The Tour is the Tour. Even when it gets boring, when it goes slowly, when it seems obvious that Tadej Pogacar will win it, even when (open heaven) he sanctified the Texan “monster” who today can no longer even be mentioned… The Tour is always the Tour, even when it reveals itself well in advance like today. From Barcelona to Paris with a final catwalk on the Champs Elysees, what goes without saying… The Tour de France 2026 presents itself like this at the Palace of Congresses in the French capital and some fixed points are already there: the departure on July 4th from Barcelona with a team time trial that was missing since 2019, the second stage between Tarragona and Barcelona with the triple climb of Montjuïc and on the third day the departure from Granollers towards France. And then there double climb of Alpe d’Huez in two consecutive stages in the last weekend, a return to the Vosges with the ascent of the Plateau de Solaison in the 15th stage, the Tourmalet, the Galibier and another final stage on the Montmartre climb in Paris, just like last year with that absolute spectacle that Pogacar and Van Aert were able to give.

It will be the 133rd edition with 21 stages with 3,333 kilometers touching all five of the main French mountain massifs, the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Jura, the Vosges and the Alps with a positive difference in altitude that will exceed 54,000 metres. Will be regardless of what will happen and who will win the usual great world event, race of champions, a challenge worth as much money and prestige as a Super Bowl, an Olympics or a Champions League final. An event that moves a country, which loves it, follows it, talks about it, invests in it and gives it the front pages of the newspapers and not just the newspapers: nothing but the transfer market, VIP holidays for footballers and showgirls, betrayals and weddings. We need to come to terms with it: the other challenges seem like a small country in comparison, so there’s no point in tearing one’s clothes off, insisting on merciless comparisons, trying to explain, complaining, getting angry. If the race languishes elsewhere there must be a reason. The Tour is the Tour. And it’s always something else…