The calendar of Olympic Games of Los Angeles 2028, recently unveiled, place the cycling events on the road in a delicate configuration for the organizers of the Tour de France. The individual time trial will be held on Wednesday July 19, while the male online race is scheduled for Sunday July 23, the day after the female event. Problem: these dates fall in the heart of the period usually reserved for Tour de France. Two options now seem to take shape for the 2028 edition of The Grande Boucle : before JO (June 17 to July 9 or June 24 to July 16) or after the JO (July 29 to August 20).
Video – Jonas Vingegaard when the 10th stage of the Tour
A delicate situation
But each of these solutions includes its own constraints. A Tour Which would end on July 16, as it seems envisaged, would certainly allow runners to join Los Angeles, but with an ultra-tightded calendar: only three days to cross the Atlantic, acclimatize, and compete in an Olympic time trial. A particularly demanding sequence, especially since the jet lag (9 hours between France and California) complicates things even more.
The other option – a Tour organized after Jeux – would release the Olympic calendar but would upset the habits of professional cycling, with a Tour de France which would argue in the middle of August, like what had been done in 2020 because of the pandemic. Finally, there is also the question of Tour de France womenwhich could also be moved after the Jeuxso as not to encroach on the Olympic female events. The coming months will be decisive to decide this unprecedented logistical puzzle.
