Tour de France 2026 – Last Stage

By Louise Peloquin

On July 4th, the Tour de France took off from Barcelona for the first time, and offered spectators a magnificent view of cyclists whizzing by Antoni Gaudí’s  Sagrada Familia.

courtesy AFP

     This brief is for readers who enjoy following the Tour each year.

     When reviewing the 2026 itinerary a few months ago, one sportscaster enthusiastically announced “the return of the Montmartre fury” meaning that the last stage on July 26th would once again include climbing la Butte Montmartre (Montmartre Hill) and would become part of la Grande Boucle (the Big Loop) from now on.

La rue Lepic (18th arrondissement) welcomed the world’s best cyclists last year and during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

courtesy AFP

    Details on the 2025 Montmartre climb are found on this link:

https://richardhowe.com/2025/07/15/tour-de-montmartre-in-2025-tour-de-france/

To prepare for the 2026 Tour, la rue Lepic spruced up. Back in June, worn out cobblestones were removed and replaced.

     Renovation also included narrowing the street to install flower beds, in keeping with “the greening of Paris.” Begun in July 2015 during Annie Hidalgo’s first term as mayor, la végétalisation de Paris entailed narrowing hundreds of city streets, eliminating thousands of parking spaces and planting hundreds of trees.

Now narrowed, lower rue Lepic will be all the more challenging for le peloton (pack of cyclists) to climb sans problème. And a bit higher up, the slick cobblestone will test strength and stamina.

     The 113th Tour is certainly exciting to watch. La rue Lepic is ready!

upper rue Lepic

     By the way, if you’re on site on July 26th, a 5-minute walk will take you to la rue des Martyrs which we discovered on June 23rd.

Here’s the link:

https://richardhowe.com/2026/06/23/streetwise-in-paris/