The final stage of the 2026 Tour de France will take place between Thoiry and Paris on Sunday, July 26, 2026, repeating the format inaugurated in 2025 with three passes over the Butte Montmartre via Rue Lepic before the finish on the Champs-Élysées. This final day of racing promises to be a spectacular show in the Yvelines and the capital, with a format that already won over the public in the previous edition.
Thoiry, a charming village in the Yvelines region with a population of 1,432 located about 50 kilometers west of Paris, is preparing for a historic moment. The town is built on a hill overlooking the agricultural plateau and the castle's wooded park, providing a rural setting for the start of the Grande Boucle. Known for its famous Thoiry animal park, created in 1968, and its 16th-century castle, built by architect Philibert Delorme, the town will welcome the Tour de France peloton for the first time as a stage start town.
The route of this 21st stage is already shaping up to be a highlight of the 2026 edition. The peloton will leave Yvelines and head for the capital, crossing western Paris before the final circuit in Paris. Here are the details of this final day of racing:
The riders will pass through several towns in the Yvelines and the Paris region before entering Paris to join the final circuit comprising the Butte Montmartre and the Champs-Élysées. The route will take in some of Paris's most iconic streets: Place de la Concorde, Rue Royale, Les Batignolles, Clichy, before climbing Rue Lepic andreturning tothe Arc de Triomphe.
This final stage includes a new feature compared to 2025, with the finish line moved back, a tactical choice by the organizers that could reshuffle the deck and offer a thrilling final sprint on the most beautiful avenue in the world.
The Butte Montmartre, already on the program for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the 2025 Tour de France, is establishing itself as the new star of the Parisian finals. The organizers are counting on this fourth-category climb, tackled three times in a row, to open the door to puncheurs and create suspense, challenging the traditional mass sprint on the Champs-Élysées. Rue Lepic and its steep gradients promise some memorable moments in front of millions of television viewers.
This stage will bring the particularly demanding 2026 edition to a close. The Tour will cover a total of 3,333 kilometers and 54,450 meters of elevation gain, including a monumental penultimate stage with 5,600 meters of elevation gain in the Alps, featuring the Col de la Croix de Fer, the Télégraphe, the Galibier, and a double ascent of Alpe d'Huez. The riders will therefore arrive in Thoiry after three weeks of intense racing, with a finale in Paris that could still shake up the overall standings.
For residents of Yvelines and the Paris region, this will be an opportunity to watch the peloton pass by for free. From Thoiry to the Champs-Élysées, via the roads of Yvelines and the streets of Paris, hundreds of thousands of spectators are expected to cheer on the riders. This final day will be an opportunity to see the sidewalks once again packed with jubilant spectators as the riders pass by, continuing the festive tradition that accompanies every Tour de France.
The village of Thoiry, with its remarkable historical heritage and proximity to iconic sites such as the Palace of Versailles and the Rambouillet Forest, offers the ideal setting for this major event on the global sporting calendar. Organizers are expecting 10 million spectators along the roads during the three weeks of racing and 150 million television viewers in Europe for this 113th edition, which will start in Barcelona on July 4, 2026.
While waiting for the big day, the residents of Thoiry and cycling enthusiasts can already rejoice at this choice, which puts the spotlight on the Yvelines region. On Sunday, July 26, 2026, all eyes will be on this small village in Yvelines, which will kick off the final stage of the world's greatest cycling race, before a memorable finish in Paris between Montmartre and the Champs-Élysées.
