For the first time in almost half a century, cycling’s biggest race likely will not end in France’s capital city.
The cycling world is buzzing today with news widely anticipated to break tomorrow: the 2024 Tour de France will not end under the Arc de Triomphe or anywhere else in Paris.
The expected relocation springs from a scheduling conflict with the 2024 Summer Olympics. Multiple outlets have reported that the Mediterranean coastal city of Nice, France, is the race’s likely endpoint.
The 2024 Olympics are scheduled to start on July 26. The 2024 Tour de France is expected to get underway on July 21, according to Le Parisien.
Reports suggest the Tour’s organizing body, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), is most concerned with safety as it looks to find a new finish line. The 2024 women’s Tour could face scheduling changes for that reason, Le Parisien said. Based on a potential shortage of law enforcement due to the Olympics and the men’s Tour, the outlet said, the women could race before the men.
Rumors that the Tour would end elsewhere started circulating in June. And on July 24 — the day Jonas Vingegaard closed out his 2022 Tour victory — Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed that the city and race director Christian Prudhomme had discussed other options.
Le Parisien said the news “will be made official” on Thursday at the Mediterranean University Center in a press conference with Hidalgo and Prudhomme.
It stands to be the first Tour de France that will not end under the Champs-Élysées since 1975.
