Spain holds the starting gun this weekend. Just the third time ever for the Grand Départ. Barcelona waves goodbye to the peloton on a short team time trial—only 19.6 kilometers. Short. Sweet. Deadly. Then the mountains arrive early. Day three. The Pyrenees bite first, not last. A cruel joke from the race directors.
The total haul is 3,333 kilometers of agony. Tadej Pogačار wants another one. His fifth title. Last year he buried Jonas Vingegaard and the surprise package Florian Lipowitz. This time the target on his back is bigger. Remco Evenepoel is back. And hungry. Vingegaard wants redemption. Lipowitz wants more.
You’re traveling? Watch the race from a laptop in a Tokyo hotel room? Use a VPN. Encrypt your traffic. Hide from prying ISP eyes. It keeps your login safe on sketchy airport Wi-Fi too. Check the terms first. Some streamers hate it. If you get blocked, you knew the risks.
Who’s Riding for You
TNT Sports bought the house in the UK. They have every stage. Exclusive rights. If you want free options? Channel 5 shows highlights at 7 p.m. Rebecca Charlton talks for an hour. Or flip to S4C for Welsh commentary. It’s live. It’s free. You watch it via BBC iPlayer. Strange web, this.
Americans? NBC airs Stage 1. July 4th. 10 a.m. eastern time. You watch the fireworks and the cycling. Then? NBC fades out. They come back for Stage 8. And Stage 20. The rest? Peacock has it. All 21 stages. No interruption. All the screaming post-stage interviews you couldn’t avoid if you wanted to. Streaming services offer free trials usually. Take them. Cancel before they bill you.
Australia gets the royal treatment. SBS broadcasts everything for free. Why are we still arguing about rights fees while Aussies get the whole ride on terrestrial TV? Canada? FloBikes. It is the only game in town.
The Torture Schedule
Here is the road ahead. Three weeks of climbing until your legs forget how to push.
Week 1: Spain & The Early Altitude
- Stage 1: Jul 4 – Barcelona (TCT, 19.6 km). Start 5:05 p.m. London time.
- Stage 2: Jul 5 – Tarragona to Barcelona. Flat-ish. 168.5 km.
- Stage 3: Jul 6 – Granollers to Les Angles. Mountains start. 195.9 km.
- Stage 4: Jul 7 – Carcassonne to Foix. Pyrenees. 181.9 km.
- Stage 5: Jul 8 – Lannemezan to Pau. 158.3 km.
- Stage 6: Jul 9 – Pau to Gavarnie-Gadre. Queen stage early? 186.2 km.
- Stage 7: Jul 10 – Hagetmau to Bordeaux. Sprinter’s paradise maybe. 175.1 km.
- Stage 8: Jul 11 – Perigueux to Bergerac. NBC coverage here. 180.4 km.
- Stage 9: Jul 12 – Malemort to Ussel. 185.5 km.
- Rest Day: July 13. Drink wine. Stretch.
Week 2: The French Heartland
- Stage 10: Jul 14 – Aurillac to Le Lioran. Bastille Day fireworks at the summit. 166.6 km.
- Stage 11: Jul 15 – Vichy to Nevers. Flat. 161.3 km.
- Stage 12: Jul 16 – Nevers Magny-Courses circuit to Chalon. 179.1 km.
- Stage 13: Jul 17 – Dole to Belfort. Longest day. 205.8 km.
- Stage 14: Jul 18 – Mulhouse to Markstein. Jura mountains. 155.3 km.
- Stage 15: Jul 19 – Champagnole to Solaison. 183.9 km.
- Rest Day: July 20. Ice baths. Massage guns. Fear.
Week 3: Alps and Paris
- Stage 16: Jul 21 – Evian to Thonon (ITT). Individual Time Trial. 26.1 km. The lonely stage.
- Stage 17: Jul 22 – Chambery to Voiron. 174.7 km.
- Stage 18: Jul 23 – Voiron to Orcieres. High alpine. 185.2 km.
- Stage 19: Jul 24 – Gap to Alpe d’Huez. The legendary climb. 127.9 km.
- Stage 20: Jul 25 – Le Bourg-d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez again? Twice. NBC shows this one. 170.9 km.
- Stage 21: Jul 26 – Thoiry to Paris. Montmartre finish. No sprints for the yellow jersey here. Just the show. 132.3 km.
The Rosters
Names to know. Teams to root for or curse at.
- Alpecin-Deceuninck: Jasper Philipsen is here to win stages. Mathieu van der Poel? He just wants to have fun.
- UAE Team Emirates-XRG: Tadej Pogačar leads the pack. Adam Yates supports. It’s basically his race.
- Red Bull-Bora: Remco Evenepoel. He returns after injury scares. Florian Lipowitz tries to help him win.
- Team Visma | Lease a Bike: Jonas Vingegaard. Sepp Kuss. Matteo Jorgenson. The Danish army is strong.
- Pinarello: Tom Pidcock is wild card. Christopher Harper leads the Australian charge.
There are 22 teams. 176 riders. Many will break down. Many will quit. A few will touch the podium. The rest will go home and watch it on their phones anyway.
