this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2026
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The great Circus of July arrive in town on Saturday, for 3 weeks.
It starts in Catalunya, Spain and reaches France by the road. Strangely, while many days are spent in the area, Pyrenees as a mountain are almost avoided.
There are only 2 rest days this year, so the first week is relatively long: 9 days.
Again, there are no long stages this year: only 1 barely goes over 200 km. And the total course is probably the second shortest in history (just a few miles longer than last year's edition...)
Another heatwave is expected over France in July, starting at the same time as the race. It may not be as bad as the heatwave of June, but it is still going to be significantly hotter than normal for days if not weeks.
Regulations
You've got the usual Yellow, Green, Red Polka Dots, and White jerseys. Mountain and Points final classifications bring UCI points for the first 3 riders (only).
On top of the Agressive rider daily and final prizes, there is now a smaller weekly and final 'best teammate' prize. Both are jury-based prizes.
Each stage brings almost the same UCI points as a 1.Pro race (!)
The scale for Green jersey points has been tweaked to favour even more the pure sprinters... There seems to be only 1 Intermediate Sprint per stage.
The scale for small GPM points remains as ridiculous as before: only 1 point for 1 rider on 4^th^ category climbs, and 2 and points for the first 2 riders on 3^rd^ category climbs...
There are no other secondary or tertiary classification to animate stage or give smaller teams an achievable goal.
Riders
The cream of the mutant crust will be present, probably for the only time this year.
Stages
Stage 1, Saturday 1, Team Time Trial
20 km, D+ 220 m
A very short TTT in the streets of Barcelona, with some climbing near and at the end (your usual Montjuic). Together with the new rules, it means that it is designed to bring the leaders to the front as soon as day 1.
Stage 2, Sunday 5
169 km, D+ 2000 m
A stage for punchers, again finishing in Barcelona's Montjuic, pretty much like the final stage of the Tour of Catalunya even though the circuit is a little bit different
Stage 3, Monday 6
196 km, D+ 3900 m
Arrival in a ski resort in French Catalunya. Is this a mountain stage or a puncher stage? Or simply a very good day for breakaways?
Stage 4, Tuesday 7
182 km, D+ 2900 m
After a uselessly long bus transfer, this stage meanders in the Cathar Country, the Pyrenean piedmont, and may offer opportunities for breakaways, as well as sprinters if there isn't too much action.
Press to see the finish profile
Stage 5, Wednesday 8
158 km, D+ 1600 m
A stage which looks very much like the first 2 stages of the Route d'Occitanie a couple of weeks ago. Despite some use of the hills of Gers, they will probably insufficient or too separated to get rid of the sprinters on their favourite finish city (Pau). There is almost no reward for breakaways, with only 1 GPM... I don't suppose riding by my high-school (in a distant past) will be a motivating reward.
Press to see the map
Stage 6, Thursday 9
186 km, D+ 4100 m
The only mountain stage of the Pyrenees this year simply consists of the Aspin Pass, the Tourmalet Pass, and a strange never-ending (18 km) strongly uphill false flat as a finish.
Press to see the map and detailed profiles
Stage 7, Friday 10
175 km, D+ 700 m
A flat stage for the next favourite arrival of sprinters: Bordeaux.
Press to see the profile
Stage 8, Saturday 11
180 km, D+ 1300 m
The second flat stage for sprinters in a row. A grand total of 3 GPM points will have been offered in 2 days...
On top of this, this stage is utterly useless in terms of geographical progression between Bordeaux and the stage of Sunday, it even goes a bit backwards, and requires transfers before and after...
Icing on the cake, the last km looks slightly downhill, which is more dangerous.
Press to see the map and profile
Stage 9, Saturday 11
185 km, D+ 3300 m
After 2 flat stages, there isn't one flat yard today, approaching the Massif Central. This will certainly be one of those stages where 150 riders want to join the breakaway.
Press to see the map and the finish profile
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Stage 3, Monday 6
Everyone wanted to be in the breakaway, so it took long to develop. It wasn't allowed more than the modern standard gap. The UAE pulled the peloton, and Pogatchar won the sprint.
There were a few crashes (notably Armirail after about 12 km). Poor De Lie was dropped since the start, as it was a succession of strong uphill false flats; he fought all day, but withdrew just a few miles from the line, as he had no chance to make it in time any more after suffering all day long: eliminating badly ill or injured riders is the only thing that modern delays 'achieve' on modern GTs ๐ข