The Yellow Jersey 2024 Tour de France preview and route guide

It’s not often that the mighty Col du Galibier raises its lofty head early in the first week of the Tour – but here she is, the springboard for today’s winner as the peloton bids arrivederci to Italy and bonjour to France for the first time. Before crossing the border, the riders will tackle two tough climbs – mere amuses-bouches ahead of what should be a very tasty plat du jour. Rising to 2,642m and tackled via Briançon and the interminable Col du Lautaret, the Galibier is a legend in its own right. The prestigious Souvenir Henri Desgrange prize will be up for grabs over the summit – but the rewards could be far greater 20km away in the valley town of Valloire, renowned for its authentic Savoyard cuisine.

Another chance for the sprinters as the race leaves behind the Alps – for the time being – and heads towards Saint-Vulbas, a hotbed of the traditional French game of boules and a jack’s throw from the culinary capital of France, Lyon. The route will be a veritable feast for the aerial camera crew as the peloton snakes through Alpine valleys via numerous châteaux before hugging the majestic Rhône river. A couple of short climbs should not come between the green jersey hopefuls and the race’s second bunch sprint – provided the breakaway is brought to heel in time ahead of the fast finale.

If Mark Cavendish and his Astana-Qazaqstan lead-out train have yet to click then they could well cut the mustard in Dijon. Ignoring a small early climb, this will be the first fully flat day on the programme which means it’s practically guaranteed to be a sprint. And in a race that won’t enter Paris for the first time in its long history, it’s perhaps fitting that the riders at least visit Dijon, the birth town of Gustave Eiffel, the engineering colossus behind the world’s most famous wrought-iron tower. Dijon also boasts a city centre with UNESCO World Heritage site status and produces its own crème de cassis, or blackcurrant liqueur. It just remains to be seen which sprinter will be drinking a Kir Royale after popping the Champagne corks today.

If the names of the start and finish towns are not a big enough clue then some of the places the race passes today – including Chambolle-Musigny, Villars-Fontaine and Morey-Saint-Denis – really give the game away. Yes, we’re deep into the Burgundy wine region with an individual “wine” trial that ventures into the hearts of some of the most famous vineyards in France. It’s a fairly flat race of truth with just the one climb – the Côte de Curtil-Vergy (1.6km at 6.1%) – coming around halfway through. Will Jonas Vingegaard show the kind of form that saw him wrap effectively up last year’s race during the TT, or will Tadej Pogačar get his own back? Pour yourself a glass of rouge, sit back and find out…

Five categorised climbs plus numerous lumps and bumps pepper the route as the race cuts through the picturesque Haute Marne. The relentless succession of hills could make it tricky for the teams of the sprinters to keep a spirited breakaway in check. Even if it does come back together before the finish, the home straight comes with a slight uphill gradient making this ideal for the likes of Mads Pedersen, Wout van Aert, Biniam Girmay and other classics specialists with a strong kick. The quaint finish town of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises is the resting place of Charles de Gaulle, the renowned statesman, soldier and former French president.

Well, it’s about time the Tour de France caught up with the times and joined the gravel revolution! The last leg of the opening week of the race is this super challenging classics-style test that features 32km of gravel over 14 sections of traditional white roads amid the vineyards of the Champagne region. First used to dramatic effect during the Tour de France Femmes in 2022, these dust tracks could well spice up the battle for yellow more than any mountain so far. Winner of Strade Bianche in March following a long-range solo attack over similar gravelled roads in Tuscany, two-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar will hold all the aces. But watch out for another Slovenian in the form of Matej Mohoric, a former winner of the gravel world championships.

After kicking back in the stunning city of Orléans for the first rest day, the riders enter the second phase of the Tour with this largely flat traipse past châteaux, through sleepy towns and the dense Sologne forest, and alongside rivers – most notably the Loire and the Cher. On paper, it’s one for the sprinters – although a little kicker inside the final 10km could see some of the fastmen distanced and play into the hands of plucky rouleurs or baroudeurs alike. A lot will also depend on the weather: it was in this neck of the woods when, 11 years ago, crosswinds split the pack on exposed roads with a 15-man group going clear. The winner that day? A chap called Mark Cavendish.

The stage that will have fans booking their next summer holidays in the majestic Massif Central. After the Apennines and Alps comes the third mountain range of the race in a stage that recalls the day Greg van Avermaet rode into yellow during the 2016 Tour over the same series of climbs. While none of the six categorised climbs are monsters, they certainly pack a punch with the Col de Neronne averaging 9.1%, the start of the Col du Perthus hitting double digits, and the final two kilometres of the beastly Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol rising at a consistent 11% to the summit. All in all, there’s a total of 4,350m of vertical gain during the rugged ride to the ski resort of Le Lioran. Sit back, lap it up, then search for B&Bs fast before they’re all booked up…

More undulating roads as the race heads south-west via the picture postcard cliffside town of Rocamadour, perched on the edge of a gorge overlooking a tributary of the Dordogne. If the road seems familiar here that’s because the decisive time trial in the 2022 race tackled the same climb in the opposite direction on a day Wout van Aert took the spoils ahead of team-mate Jonas Vingegaard, who all but secured the yellow jersey. The profile gets flatter for the second half of the stage – although on the two previous visits to Villeneauve-sur-Lot (the plum capital of France) the breakaway managed to hold off the rampaging peloton.

Pau: the gateway to the Pyrenees, the third-most visited city in the history of the Tour, the site of numerous rest days and almost as many drug busts and doping scandals. Hopefully those days are a thing of the past. With two arduous days in the mountains ahead, there are just the two short but relatively sharp climbs in the final third of today’s stage – but this could still be enough to put the metaphorical chat amongst the pigeons and spoil things for the sprinters. But with no Champs-Élysées and Paris to look forward to this year, the teams of the fastmen will do their best to bring this all back together.

The first in a weekend mountain double-whammy which is sure to provide some fireworks. Here, the 2024 race will take on the Pyrenees, and what a first encounter…  Col du Tourmalet, the Hourquette d’Ancizan and the climb to Pla d’Adet all feature in the final 80km of racing. Certain to be a feast for the eyes, with stunning views of the wild and rugged mountain range that forms the border between France and Spain. Pyrenean food tends toward the hearty mountain fare, while the parcours also passes through the major Christian pilgrimage site of Lourdes on its way to the mountains. Great for a fridge magnet or a novelty statue, if that floats your boat.

Race director Christian Prudhomme has said of this day of the Tour “the terrain on this stage is ripe for revenge or confirmation”, which certainly amps the drama factor up to eleven. As you’d expect from the finale to the second week of Le Tour, it’s a huge climbing day with 4,800m of ascent across a gruelling 197km. Many of the general classification riders will be clinging on to try and survive to the rest day, while others may see it as a chance to take back time lost earlier in the race. Then there’s the French climbers, who won’t need any extra motivation on Bastille Day. But be warned – Plateau de Beille is a brute of a climb that takes no prisoners. Whoever wins the day, this is sure to be an enthralling stage to watch – so book the sofa and the TV for 14 July now!

A sprint stage with a true gladiatorial feel, the first stage of the final week serves up a gentle beginning ahead of a finish that looks almost certain to produce a bunch gallop. The historic city of Nîmes is home to some enchanting Roman architectural remnants, including the famous amphitheatre. This will be the last chance for the likes of Cavendish and Girmay to seize a stage. It’s worth adding that the recently knighted Cavendish took his fourth ever Tour stage win in Nîmes back in 2008. If he hasn’t already consigned Eddy Merckx to the rearview mirror, then today would be the ideal opportunity for Sir Mark to snare win #35 and make history.

This stage starts off benign, almost boring, but quickly intensifies toward the end with a series of category 2, 1 and 3 climbs to close it out. With fatigue in the peloton’s legs, this may be an opportunity for a break to get up the road and contest the spoils. The stage begins in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, most famous for its spectacular Côtes de Rhône red  wines. The finish is the race’s first stage back in the Alps since bidding them temporary adieu on stage five. We’re not sure all 200 of the riders will be pleased to see them again – but at least a handful will be salivating at the prospect of some uphill tussles.

Tauntingly described by the race director as the sprinter’s final chance to bag a stage win, this parcours actually features more than 3,000m of climbing. We’re extremely sceptical of a pure sprinter taking victory here, but maybe a punchier fast-man can cling on. No pressure, then, Mads Pedersen… Not to be confused with the global clothing juggernaut of the same name, Gap is a town with an abundance of professional cycling history, although more often it’s a finish than a start… The start and finish towns are both situated in a region of the Alps known for a delicacy called Tourtons du Champsaur, a little potato-filled parcel of pastry. Double carbs? Sign us up!

Over the Cime de la Bonette, France’s highest road, you know this is going to be a day for the pure climbers. It’ll depend heavily on the GC situation, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a big group go away in search of the stage win, with a secondary race between the overall favourites some minutes back. Isola 2000 is, in fact, a ski resort town but the soaring temperatures in late July mean you’re far more likely to see riders tucking into a Twister ice lolly than a bowl of hearty tartiflette. The start town of Embrun’s biggest landmark is the roman catholic cathedral, which dominates the skyline.

With no Paris finish this year (due to the Olympics) the race concludes on the French Riviera instead, and the penultimate stage is a massive GC climbing day of 4,600m elevation. If the riders weren’t knackered from the preceding three weeks of intense competition, they certainly will be by the end of this one. As far as local food goes, the niçoise salad is an undefeated giant of the game, while the wider region of Provence is well-known for its dreamy rosé wines. The finish climb of the Couillole is a regular in the Paris-Nice stage race – but can it play host to a final twist in the tail?

It all comes down to the race of truth. The Tour hasn’t concluded with a time trial since 1989, in what is widely agreed to have been the greatest edition of all-time. We certainly won’t be sorry to see the back of the turgid procession-into-Paris stage, but will anyone be able to overpower either Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard in the discipline they have dominated so aggressively in recent years? Filippo Ganna the Italian powerhouse has not been selected by Ineos Grenadiers, so it may fall to Remco Evenepoel to deny one of the two yellow jersey favourites their final crowning victory.