Will the Tour de France’s double Alpe d’Huez gamble pay off? 2026 routes analysed + Top tips for recovering from the cycling yips

Suspense isn’t exactly the first word that springs to mind when you think about the last few editions of the men’s Tour de France. And the reason for that is mostly – actually, scratch that – entirely down to a certain Mr Pogačar.

But, in a possibly stupid and futile gesture, Tour boss Christian Prudhomme has decided to do everything in his power to quell the rampaging, draconian power of the race’s Slovenian tyrant next July, at least for a week or two, anyway.

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Because, ASO tell us, the 2026 iteration of the Tour de France Hommes will be all about suspense. Or, as the race’s press release put it, it’s going to be a ‘crescendo’. Whether it’s one that could build to a great Alpine GC frenzy, or, if Tadej decides to clash the symbols sooner than anticipated, fade into a disappointing diminuendo, remains to be seen.

In any case, the Tour Hommes route unveiled on Thursday, at the end of ASO’s annual glitzy, overlong Paris shindig, marks something of a deviation from the standard Tour formula of the 2020s.

Gone is the TikTok-inspired, mini-classic every day approach of recent years, this time in favour of a slow burner boxset, the kind of drama you tell your friends to stick with, on the basis that it gets good eventually, I promise.

The simple matter of the geography of western Europe plays a part in this route planning, of course. The race’s start in Barcelona – featuring a controversial team time trial (first rider across the line counts) and a spectacular hill city circuit – means an early, comparatively lightweight excursion into the Pyrenees.

And, just like the 1992 and 2009 Tours which ventured into the Pyrenees in the opening week, it’ll be a while before any other high-mountain obstacles present themselves. In fact, the next ‘proper’ mountains don’t arrive until the end of week two, in the Vosges.

But then, that tactic makes sense. Prudhomme is desperate to avoid another Pogi procession and ensure at least some suspense remains in cycling’s biggest race until the third week – the world champion’s attacking, dominant instincts be damned – and like his Ventoux-focused finale in 2009, this particular Tour is heavily backloaded, almost Giro-like in its structure.

And it’s all about one climb (kind of). Alpe d’Huez, arguably cycling’s most famous test, will appear twice on the final Friday and Saturday of next year’s race, first in its traditional 21 hairpin format and then via the back roads, up the Col de Sarenne, the route via which Pete Kennaugh won on the Alpe at the 2017 Dauphiné.

The Tour is won on the Alpe, they say. Or at least that’s what Christian Prudhomme hopes will be the case next July (probably best not to remind him how his Ventoux gamble paid off 16 years ago).

On this week’s episode of the road.cc Podcast, we offer our immediate reactions to the Tour Hommes route (which also features the return of the Montmarte finale in Paris), as well as our takes on what looks set to be a very exciting Tour de France Femmes in 2026.

The Tour Femmes’ route, unlike the men’s race, follows the format it’s settled into in recent years, based around a series of flat and punchy opening stages, before getting progressively harder, with the jewels in the crown being a long-awaited trip to Mont Ventoux and a potentially explosive final stage in Nice.

Do we think next year’s Tours will live up to their suspenseful, crescendo-like billing? You’ll have to tune in to find out… Just don’t ask Dan whether he believes the Sarenne should be classed as Alpe d’Huez.

Elsewhere, in the podcast, inspired by Remco Evenepoel’s redemptive downhill performance at Il Lombardia this month, Emily puts her sports psychology Masters to good use and offers some handy advice on how you too can overcome a heavy crash and regain your confidence on the bike.

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