2023 by the general director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme. It covers a total of 3,498 km (2,174 mi). When expressing their opinions, riders referred to the route as “tough”. Special points of concern were the gravel tracks on stage 9 (199 km in Troyes) and the fact that sprinters had limited opportunities.
The full route looks as follows:
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type |
| 1 | 29 June | Florence (Italy) to Rimini (Italy) | 206 km (128 mi) | Hilly stage |
| 2 | 30 June | Cesenatico (Italy) to Bologna (Italy) | 199.2 km (123.8 mi) | Hilly stage |
| 3 | 1 July | Piacenza (Italy) to Turin (Italy) | 230.8 km (143.4 mi) | Flat stage |
| 4 | 2 July | Pinerolo (Italy) to Valloire | 139.6 km (86.7 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 5 | 3 July | Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas | 177.4 km (110.2 mi) | Flat stage |
| 6 | 4 July | Mâcon to Dijon | 163.5 km (101.6 mi) | Flat stage |
| 7 | 5 July | Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin | 25.3 km (15.7 mi) | Individual time trial |
| 8 | 6 July | Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises | 183.4 km (114.0 mi) | Flat stage |
| 9 | 7 July | Troyes to Troyes | 199 km (124 mi) | Hilly stage |
| 8 July | Orléans | Rest day | ||
| 10 | 9 July | Orléans to Saint-Amand-Montrond | 187.3 km (116.4 mi) | Flat stage |
| 11 | 10 July | Évaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran | 211 km (131 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 12 | 11 July | Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot | 203.6 km (126.5 mi) | Flat stage |
| 13 | 12 July | Agen to Pau | 165.3 km (102.7 mi) | Flat stage |
| 14 | 13 July | Pau to Saint-Lary-Soulan (Pla d’Adet) | 151.9 km (94.4 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 15 | 14 July | Loudenvielle to Plateau de Beille | 197.7 km (122.8 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 15 July | Gruissan | Rest day | ||
| 16 | 16 July | Gruissan to Nîmes | 188.6 km (117.2 mi) | Flat stage |
| 17 | 17 July | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to SuperDévoluy | 177.8 km (110.5 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 18 | 18 July | Gap to Barcelonnette | 179.5 km (111.5 mi) | Hilly stage |
| 19 | 19 July | Embrun to Isola 2000 | 144.6 km (89.9 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 20 | 20 July | Nice to Col de la Couillole | 132.8 km (82.5 mi) | Mountain stage |
| 21 | 21 July | Monaco to Nice | 33.7 km (20.9 mi) | Individual time trial |
Teams
Typically, twenty to twenty-two teams take part in the competition. As the Tour de France is classified as a UCI World Tour event, the majority of the competing teams are UCI WorldTeams. Other teams can participate upon an invitation from the organizers.
This year, 18 out of 22 participating teams are UCI WorldTeams who qualified automatically. The remaining four teams are UCI ProTeams, two of them being the highest placed in 2023 and two invited by the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) who organized the event.
Here is the full list of the teams participating in 2024 Tour de France:
- Alpecin–Deceuninck
- Arkéa–B&B Hotels
- Astana Qazaqstan Team
- Cofidis
- Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale
- EF Education–EasyPost
- Groupama–FDJ
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarché–Wanty
- Lidl–Trek
- Movistar Team
- Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe
- Soudal–Quick-Step
- Team Bahrain Victorious
- Team dsm–firmenich PostNL
- Team Jayco–AlUla
- Visma–Lease a Bike
- UAE Team Emirates
The UCI ProTeams include:
- Israel–Premier Tech
- Lotto–Dstny
- Team TotalEnergies
- Uno-X Mobility
Tour de France Live: Current Stage
As the teams entered stage 3 on July 1, let’s take a look at the current developments. Stage 3 is a flat stage, with the riders cycling 230.8 km from Piacenza to Turin. The first two stages that went through hilly terrain in an outstanding heat were not particularly favourable for sprinters.
Headlining the race were Jasper Philipsen, Belgian cyclist who won 4 out of 6 sprint stages in the 2023 Tour de France, and Mark Cavendish, British cyclist who has 34 stage wins in the course of his career and only needs one win to break the current record he shares with Eddy Merckx.
Tour de France live broadcast saw a major casualty during stage 3 as Casper Pedersen crashed with only 15 km left until the finish. Having received a collarbone fracture, the Danish rider was forced to leave the Tour. With a little over 2 km left until the end of the stage, another crash took down several riders. The remaining part of the peloton headed towards the finale with Intermarche-Wanty in the lead.
Mads Pedersen, one of the Tour’s favourites, was in close competition with Biniam Girmay and Fernando Gaviria. As a result, Pedersen only came in fourth place. Fernando Gaviria of Movistar came in second.
The title of the winner for stage 3 at the 2024 Tour de France went to the Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay, currently riding for Intermarche-Wanty. He began the stage in 10th wheel but moved up in the final stretch. He made a decision to ride on the right-hand side, between Pedersen and the barriers. This proved to be a successful strategy, earning Girmay his victory. It is the first time in the history of the Tour that an Eritrean rider wins a stage.
Here is the top ten for stage 3:
- Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty 05:26:48
- Fernando Gaviria (Col) Movistar
- Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto-Dstny
- Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
- Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jayco-Alula
- Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
- Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) DSM-Firmenich-PostNL
- Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana-Qazaqstan
- Sam Bennett (Irl) Decathlon-AG2R
- Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
Here is what general classification after stage 3 looks like:
- Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost 15:21:41
- Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
- Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep
- Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike
- Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM-Firmenich-PostNL 0:00:06
- Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:21
- Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
- Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
- Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
- Aleksandr Vlasov Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
Stage 4 that starts on July 4th in Pinerolo will take the Tour out of Italy and on to the French soil, with its finish located in Valloire, France. A mountain stage, it runs for 139.6 km.