Tour de France 2024: Dates, times, routes stage details and where to watch

john macleary

Tue, 25 Jun 2024, 1:50 pm·8-min read

Sepp Kuss will miss the Tour de France after failing to recover from Covid - AP/Christophe Ena

The Tour de France is one of the three grand tours – the others being the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España – that form the backbone around which the cycling season is structured.

This is the biggest and most important bike race in the world, with an estimated 80 per cent of most WorldTour team’s sponsorship income being based around the Tour.

Founded in 1903 by Henri Desgrange, editor of L’Auto newspaper, the Tour may not be the favourite stage race of the cycling cognoscenti but it is one that captures the imagination of the wider sporting public. As a result, the race is the biggest annual sporting event in the world with more live spectators than even the Olympics or football World Cup. Read the latest news before the race starts here.

How many stages are there in the Tour de France?

The second grand tour of the season comprises 21 stages and will be contested over 3,498 kilometres (2,173 miles). This year’s Tour consists of eight flat stages, four hilly stages, seven mountain stages with four summit finishes, two individual time trials and two rest days.

What time does the 2024 Tour de France start?

This year’s race gets under way with the 206km opening stage from Florence to Rimini on Saturday June 29, 2024. Racing starts at 11.40am.

How long does the Tour de France last?

The Tour de France last three weeks. After setting off from Florence on June 29, the race concludes with a 33.7km individual time trial from Moncao to Nice. Eschewing to traditional stage into Paris as a knock-on effect of the Olympic Games, this will be the first time since 1989 when the race has ended with a time trial.

Will the 2024 Tour de France be shown on TV?

Every stage of the race can be watched live on Eurosport, while terrestrial channels ITV4 and S4C will also be broadcasting the action. Live shows and highlights programmes will be shown at different times each day.

Alternatively, if you are stuck at work then you can follow the action, as it unfolds, right here with Telegraph Sport. Almost every stage will be live blogged by our team while selected race details and standings in the main classifications will also be published.

How many teams are there in the Tour de France?

Twenty-two teams will take part in the race. As with all WorldTour races, each team from the top-flight of professional cycling received an invitation and in the case of the Tour de France, all 18 of them are contracted to compete in the grand tour. In addition they will be joined by four UCI ProTeams – the two highest placed UCI ProTeams in 2023 (Lotto Dstny and TotalEnergies), along with Uno-X and Israel-Premier Tech who were selected by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organisers of the Tour.

How many people compete at the Tour de France?

Twenty-two teams comprising eight riders will start. In total 176 riders will be on the start line in Florence.

WorldTeams

Alpecin-Deceuninck (Bel)

Silvan Dillier (Swi), Robbe Ghys (Bel), Soren Kragh Andersen (Den), Axel Laurance (Fra), Jonas Rickaert (Bel), Mathieu van der Poel (Ned), Gianni Vermeersch (Bel), Jasper Philipsen (Bel)

Arkéa-B&B Hotels (Fra)

Amaury Capiot (Bel), Clément Champoussin (Fra), Arnaud Démare (Fra), Raúl García Pierna (Spa), Daniel McLay (GB), Luca Mozzato (Ita), Cristián Rodríguez (Spa), Kévin Vauquelin (Fra)

Astana Qazaqstan (Kaz)

Davide Ballerini (Ita), Cees Bol (Ned), Mark Cavendish (GB), Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz), Michele Gazzoli (Ita), Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz), Michael Morkov (Den), Harold Tejada (Col)

Bahrain Victorious (Brn)

Nikias Arndt (Ger), Phil Bauhaus (Ger), Pello Bilbao (Spa), Santiago Buitrago (Col), Jack Haig (Aus), Wout Poels (Ned), Fred Wright (GB), Matej Mohoric (Slo)

Cofidis (Fra)

Piet Allegaert (Bel), Bryan Coquard (Fra), Simon Geschke (Ger), Jesús Herrada (Spa), Ion Izagirre (Spa), Guillaume Martin (Fra), Alexis Renard (Fra), Axel Zingle (Fra)

Decathlon-Ag2R La Mondiale (Fra)

Bruno Armirail (Fra), Sam Bennett (Ire), Felix Gall (Aut), Dorian Godon (Fra), Paul Lapeira (Fra), Oliver Naesen (Bel), Nans Peters (Fra), Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra)

DSM-Firmenich PostNL (Ned)

Romain Bardet (Fra), Warren Barguil (Fra), John Degtenkolb (Ger), Nils Eekhoff (Ned), Fabio Jakobsen (Ned), Oscar Onley (GB), Frank Van Den Broek (Ned), Bram Welten (Ned)

EF Education-EasyPost (US)

Alberto Bettigol (Ita), Stefan Bissegger (Swi), Richard Carapaz (Ecu), Rui Costa (Por), Ben Healy (Ire), Neilson Powless (US), Sean Quinn (US), Marijn Van Den Berg (Ned)

Groupama-FDJ (Fra)

David Gaudu (Fra), Kevin Geniets (Lux), Romain Grégoire (Fra), Stefan Kung (Swi), Valentin Madouas (Fra), Lenny Martinez (Fra), Quentin Pacher (Fra), Clément Russo (Fra)

Ineos Grenadiers (GB)

Egan Bernal (Col), Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa), Laurens De Plus (Bel) Michal Kwiatkowsi (Pol), Tom Pidcock (GB), Carlos Rodríguez (Spa), Geraint Thomas (GB), Ben Turner (GB)

Intermarché-Wanty (Bel)

Biniam Girmay (Eri), Kobe Goossens (Bel), Louis Meintjes (SA), Hugo Page (Fra), Laurenz Rex (Bel), Mike Teunissen (Ned), Gerben Thijssen (Bel), Georg Zimmermann (Ger)

Jayco-AlUla (Aus)

Luke Durbridge (Aus), Dylan Groenewegen (Ned), Chris Harper (Aus), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den), Michael Matthews (Aus), Luka Mezgec (Slo), Elmar Reinders (Ned), Simon Yates (GB)

Lidl-Trek (US)

Julien Bernard (Fra), Giuluo Ciccone (Ita), Tim Declercq (Bel), Ryan Gibbons (SA), Mads Pedersen (Den), Toms Skujins (Lat), Jasper Stuyven (Bel), Carlos Verona (Spa)

Movistar (Spa)

Alex Aranburu (Spa), Davide Formolo (Ita), Fernando Gaviria (Col), Oier Lazanko (Spa), Enric Mas (Spa), Gregor Mühlberger (Aut), Nelson Oliveira (Por), Javier Romo (Spa)

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe (Ger)

Nico Denz (Ger), Marco Haller (Aut), Jai Hindley (Aus), Bob Jungels (Lux), Primoz Roglic (Slo), Matteo Sobrero (Ita), Danny van Poppel (Ned), Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus)

Soudal-Quick Step (Bel)

Remco Evenepoel (Bel), Jan Hirt (Cze), Yves Lampaert (Bel), Mikel Landa (Spa), Gianni Moscon (Ita), Casper Pedersen (Den), Ilan Van Wilder (Bel), Louis Vervaeke (Bel)

UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

Joao Almeida (Por), Juan Ayuso (Spa), Tadej Pogacar (Slo), Nils Politt (Ger), Pavel Sivakov (Fra), Marc Soler (Spa), Tim Wellens (Bel), Adam Yates (GB)

Visma-Lease a Bike (Ned)

Tiesj Benoot (Bel), Matteo Jorgenson (US), Wilco Kelderman (Ned), Christophe Laporte (Fra), Bart Lemmem (Ned), Jan Tratnik (Slo), Wout van Aert (Bel), Jonas Vingegaard (Den)

ProTeams

Israel-Premier Tech (Isr)

Pascal Ackermann (Ger), Guillaume Boivin (Can), Jakob Fuglsand (Den), Derek Gee (Can), Hugo Houle (Can), Krists Neilands (Lat), Jake Stewart (GB), Stephen Williams (GB)

Lotto Dstny (Bel)

Cedric Beullens (Bel), Victor Campenaerts (Bel), Arnaud De Lie (Bel), Jarrad Drizners (Aus), Sébastien Grignard (Bel), Maxim Van Gils (Bel), Brent Van Moer (Bel), Harm Vanhoucke (Bel)

TotalEnergies (Fra)

Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra), Steff Cras (Bel), Sandy Duijardin (Fra), Thomas Gachingard (Fra), Fabien Grellier (Fra), Jordan Jegeat (Fra), Anthony Turgis (Fra), Mattéo Vercher (Fra)

Uno-X Mobility (Nor)

Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor), Magnus Cort (Den), Odd Christian Eiking (Nor), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Alexander Kristoff (Nor), Johannes Kulset (Nor), Rasmus Tiller (Nor), Soren Waerenskjold (Nor)

Latest news in the countdown to the Tour de France

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard has been dealt a blow after team-mate Sepp Kuss was ruled out of this year’s Tour de France after the American failed to recover from Covid ahead of this weekend’s grand départ.

Kuss was lined up to compete in a support role for Visma-Lease a Bike leader Vingegaard but fell ill during this month’s Critérium du Dauphiné. The winner of last year’s Vuelta a España has been replaced in the eight-man team by Bart Lemmen.

“This is, of course, very hard for Sepp in the first place. His contribution is always very important in the team, but then of course he has to be completely fit,” sporting director Merijn Zeeman said. “Unfortunately, we had to conclude together that this is insufficient.”