'Nice won't be unique' - Tour de France eyes new finish cities in future

Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme has suggested that the race could finish outside of Paris more often in the future, following the 2024 edition's conclusion in Nice. 

Due to the Olympic Games being hosted in the capital of France last Summer, the Tour de France had to take unprecedented measures and move the finish of the race outside Paris for the first time in the race's history. Instead, the city of Nice hosted the conclusion of the Tour de France, and stage 21 saw an individual time trial as the curtain closer of the race, with the stage and general classification being won by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

Until 2024, the city of Paris had hosted the finish of every single edition of the Tour de France, and more specifically, every year since 1975, the final stage of the race took place on the iconic Champs-Élysées on what is typically an occasion for the sprinters. 

Since 1979, only three final stages of the race on the Champs-Élysées weren't won in a bunch sprint, with the additional exception of 1989, when the final stage was an individual time-trial, producing arguably the most iconic moment in Tour history as Greg LeMond snatched yellow from Lauren Fignon by a mere 8 seconds. 

However, speaking to Cycling Weekly during the 2025 Tour in the Pyrenees, Prudhomme indicated that the move away from the traditional Paris finale might not be a one-off experiment. 

“I think that the arrival in Nice, outside of Paris, won’t be unique. We were delighted with Nice,” Prudhomme said to Cycling Weekly. “But what’s crucial for me is to always keep a really strong relationship with the city of Paris. That’s crucial for me."

While maintaining that Paris remains fundamentally important to the Tour's identity, Prudhomme acknowledged that political considerations could influence future decisions about where the race could finish in future years.

“The only real question is, if one year we don’t go to Paris, what do we do? You can’t get angry, and we certainly don’t want to fall out with the Mayor of Paris," Prudhomme explained. "But there are municipal elections next year in March in all of France’s big cities. Naturally, we’ll have to work with a new team because Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, isn’t running. We’ll see how all that goes," he added. 

Even for the current edition of the Tour de France in 2025, the race organisers have decided to spice up the traditional stage 21 on the Champs-Élysées on what is the 50th anniversary of the first final finish on the Champs-Élysées.

The route has been adapted for this year to include a circuit that includes the Montmartre climb that featured in the Olympic Games last year. The riders are set to take on the climb three times as part of a new circuit, with the final ascent just 6km from the finish line on the traditional finishing straight. 

Prudhomme expressed his excitement about the inclusion of the climb and a return to Paris, stating, "It worked out well to return to Paris for the 50th anniversary of the first finish on the Champs-Élysées. It was just chance, but it worked out well."

“There’s now the novelty that we will go via Montmartre, which is, for me, the strongest image from the Olympics in Paris, outside of the sporting achievements. It’ll be a Tour de France stage but in the heart of Paris," Prudhomme explained. 

Prudhomme also acknowledged that the addition of the Montmartre circuit will showcase the unbridled passion of the fans of the Tour de France, something that the Champs-Élysées struggles to do due to logistical reasons. 

"The Champs-Élysées is splendid, but the people are under the trees, so you get the beauty of Paris, but you don’t get the impression of the mass [of people]. On Rue Lepic in Montmartre, you can see the mass," he added. 

The Tour race director also indicated that other major cities in France were candidates to host to conclusion of the 2024 Tour, further sparking the potential for future finishes in Paris. 

“There are tons of factors that are taken into account. Of course, people saw Nice and are going to say, ‘You can come and finish here’. Yes. When we chose Nice, there was another big French city that was also put forward. I won’t tell you which one, but there was another big French city that was a candidate to host the final day of the Tour de France," said Prudhomme.

Despite the willingness to experiment with different finish locations within France, Prudhomme was adamant that the race should always conclude on French soil, stating, "No, for me the Tour should finish in France." 

"That said, I don't think anyone is in doubt about my interest in big cities abroad. The French, in any case, are in no doubt, because I'm criticised for it," he also remarked. 

The Tour de France is no stranger to hosting the start of the race, the Grand Départ, in a foreign country. In fact, as of 2025, there have been 26 foreign Grand Départs at the Tour de France, with the most recent taking place in Italy twelve months ago. 

This year's start in Lille, Northern France, was the first time since 2021 that the race began on home soil, and the next two upcoming editions are set for foreign starts, Spain in 2026, and the United Kingdom in 2027. 

There's no doubt about the financial benefits that taking the Tour de France abroad can bring, but Prudhomme emphasised that the spectacle takes precedence over financial considerations when planning the route when asked about the potential of hosting a finish of the Tour de France in a foreign country. 

"The question of money is never the first question. You might not believe me, but for the Tour de France, it's never the first question," said Prudhomme.

"The first question is to do things that are beautiful and please people, and then the money comes. It’s Bernard Hinault who said: If you want to win money, you won’t win any races, but if you win races, you will win money. This is the philosophy. I think that if we thought about money first, we wouldn’t manage anything," he added. 

The 21st and final stage of the 2025 Tour de France is set to take place on July 27, and currently, Tadej Pogačar is in a very strong position to arrive in the French capital wearing the yellow jersey as the World Champion leads Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) by 4:13 after 14 stages of racing.