Three days before the official reveal, Pogačar’s two worst Tour days are back on the map. According to the latest route previews, the 114th Tour de France is set to feature summit finishes at the Col du Granon and the Col de la Loze, with Alpine ski resorts including Courchevel, Tignes and La Plagne also linked to the race.
The Granon was where Jonas Vingegaard took the yellow jersey off Pogačar on stage 11 in 2022, with the decisive attack coming around five kilometres from the summit. The Loze was where Pogačar’s team radio message, reported at the time by Escape Collective, was “I’m gone, I’m dead” on stage 17 in 2023, as he lost more than five minutes.
The Pyrenees stage described as “ferociously difficult”
The sharper edge of the route is in the final week. The Col du Portet, a hors catégorie climb of 16.1km at an average of 8.6%, is pencilled in as a summit finish, preceded by the Col d’Aubisque and the Col du Tourmalet. The Cyclingnews preview by Alasdair Fotheringham, which first collated the leaks, called it “a ferociously difficult stage”.
Domestique Cycling’s rundown places that queen stage as stage 19, with the Hourquette d’Ancizan added for extra weight, and another Pyrenean day the following afternoon. A separate summit finish at Piau-Engaly is tipped for stage 16 on Tuesday 20 July, before the race’s final rest day in Toulouse.
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A long climbing day in the Massif Central, finishing at the airfield at Mende, is also expected to break up the second week.
Edinburgh, Carlisle, Liverpool, Cardiff
The British Grand Départ, by contrast, is already locked in. ASO has confirmed three opening stages on UK roads: Edinburgh to Carlisle over 184km, Keswick to Liverpool across 223km of the Lake District and Pennines, and Welshpool to Cardiff over another 223km, with a finale over Caerphilly Mountain.
A rest day is expected to shift the race across the Channel. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, with a possible hilltop finish at the Côte de la Glacerie, is in line to host stage 4, before the first individual time trial between Blois and Chambord in week one.
Fewer Alpine days, more Alpine damage
The build-up to the Pyrenees runs through the Jura and the Alps. Le Grand Colombier, the highest paved pass in the Jura, is reported as the curtain-raiser to the climbing program at the end of the first week. The Sallanches circuit used for the 1980 world championships is linked to the second week, with Samoëns 1600 among the Alpine summit finishes under discussion.
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With the climbing weight shifting south toward the Pyrenees, the Alpine block looks lighter than in 2026, when the race’s mountain stages leaned north.
The Tour finishes on the Champs-Élysées, though whether the Montmartre circuit used in Paris in 2025 returns remains open. ASO’s response to one French newspaper claim that Montmartre was out, according to Velowire, was simply: “We’ll see on October 22!”
The full route goes live at 11am local time on Thursday at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
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