2026 Tour de France offers sprinters more chances despite warnings from route director

The route for the 2026 Tour de France was announced on Thursday, and whilst much of the attention will be on the most difficult stages, where Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will look to assert his authority and join an exclusive club of riders to have won the Tour five times, the sprinters will have taken stock of a route that will have left many with mixed feelings. 

Despite the route director Thierry Gouvenou’s threat to reduce the number of sprint stages from the Tour, the fast men will have several opportunities in 2026. Though the mountainous start means they will have to survive some Pyrenean climbs before the first chance of a mass finish in Pau on stage 5, and once more, it remains in the balance whether they will have the opportunity to sprint for victory in Paris, with the inclusion of the Montmartre circuit.

On paper, there look to be seven possible opportunities for the sprinters to shine next Summer, including stages  5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 21. This would be an increase on the four flat bunch sprints contested by the fast men in 2024. This included the opening stage with the yellow jersey on the line, won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), or five when including green jersey winner, Jonathan Milan’s (Lidl-Trek) uphill sprint win on stage 8 to Laval.

The increase of sprint opportunities from 2025 comes despite the Tour’s route director, Gouvenou’s criticism of flat stages earlier this year, citing a lack of action and threatening to reduce the number of them going forward.

"For the past two to three years, the stages finishing in a bunch sprint have been quite monotonous, totally controlled by the sprinters, there's a coalition between them,” said Gouvenou to reporters at the start of stage 9 of the Tour in July. "The riders don't want to attack because it's pointless, but it's intensified and it's a problem.”

"I think that the sprinters' teams aren't doing themselves any favours. In the future, we won't be able to continue to have these kinds of shows. But it won't last, because there won't be any more sprint stages in the future,” said Gouvenou.

Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), who has won three times at the Tour, including twice in the most recent edition, reflected on the route for the 2026 edition, admitting that some of the potential opportunities aren’t a given to end in a bunch sprint.

"Although I still have to look at the details. I see six opportunities, but some could even fall away if things have already been difficult. Of course, I'd like more sprint opportunities. But they want excitement in the Tour, so they're taking out the 'boring' stages,” said Merlier to Sporza.

One of these possible opportunities could be stage 21 in Paris, but, like 2024, the Montmartre climb will be included. The new final circuit saw a thrilling final stage, won by Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), who defeated yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in a rain-soaked battle, but it became clear that it wasn’t to be an opportunity for the sprinters. 

Just like 2024, three ascents of the Montmartre circuit are on the menu, though a concession has been made to sprinters, as there will be an additional lap of the Champs-Élysées before the finish, meaning the final ascent of the climb will be further from the finish, increasing the odds for the fast men, though it still remains a tough prospect.

This was reflected by the fact that Merlier remained cautious about his chances of victory in Paris on stage 21. 

“It is and will remain difficult for us. Especially because of those extreme stages before that,” said Merlier. “I hope to sprint on the Champs-Élysées again someday. That hasn't happened to me yet."

Additionally, like with any Tour, the sprinters will have to survive the mountains to have that potential opportunity, and the final few days in the Alps are brutal, with an Alpe d’Huez double header, with Merlier stating that after these stages, “the sprinters' legs will be cut off.”

Former 14-time stage winner and yellow jersey wearer Marcel Kittel also reflected on the sprint stage debate in the Summer, defending the role of flat stages in the Tour's balance.

"You certainly can't blame the sprinters' teams for trying to control the race and make sure there is a sprint," Kittel said after stage 9 of the Tour de France. "There are only a limited number of chances in the Tour, and this is a top-level sport."

Beyond his stance, Kittel acknowledged the organisers’ dilemma. “Still, I do understand the wider point about trying to create entertainment,” said Kittel.

The debate surrounding the decreasing level of opportunities for sprinters in modern cycling remains a large one, with Merlier recently discussing the lack of World Championship courses designed for sprinters. “I can hardly remember a Worlds for sprinters, and I am afraid I will not experience one either. And yet every generation of sprinters deserves a World Championship,” said Merlier previously to Sporza.

Despite the debate, the 2026 Tour does offer more opportunities to the sprinters than this year on paper, and they are ones that Merlier will be looking to pounce on, after a sensational 2025 season, which saw the Belgian claim 16 victories, including those two stages at the French Grand Tour.