More than a race: Barcelona unveil 2026 Tour de France start

BARCELONA – Barcelona will host the start of the Tour de France in 2026 with three days of racing unveiled by organisers and local officials on Feb 25, showing off the Catalan region at its best.

The world’s greatest bike race will speed past the crowds of Spain’s most vaunted avenue La Rambla and take in some of Barcelona’s architectural wonders, such as Antoni Gaudi’s modernist cathedral the Sagrada Familia.

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said the city was honoured to welcome the July 4 Grand Depart after previously hosting the Olympics, men’s World Cup and the America’s Cup.

“Today we fulfil a dream, the dream of seeing the Grand Depart of the Tour de France become a reality, a dream that Barcelona has pursued for years,” he told gathered press in Catalan.

The motto for the Catalan city’s most famous football team is “More than a club” and the organisers improvised on this by calling their Grand Depart “More than a race”.

A fierce struggle for the first yellow jersey will be decided in the form of a 19.7km team time trial passing by the Olympic port, the Sagrada Familia and ending at the Olympic stadium.

This type of challenge would on paper at least suit Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike outfit, rather than defending champion Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates.

Stage 2 starts along the coast at Tarragona and runs back to the Barcelona Olympic stadium over 178km, while Stage 3 starts at Granollers and runs towards France to a finish which will be revealed in October with the rest of the route.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme mentioned former Spanish cycling greats Miguel Indurain and Luis Ocana, and described Barcelona as a shining city.

He said he could hardly wait to “see the fervour of the fans as the race climbs the slopes of Montjuic”, the hill where Barcelona’s 1992 Olympic stadium stands and which is now temporary home to Barcelona football club.

After Copenhagen in 2022, Bilbao in 2023 and Florence in 2024, Barcelona’s Mediterranean sea port provides the latest exotic backdrop for the globally broadcast extravaganza.

The whole cycling world will gather in and around the city several days ahead of the race, with the cream of world cycling, fans and curious onlookers alike and a huge tourist boom arriving fast on the heels of the worldwide audiences that tune in to the 21-stage race.

The remainder of the route will be unveiled in October and is likely to culminate on July 28 on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. The 2025 Tour will be raced exclusively in France for the first time since the 2020 race as it starts in Lille. AFP