2028 Tour de France set for earliest start since 1966 due to Los Angeles Olympics clash

The 2028 Tour de France is reportedly set to begin on June 23, a week earlier than usual, due to a scheduling clash with the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

With the fear of a clash between the Tour and the Olympics, anticipation has formed around what the Tour organisers' plan of action might be, but according to reports from L'essentiel, an earlier start is the call set to be made.

This scheduling shift would mark the earliest Tour start since 1966, with the French Grand Tour expected to conclude on July 16, just three days before the Olympic time trial events on July 19.

The 2028 Olympic Games are scheduled to begin on Friday, 14 July, with the opening ceremony. The men’s and women’s time trial events are set for Wednesday, 19 July and the women’s and men’s road races are to take place on July 22 and 23, respectively. This leaves a very short turnaround for the riders who plan to target success both in France and the United States in the summer of 2028. 

It's not the first time the Tour organisers have had to adapt in recent times due to the Olympics. The 2024 Paris Games saw the Tour also start in June, on the 29th, and finish outside of the capital city for the first time in history, opting to end the three-week race in Nice on that occasion, to accommodate the Olympics.

Luxembourg has emerged as the frontrunner to host the 2028 Grand Départ of the Tour de France, despite the prospect of it meaning the Tour will have started outside of France for the third consecutive year, with Barcelona and Edinburgh confirmed for hosting rights in 2026 and 2027, respectively. According to L’essentiel, several French cities and regions are pushing back against the idea of three consecutive foreign Grand Départs.

More recent reports from L'essentiel indicate that Luxembourg proposes hosting three stages for a fee between eight and nine million euros, with ASO expected to make its final decision in spring 2026. The proposed route would begin with a 13.5-kilometre time trial in Luxembourg City, followed by two road stages through the country's scenic districts.

Luxembourg already has a history when it comes to the Tour de France Grand Départ, having done so in 1989 and 2002, meaning only the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany (including West Germany) have hosted more foreign starts of the Tour.

Sports Minister Georges Mischo first met with Tour director Christian Prudhomme back in February to discuss the plans for a Luxembourg Grand Départ. 

"The first meeting was in February, in Paris. I went to tell him that we were proposing a Grand Départ for the 2028 Tour," Mischo told L'essentiel in an interview. "At first, he was quite surprised, as he had stuck to the previous government's idea of requesting a stage," Mischo told L'essentiel.

"I explained to him that we have a new government and that we want this Grand Départ, 100 years after Nicolas Frantz's second victory and 70 years after Charly Gaul's," said Mischo. "It would be the perfect time to honour these two great champions."

If Luxembourg are successful in their attempts to host the start of the 2028 Tour de France, they are set to have one less week or so to prepare, though that shouldn't be an issue, considering it's over two and a half years away until the newly reported start date.