It is now official, the Tour de France 2026 leaving the city of barcelona, and it will be done in a big way, with three stages that will turn the Catalan capital and Catalonia into the great heart of the world of sport and cycling on July 4, 5 and 6. As the MD advances on more than one occasion, the city of Barcelona is positioned in pole position to host the Grand Departure of the Tour de France in 2026. A possibility that took more shape last May, coinciding with the start of Italy is spinning and that, as explained in this medium, the announcement took place when expected, this month of June, after the Dauphiné Criterium and the start of this year’s Tour de France, which will take place on the 29th in the city of Florence, Italy)both races organized by the company DOG.
“We are at Saló de Cent de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona to make a great announcement, today is a good day for the city of Barcelona and cycling, especially for those who love sport and cycling, good news, Barcelona will host the grand start of the Tour de France in 2026. It is a dream come true and reaffirms the role of Barcelona as a global sports capital that should contribute to the benefit of the country of Catalonia, Spain and Europe,” highlighted the Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni in his first parliament.
The interest of the city council in hosting the start of the Tour and in the strong positioning of the Catalan capital in the Champions League of international sporting events is not a secret, and now comes out after many years of work. He Councilor of the Sports Council of Barcelona David Escudé He had met her several times. Tour de France director Christian Prudhommesuch as the day of presentation of departure and the route of the Vuelta 2023 at the Palau de la Música Catalanawithin the framework of Last year’s Grand Departure of the Tour from Bilbao or recently in Paris, with the unconditional support of the mayor Jaume Collboni, until now the mayor of Barcelona has made the departure of the Tour of Barcelona official.
The ‘Grand Depart’ will convert to City of Barcelona in the capital of sport for several days, beyond the competition days, with the initial arrival of the teams in the Catalan capital and their presentation in a beautiful setting in the Catalan capital.
“The Tour de France is a sporting event of a very important scale, we have already experienced it live in July 2023 with the start of the Tour in Bilbao. With the Tour de France leaving Barcelona and the major sporting events, the sought after we will position the city as the world capital of sports,” explained the sports council of the Barcelona city council to MD, and this is proof of the opportunity of announcing the departure of the 2026 Tour de France from Barcelona and the realization of Spanish F1 Grand Prix this week at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunyawith an amazing exhibition of cars by Passeig de Gracia and the citizens engaged in the event.
A bet on the Tour de France and major sporting events – for example on America Cup around the corner – “always from our way of doing things. “We want to make history and we want to take advantage of the arrival of the Tour de France in our city to do something that has never been done before in our environment and in the city itself.”
Third departure of the Tour de France from Spain
2026 will be the third time that the Tour de France, the mother of all cycling races and one of the most important sporting events in the world, will begin its cycle from Spanish soil. The first time was in 1992 on the streets of Saint Sebastian, the second in 2023 in Bilbao and the third is in 2026 from Barcelona.
Although this is the first time that the Tour de France will start in Barcelona, this is not the first time that the French round has set foot or has a presence on the soil of Barcelona. The first coincided with the second time the Tour visited Spain, in 1957. Sector A of the 15th stage ended in Barcelona. In sector B of the same stage, a time trial stage will be held in the circuit of Montjuicand the next day the stage leaves Barcelona to reach Ax-les-Thermes (France). In the 1965 Tour de France, the French round reached Barcelona in the 11th stage, starting from Ax-les-Thermes and arriving in the Catalan capital. The 12th stage was held between Barcelona and Perpignan and in 2009 two almost complete stages were held on Spanish territory: the 6th arrived in Barcelona after starting in Girona and the next day he left Barcelona for Andorra.
A good sporting event, that of Grand Depart of the Tour de France of City of Barcelonawhich is an old aspiration in 2011 and will have a cost of around seven million euros, which will be covered by the city council itself, the Diputació de Barcelona and the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
