PHOTO
(FILES) Stage winner Team Deceuninck Quickstep's British rider Mark Cavendish wearing the best sprinter's green jersey celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the end of the 10th stage of the 108th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 190 km between Albertville and Valence, on July 6, 2021. Veteran British cyclist Mark Cavendish has on June 15, 2024, been given a knighthood in King Charles's birthday honours. The 39-year-old from the Isle of Man shares the record of 34 Tour de France stage wins with the legendary Belgian Eddy Merckx and has delayed his planned retirement by a year to have another crack at claiming the record outright. (Photo by Philippe LOPEZ / AFP)
The Tour de France will start in Barcelona in 2026, the third time the race has started in Spain in over a century, organisers ASO announced on Tuesday.
"Barcelona is a prestigious city and it is a city of sport," Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme told AFP.
He said two complete stages would take place in Catalonia and the third stage would also begin there before crossing into France.
Cycling's most famous race started in Saint Sebastian in 1992 and in Bilbao last year.
This year the Tour starts in the Italian city of Florence on June 29 before reverting to Lille next year.
This year's Tour de France will end in Nice on July 21 in a change from its normal route because of the preparations for the Olympics in Paris.