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© Michael Alesi / Direction de la Communication

In 2024, the final stage of the Tour de France is a time trial race between Monaco and Nice.  This historical finale illustrates the Principality’s singular connection to cycling.

Because Paris hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024, the final stage of the Tour de France will exceptionally take place far from Paris and the Champs-Elysées. The individual 55-kilometre time trial race with a 700-metre climb will leave from Monaco. “It’s not easy to replace Paris, so we needed a prestigious end to the event,” said Race Director, Christian Prudhomme, who presented the event at the Yacht Club of Monaco in the presence of Prince Albert II.

This is the first time since 1904 that the end of a Tour de France race is planned elsewhere than in the French capital. “We felt there was no plan B: the last time trial had to be Monaco-Nice.”

For this final stage of the Tour de France 2024, the peloton will depart from Port Hercule and pass through Place du Casino, Beausoleil, La Turbie, Èze and Villefranche before reaching Nice. It will be a decisive stage to determine the final winner of the yellow jersey.

“The route may work in favour of climbers and the big names in the general classification. The idea that the final ranking could play out on 21 July 2024 should not be excluded. It would be wonderful to have that level of suspense during the Monegasque stage!” said Umberto Langellotti, President of the Monegasque Cycling Federation, which represents Monegasque cycling at the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). “The last time we had this kind of end to the race was 35 years ago, with the famous Fignon-LeMond duel in 1989,” commented the race’s organisers.

Monaco has a special connection to the Tour de France. “Without the Grimaldi family, the Tour de France might never have been relaunched in 1947. In 1946, after the war, the Tour de France rose from the ashes because the royal family of Monaco covered the accommodation expenses of cyclists racing from Monaco to Paris,” Christian Prudhomme pointed out when the stage was made official. The Principality has hosted a stage eight times to date. The Tour last passed through Monaco in 2009 with a route through the heart of the city that used a section of the Formula 1 circuit.

© Manuel Vitali / Direction de la Communication

Monaco is also home to a great many cyclists. “Some 40 World Tour cyclists live in Monaco. We sometimes ride in groups during training,” explains Monegasque cyclist Victor Langellotti. Many champions take part in the Beking charity race, which brings together professionals, amateurs and families every year. In 2023, the Tour de France Green Jersey record holder and triple world champion Peter Sagan won the 3rd Beking Monaco Criterium, ahead of Tadej Pogacar and Mark Cavendish.

The Principality hosted a Monaco Grand Prix race from 1949 to 1985.  The Monaco Cycling Union has been the Principality’s official club since 1952; the club existed before that date and was a section within A.S. Monaco.

Find out more:

https://www.ucmonaco.com/fmc

https://www.letour.fr/fr/etape-21

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