For millions of cycling fans around the world, the Tour de France is as much a celebration of sweeping French landscapes and cultural heritage as it is a test of elite athletic endurance. What many viewers do not see, however, is the years of meticulous work that go into building every edition’s iconic route, a labor of love that begins three full years before the first rider crosses the starting line. The process kicks off when Tour director Christian Prudhomme selects the host city for the opening Grand Depart, then locks in the overall direction of the 21-stage race. From a pool of 300 candidate towns—including 50 located outside France—Prudhomme curates the start and finish locations for every stage, balancing a wide range of competing priorities to create a route that satisfies both riders and fans.
Prudhomme explains that if the course was designed purely around sporting challenges, every edition would center on southern France, a region that can accommodate every type of terrain from flat sprint stages to grueling high-altitude mountain climbs. But the Tour has a long-standing commitment to showcasing all corners of the country, so over a four to five-year rotation, the route visits fan-favorite regions including cycling-rich Brittany, the passionately supportive north, and crowd-packed Normandy. Beautiful natural scenery is a non-negotiable core requirement, Prudhomme notes, as millions of casual viewers tune in as much to see France’s diverse landscapes as they do to follow the race competition. Extra care is also given to stages scheduled on weekends and Bastille Day, France’s national holiday, which draw the largest global television audiences. Certain iconic climbs are also mandatory: even if a route includes dozens of mountain passes, fans will always consider the course incomplete without legendary ascents like Col du Tourmalet, Col du Galibier, Mont Ventoux, or Alpe d’Huez.
Beyond athletic and viewership priorities, the team weaves historical and cultural storytelling into the route whenever possible. In 2023, for example, the race passed through Castelnau-Magnoac, the hometown of French national rugby captain Antoine Dupont, ahead of the Rugby World Cup hosted in France. In 2014, to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, seven full stages traced the path of the original Western Front, turning the race into a moving centennial tribute. “I love it when a stage can be viewed in different ways,” Prudhomme says of these layered design choices.
Once Prudhomme finalizes the list of 21 start and finish towns, the work shifts to Thierry Gouvenou, the Tour’s route director, who maps the exact 3,500-kilometer path the peloton will follow. The process for the next edition gets underway immediately after the current Tour finishes on the Champs-Élysées each July. “At the end of August, Christian gives me the list of stage towns,” Gouvenou explained. “From that point, it takes up my whole time. Generally, I design the course in one month because it has to be finished by September 25.”
Gouvenou starts by using digital mapping and cycling apps to draft the route, while also sorting through hundreds of unsolicited suggestions from passionate cycling fans across the country. Next, he drives the candidate route to inspect potential trouble spots, particularly in dense town centers, where unexpected hazards—such as traffic calming speed bumps or narrow streets—can create major safety risks for a peloton of more than 180 riders racing at high speed. Once the route is finalized, Gouvenou and his team drive every single kilometer of every stage to document hazards, map the route layout, and mark locations for intermediate sprints and climb summit finish lines. The full route is then officially unveiled in Paris each October, nine months before the first stage kicks off.
Even after the official reveal, last-minute crises can force changes, as seen in the 2024 edition, when the second stage had to be rerouted at the last minute to avoid an area hit by an outbreak of swine flu. Gouvenou, a former professional cyclist, says regional partners work tirelessly to resolve last-minute issues, often pulling off what he calls “10 miracles” to keep the route on track despite unforeseen challenges.