For the world-famous Tour de France 2024: the start of the last stage – what could be the most exciting in the Tour – is in Monaco.
On Saturday, Prince Albert II, in the company of Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, announced the start of the last stage of the Tour de France 2024 from the Principality of Monaco. This last stage will take place on Sunday July 21, 2024 in the format of a final time trial between Monaco and Nice.
So the 21st and final stage of the Tour de France 2024, will not end in Paris for the first time in history, ending instead with the time trial starting in Monaco.
After the revelation that the Tour de France 2024 would not end in Paris because of the Olympic Games, the organizers specified Monaco as being the venue of the last stage and would end well with an individual time trial.
This is the seventh time in history that the Tour de France will stop in the Principality.
Historic Moments of the Tour de France in Monaco
In 2009, during the highlighted start in Monaco, the Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara won the inaugural 15.5 kilometre time trial, before a sprint victory for Briton Mark Cavendish the next day between Monaco and Brignoles.
More epic moments are envisaged for 2024. It will be the first time that the Tour has a «time trial» sprint finish since the widely reported legendary outcome of 1989 when the Frenchman Laurent Fignon lost the yellow jersey by eight seconds, the smallest gap in history, against the American Greg Lemonde
Tour de France
It’s widely billed as the world’s most prestigious and most difficult bicycle race. Of the three foremost races (the others being the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España), the Tour de France attracts the world’s best riders. It is staged over three weeks each July—usually in some 20 daylong stages.
The Tour typically comprises 20 professional teams of 9 riders each and covers some 3,600 km mainly in France and with historic inclusion of Monaco from time to time. There are occasional and brief visits to such countries as Belgium, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
The race may start outside France—as was the widely reported case in 2007, when England hosted the opening stage for the first time. It always heads to France quickly as the Tour is France’s premier annual sporting event and has deep cultural roots. It is watched by huge crowds from the roadside and is televised around the world. It is one of the supreme tests of athletic endurance. Part of the difficulty cyclists face in the Tour is that it is divided among time-trial racing and racing stages covering both flat land and great stretches of mountainous inclines. It is a rare cyclist who can perform well at both time trials and climbing. Those who wear the yellow jersey (maillot jaune) of victory at the end of the race are supreme athletes.
In 2024 these champions of cycle racing will centre on Monaco.
