The 2022 Tour de France route was unveiled in October by Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme during a conference at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. For this 109th edition, the teams will travel 3,328 km over 21 stages, including two individual time trials. On the menu: the Grand Départ in Denmark, the North with tunes from Paris-Roubaix, the East with La Planche des Belles Filles, the Alps with the return from Alpe d’Huez and the South-West with tough the Pyrenees.
In total, 8 regions will be crossed and 29 departments visited. There will be 6 flat stages, 7 hilly stages and 6 mountain stages, including 5 altitude finishes. In addition to the cities of Denmark which will be crossed by the Tour, four localities will welcome the Grande Boucle for the first time, these are Aigle (Switzerland), Castelnau-Magnoac (Hautes-Pyrénées), Lacapelle-Marival (Lot) and Rocamadour (Lot).
The official map of the Tour de France 2022
– ASO
The 21 steps
► Our Tour de France 2022 file
Unprecedented start in Denmark
The Tour de France should have started from Denmark in 2021 but the management of the Grande Boucle had preferred to postpone the deadline due to the upheaval created by the pandemic. 2022 will therefore be good for this great cycling country which will host the race for three days.
On July 1, the Tour de France will start for the first time in its history from Denmark with a first stage in the form of a 13km individual time trial taking place in Copenhagen, the capital. The city has already hosted the world professional cycling championships 5 times, a record. Riders will set off from the historic heart of Copenhagen and cross the Queen Louise Bridge, known to be the busiest cycle lane in the world. The champions will also pass in front of the famous Tivoli Gardens or in front of the famous statue of the Little Mermaid, installed in the port of the city.
– ASO
The next day, the peloton will set off for the first collective stage. 199km between Roskilde, former capital of Denmark and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Nyborg. The course promises to be perilous with 18km on the bridge linking the island of Seeland to that of Funen, above the Baltic Sea. A portion that promises to be as sumptuous as it is risky since it could generate edges in the event of wind and create gaps from the second day of the Tour. The finish will be at Nyborg and its famous medieval castle.
– ASO
The third stage and last day in Denmark will take place between Velje, on the Jutland peninsula and Sonderborg. The peloton will cross the region from north to south passing through two UNESCO World Heritage sites. After 182 km of racing, the finish will take place in the port town of Sonderborg, not far from the German border, an ideal place for a bunch sprint.
– ASO
After these three fine Danish stages, the peloton will fly to France and will benefit from a first day of rest, on July 4th.
The Great Loop back in the North
After four years of absence, the Tour is making a comeback in the North. We have to go back to July 15, 2018 to find the last stage in the department, with an arrival in Roubaix which had made an impression. After the Great Departure in Denmark, a transfer will be organized to Dunkirk, the starting point of the 4th stage, the route of which will observe a loop to Calais. The peloton will pass by the words of Flanders and the Boulonnais mountains, before reaching the coast with passages near capes Gris-Nez and Blanc-Nez.
The next day, the Tour will leave from the hypercentre of Lille to head towards Arenberg and its famous gap. This stage will honor the region’s mining past and will use cobbled sections of Paris-Roubaix, a first since 2018.
The 6th stage will be that of the departure from the north to the east. The Tour will leave from Binche in Belgium to join Longwy in Meurthe-et-Moselle. A long stage of 220km during which the riders will have to manage their efforts due to an explosive final, in particular in the wall of Pulventeux 6km from the finish or in the coast of the Religious.
In the East, something new
On July 8, there will be a stage linking Tomblaine to La Super Planche des Belles Filles (a finish with 100m more elevation than normal), the finish of which has become a classic of the Tour de France. The site will host the competition for the sixth time since 2012 and should make it possible to start widening the gaps.
The rest will take place between Dole and Lausanne in Switzerland. The city of Pasteur, whose bicentenary of birth will be celebrated in 2022, will receive the Tour for the fourth time in its history. The final in Switzerland should be promised to the punchers, with a short climb to 12%.
The Tour will start on Sunday July 10 from Aigle, still with our Swiss neighbors before crossing the border again towards Haute-Savoie at Châtel. There “first real mountain test“, comments Christian Prudhomme, with a final where a strong man could make the difference at Pas de Morgins.
The Tour attacking the Alps
Before continuing their efforts in the Alps, the riders will observe another rest day in Morzine on Monday July 11. The next day, the peloton will leave Morzine to reach Megève. A stage that will meander along Lake Geneva before a final reserved for the strong.
The continuation of the Grande Boucle will be a stage linking Albertville to Serre Chevalier at the Col du Granon, at 2,413 meters above sea level. A key stage with many difficulties on the menu: the Montvernier laces, the Telegraph and Galibier passes. After crossing Serre-Chevalier, it will remain 10km at more than 9% to cross the finish line.
For July 14, National Day, the stage promises to be legendary since it will start from Briançon to reach another essential part of the Tour: Alpe d’Huez and its 21 bends for a climb of 14km in length and 1,120m in altitude. It had been since 2018 that the peloton had not challenged the mythical climb. The route will be an exact replica of the 1986 Tour de France stage, which was won by Bernard Hinaut.
On July 15, the runners will start from Bourg d’Oisans, in Isère, to leave the Alps and go to Saint-Etienne. The Loire prefecture will have the honor of hosting an arrival and a departure during this 109th edition of the Grande Boucle.
Carcassonne in the spotlight
On July 16, cyclists will set off from Saint-Etienne towards Lozère, for an arrival in Mende, just four years after his last appearance. The finish will take place once again at the aerodrome where the cyclists will face the formidable “montée Jalabert” (3km climb at 10.1%).
The Tour will then continue its route south, with a stage between Rodez (Aveyron) and Carcassonne (Aude). A stage designed for sprinters. The peloton will settle in the vicinity of the medieval city to observe the third and final day of rest. Carcassonne will receive quite the spotlight with the triple status of city of arrival, city of stage and city of rest.
The Battle of the Pyrenees
The 16th stage will therefore leave Carcassonne on July 19 towards Foix in the Ariège. An entry into the Pyrenean massif which could favor breakaways. The route is designed for climbers with a climb of the Port de Lers and the Mur de Péguère, before diving towards Foix in a long descent of about twenty kilometers.
Stage number 17 promises to be daunting since it will start from Saint-Gaudens and end in Peyragudes. The ski resort, located on the border of Haute-Garonne and Hautes-Pyrénées, had already been the scene of a fabulous final in 2017, won by Romain Bardet. In 2022, the Tour will pass through the Col d’Aspin, the Hourquette d’Ancizan before tackling the terrible climb leading to the Peyragudes altiport.
On July 21, the peloton will continue with a tough stage linking Lourdes to Hautacam, winter sports resort in the Hautes-Pyrénées. It will be the last mountain explanation and the stage could be decisive to know who will wear the yellow jersey in Paris. ASO promises a race of all possibilities, with “failures, flashes, twists and turns of all kinds“. The start will be given from the sanctuary, to then follow the Aubisque and Spandelles passes with a final at the top of the Hautacam climb.
The Lot before the Champs-Elysées
The next day, the riders will leave the Pyrenees going a little further north with a stage between Castelnau-Magnoac and Cahors. A wink with the Grand Départ given in Denmark, since the Château de Cayx, located in Luzech on the road to Cahors, is the property of the Danish royal family.
The penultimate stage, on July 23, will be in the form of an individual time trial in the Lot. A journey of forty kilometers linking Lacapelle-Marival to Rocamadour. The route will end with two climbs to reach the promontory of Rocamadour. In 2020, Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, had been “dazzled” by the final of the Route d’Occitanie. This time trial could be decisive, if the gaps are still small in the general classification.
Finally, for the last stage of the Tour 2022, the riders will leave from La Défense Arena in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) before returning to Paris and the famous finish on the Champs-Elysées. The stage will be historic since at the start of the final sprint, the first stage of the women’s Tour de France will take place, starting in Paris.