Rebranded Dauphiné features team time trial and three summit finishes on 2026 route

The route for the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has been revealed and features a team time trial as well as three consecutive summit finishes in the final three days.

The race kicks off with a ferocious 140.1km stage that could see some early differences between the general classification contenders. In total, there are five categorised climbs on the menu, with the final ascent, the category one Côte de Saint-Jean-le-Vieux, being the most difficult and coming inside the final 20km. The stage concludes with an uphill drag to the finish line in Saint-Ismier.

Next up is the longest stage of the race to Le Puy-en-Velay, one which almost approaches Monument distance at 237.3km in length. It’s a hilly affair, which, like the opening stage, will wear down the legs of many at an early point of this stage race.

From here, attention turns to the race against the clock, but not in the form of an individual time trial. As is the theme in 2026, the 28.4km team time trial around Le Perreux on stage 3 will serve as a final opportunity for teams to hone their craft in the discipline ahead of the Tour’s opener in Barcelona. 

Stage 4 to Montrond-les-Bains has the potential for a sprint, though it’s better suited for the versatile sprinters who are more comfortable with the six categorised climbs throughout the day. Stage 5, on the other hand, is even more likely to end in a traditional bunch sprint. The Parc des Oiseaux in Villars-les-Dombes, where the stage finishes, is the same location where Mark Cavendish claimed a milestone 30th Tour de France stage in 2016.

Stage 6 is where the general classification race heats up with the first of three consecutive summit finishes, on this occasion, a new ascent to Crest-Voland.

However, the difficulty ramps up even more on the final weekend of the race, with a stage that finishes atop the imposing Grand Colombier. In total, the penultimate 133.3km stage features over 3,800 metres of elevation gain, and the dose of climbing is similar on the race’s final showdown on stage 8.

The final stage, which is 120km in length, features not one but two hors catégorie climbs. Most significantly, the final climb of the race, the mighty Plateau de Solaison, will not only decide the final outcome of the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes but it also serves as a preview for stage 15 of the Tour de France, which finishes on the same ascent. 

This will be the first edition of the race since rebranding from the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2025, where Tadej Pogačar delivered a precursor of what was to come at the Tour de France with a convincing victory.

In 2025, Pogačar was joined on the podium by Jonas Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz, with the same final outcome at the Tour later that summer. However, the world champion is set to ride the Tour de Suisse for the very first time in his career in preparations for attempting to win a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey at La Grand Boucle, leaving the door open for someone else to shine at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.