Montmartre to remain in Tour de France finale in 2027 despite reports of removal

The 2027 Tour de France route will be presented in Paris on October 22 and, as ever, the build-up to the big day has been punctuated by rumours about the configuration of the race.

On Thursday morning, the final line of a general overview of route rumours published by Le Progrès generated a flurry of headlines across cycling media, with a number of publications delcaring that the climb of Montmartre was set to be removed from the Tour’s grand finale in 2027 despite the drama it had produced in the past two years.

It’s worth noting that the short line in LeProgrès about the final stage in Paris was written in the conditional tense – literally: “This time, the climb to Montmartre wouldn’t be part of it” – but that tentative suggestion became rather more imperative in some translations. 

When Domestique contacted Tour organiser ASO for comment, we received an understandably gnomic comment, given their desire to save any firm news for the big reveal at the Palais des Congrès next Thursday: “We’ll see on October 22!”

But while ASO are keen to maintain suspense, Le Parisien felt dutybound to do some digging on the matter. The newspaper was once part of the ASO empire and its name even featured on the maillot jaune in the 1980s. 

While Le Parisien was sold to LVMH in 2015, it remains a well-informed source for Tour news, and especially when it comes to route rumours related to the capital. And within hours of the story from Le Progrès travelling around the world, Le Parisien moved to rebut it.

“No, the organisers of the Tour de France will not be changing a winning formula,” began the article in Le Parisien. Citing “multiple sources,” Le Parisien stated that the circuit over the Butte Montmartre would again feature in 2027, pointing to the popular success of the finale in 2025 and 2026.

The climb of Montmartre was the centrepiece of the road races at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and that race inspired ASO to incorporate the ascent into its traditional Champs-Élysées finale.

In 2025, the rainy conditions meant that the GC was neutralised before the circuits over the ascent, but that didn’t prevent Tour winner Tadej Pogacar from chasing stage victory, eventually losing out to Wout van Aert.

The Montmartre finale was again neutralised in 2026, but Pogacar was once more on the offensive. This time out, his effort ultimately contributed to a thrilling victory from Mathieu van der Poel.

Although neither stage had an impact on the general classification, Le Parisien suggested that the increased roadside crowds and higher television ratings for the reconfigured finale meant that the Tour was unlikely to take out the climb. “The Tour de France organisers therefore had no reason to break with their new tradition,” the newspaper concluded. 

The report in Le Parisien is still unlikely to quell the speculation ahead of the presentation next Thursday, of course, and that’s all part of the appeal at this time of the year. But it’s difficult to argue with the newspaper’s logic – it will be a major surprise if Montmartre does not stay on the Tour route in 2027.