The peloton will three times gravitate the Montmartre hill before the final arrival on the Champs-Elysées during the last stage

During a press conference on Wednesday, the organizers of the Tour de France detailed the course of the last stage of the Grande Boucle, which will pass through Montmartre.

The participants of the Olympic Games had climbed Montmartre and rue Lepic, in August 2024 as part of the Paris Olympic Games. To commemorate this moment and offer the final stage of the great loop a rare uncertainty, the organizers of the Tour de France announced, Wednesday, May 21, that the committed runners will have to climb the Butte Montmartre three times, before finishing with the traditional arrival on the Champs-Elysées.

The layout of this 21st stage is not the same as that of the Olympic Games which took often narrower streets and also made a large loop in the eastern Paris. But rue Lepic appears well on the menu and will lead the peloton to the Sacré-Coeur, as during the Olympic Games. The runners will then go back to the Place de la Concorde by Rue Royale by borrowing wider arteries than in August 2024.

“If we have put it all in place, it is so that there is sport. It is not just a parade or a small tourist visit of the Butte Montmartreexplains to AFP Thierry Gouvenou, the technical director of the Tour de France. We are almost sure that there will be attacks. But from there to reverse the tour, I don't really believe it. Do not expect to have staggering deviations. Even 30 seconds on a course like that, it's difficult. But it will energize the stage. “

“For the 50th anniversary of the first arrival on the Champs-Elysées, we wanted to do something strong and there was a kind of evidence for us to say that if we did not have the authorization in 2025, we never would have”underlined the boss of the Tour, Christian Prudhomme. With this route, he believes that this “will make it possible to bring back the glorious uncertainty of sport” On this final day. “There is a crazy dream. We do not know what will happen in two and a half months, but the only winner winner on the Champs-Élysées with the yellow jersey is called Bernard Hinault who did it in 1979 and in 1982. So that leaves lots of possibilities”.

Instead of the eight traditional towers on the Champs-Elysées, the runners will only make three (6.5 km each time), before performing a 16.8 km loop from rue Lepic in Montmartre three times. In the third passage at the top of the hill, there will remain six kilometers until the final arrival on the Champs-Elysées, which will promote attacks and undoubtedly prevent a massive sprint.