Cycling’s premier event is about to get underway. And it will look a little different than in year’s past. The 2024 Tour de France, the 111th in history, begins on Saturday June 29.
However, the starting point for this year’s Tour de France, as well as the finish line, will mark a series of firsts for the event. To mark 100 years since Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian rider to win the Tour de France, this year’s race will begin in Italy, with riders setting off in Florence. The first three stages of this year’s Tour de France will keep riders in Italy, before the Tour’s fourth stage sees riders make the journey from Pinerolo in Italy, to Valloire in France.
In addition, this year’s Tour de France schedule coincides with the 2024 Paris Summer Games, which begin in Paris at the end of July. As such the Tour de France will conclude in Nice, with the final stage of the 2024 Tour de France bringing riders from Monaco to Nice. This year’s Tour de France also concludes with an individual time trial, the first time the event has concluded with an ITT since 1989.
That year saw the legendary duel on the final day between Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon. This year’s event has no shortage of storylines, starting with the battle between Dane Jonas Vingegaard, riding for Visma—Lease a Bike, and Slovenian Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates. Vingegaard is the reigning Tour de France champion, winning in both 2022 and 2023 ahead of his rival Pogačar.
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