Where does the Tour de France finish?

Every year the Tour de France, since its beginnings 122 years ago, has begun in a different location. The first race in 1903 began in Montgeron, a commune in the Parisian suburbs, while last year’s began in Florence, Italy. Despite its name, the Tour often begins in other European countries, especially in recent years, including in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, although it always finishes in Paris. The exact venue of the destination hasn’t always been the same, however.

The Tour de France is the world’s most famous and prestigious cycling race, held annually in July. It spans approximately 3,500 kilometers over the course of three weeks, featuring twenty-one stages across a variety of terrains.

Twenty-two teams of nine cyclists compete in the Tour each year, and the teams are often international in their make-up, with people coming from as far away as Japan and Colombia to participate in the race. While the Tour is an all-male sport, there has been a women's Tour de France since 2022, known as Tour de France Femmes, which takes place over eight days. Like the men's Tour de France, the Tour de France Femmes also takes place in July, after the men's tour. Next year's Tour de France Femmes is due to start in Switzerland, while the 2027 Tour will have its Grand Départ in the United Kingdom.

In 2025, the Tour began in Lille and is due to finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This will be the 50th year in a row - with the exception of 2024 - that the race has finished at the Champs-Élysées, and there are no signs that this iconic end-point will be changing soon. As William Fotheringham noted for The Guardian earlier this month, 'It is impossible now to conceive of the Tour de France without two things: the race leader’s yellow jersey and the finale on the Champs-Élysées.'

Before 1975, the Tour finished at a few different locations throughout Paris. The first Tour finished in Ville-d’Avray, a suburb of Paris. From 1904 to 1967 it usually finished in the Parc des Princes Velodrome, although other velodromes and streets were sometimes used. In 1968 it was Parc des Expositions; and between 1969 to 1974 it was the Vélodrome de Vincennes.

In 2024, the race ended in the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, to avoid clashing with the Paris Olympics.

• The first Tour de France was organised to increase sales for L'Auto, a French sports newspaper. The yellow jersey sported by the winner is meant to reflect the newspaper's distinctive typescript
• The youngest ever winner of the Tour was Henri Cornet, who won the 1904 race at the age of 19
• The Tour is one of the most popular sporting events in the world, and is broadcast in over 190 countries
• The longest Tour was in 1926, at over 5,745 kilometres. For this race, riders had to trace the circumference of France
• The Tour did not take place during the First or Second World Wars
• Eight cyclists have won the Tour de France more than once, including Spain's Miguel Indurain, who won five years in a row, and the United States' Lance Armstrong, who won seven years in a row (but later had his wins stripped after allegations of doping)