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Race the Route: Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour — Périgueux to Bergerac Through the Dordogne
Today's Stage 8 is a flat 180.4 km run from Périgueux to Bergerac through the Dordogne. Here's how to ride the same terrain the peloton races — and turn it into your own endurance session.
By ZealZag TeamRace the Route: Riding the Col du Tourmalet Like the 2026 Tour
The 2026 Tour's first hors catégorie climb is a bucket-list ascent for any cyclist. Here's how to ride the Col du Tourmalet yourself — the numbers, the two approaches, and why you should do it with a local.
By ZealZag TeamTour de France 2026: The Tourmalet Awaits as Træen Defends Yellow Into the Pyrenees
A surprise leader in yellow, the favourites lying in wait, and the fabled Col du Tourmalet looming as the 2026 Tour's first hors catégorie test — the race for the mountains starts now.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Barcelona: Montjuïc, the Seafront Stage 1 Route, and the Sitges Coast
A practical guide to riding the roads at the centre of the Tour de France's Grand Départ — Montjuïc's switchbacks, the seafront TTT course, and the 40-kilometre coastal run to Sitges that Stage 2 traces along the Costa Daurada.
By ZealZag TeamGrand Départ Barcelona: The Tour Opens with Its First Team Time Trial Since 1971
Twenty-two squads rolled off the Parc del Fòrum ramp and pointed at Montjuïc on Saturday as the Tour de France opened its 2026 edition with a team time trial through the streets of Barcelona — a format not seen at a Tour Grand Départ since 1971, and one carrying an individual GC twist that made every second count.
By ZealZag TeamHow to Watch the Tour de France 2026 in Person: Barcelona to Alpe d'Huez
A practical guide for destination-athletes joining the Tour de France roadside — the stages worth travelling for, where to stand on Alpe d'Huez and in the Pyrenees, how to time a trip around the race's three-week geography, and what the experience actually delivers.
By ZealZag TeamGaudí's Avenue Belongs to the Tour: 80,000 Fill Barcelona for the Team Presentation
With 80,000 spectators lining Avinguda de Gaudí between the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site and the Sagrada Família, and Castellers building human towers while Sílvia Pérez Cruz sang, Barcelona staged the most architecturally striking team presentation in Tour de France history — two days before the race begins.
By ZealZag TeamClimbing the Tourmalet: Cycling the French Pyrenees from Luz-Saint-Sauveur to Gavarnie-Gèdre
Tour de France Stage 6 crosses the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet before a first-ever finish at Gavarnie-Gèdre on July 9. This is a practical guide to riding these roads yourself — what the climbs are, where to base, when to go.
By ZealZag Team
Race the Route: Ride Tour de France Stage 1's Barcelona TTT Course
The 19.7km Tour de France Stage 1 TTT from Fòrum to Montjuïc is one of Europe's most cinematic cycling routes. Here's how to ride every kilometer — logistics, Montjuïc climb tips, and where to eat.
By ZealZag TeamThree Days Out: Tour de France 2026 Opens with First Stage 1 TTT Since 1971 in Barcelona
The 113th Tour de France fires its starting gun on Saturday — an unprecedented team time trial up Montjuïc where individual times apply, the first TTT opener since 1971, and Pogačar versus Vingegaard's Giro-winning form versus Evenepoel's chrono power in one 19.6-kilometre opener.
By ZealZag Team
Tour de France 2026: Barcelona Braces for the Grande Boucle
23 Tour de France teams present at Sagrada Família as Barcelona's Grand Départ week ignites — Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel on the same starting line for the first time.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Barcelona: Montjuïc, the Tour de France TTT Route, and Where to Ride Beyond the City
A practical guide to cycling the 2026 Tour de France Stage 1 TTT route through Barcelona and the Montjuïc circuit — plus where to ride in the days around the Grand Départ when the streets themselves become the stage.
By ZealZag TeamThe Tour de France Has Arrived in Barcelona: 23 Teams, Four Days, One Starting Gun
Four days before the Tour de France opens with its first team time trial since 1971, Barcelona is mid-preparation — team buses on the streets, the Montjuïc circuit under reconnaissance, and a GC field where the defending champion and the reigning Giro winner both need to be watched from the first pedal stroke.
By ZealZag TeamGrégoire Takes the Tricolore: France's Men's Road Champion Solo at La Tour-du-Pin
Romain Grégoire won the 2026 French elite men's road championship with a solo attack off the Béjui climb in suffocating heat, claiming his first national title and the tricolore jersey he will wear when the Tour de France opens in Barcelona on July 4.
By ZealZag TeamIsère and the Dauphiné: Cycling the Range Between Grenoble and the Alps
The Dauphiné is the region that gave the stage race its name — and it earns that association. Practical guide to cycling the Vercors plateau, the Chartreuse massif, and the col roads that lead into the Alps from Grenoble, for athletes arriving around the French nationals or building an Alpine cycling trip.
By ZealZag TeamNational Championships Week 2026: Europe Races for the Jersey Before the Tour
The last weekend of June is national championships week — the one race each year where trade teams dissolve and riders race for their country's jersey. It is the final form check before the Tour de France Grand Départ in Barcelona, and the new champions will wear their national colours for the next twelve months.
By ZealZag TeamTwelve Days to Barcelona: Tour de France 2026 Contender Form After Tour de Suisse
Twelve days from the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ in Barcelona, the contender picture has clarified — Pogačar dominant out of Tour de Suisse, Vingegaard's Critérium signals, Roglič's late-season build, and the team selection window opening this week.
By ZealZag TeamClimbing the Grand Colombier: The Ain's Hardest Summit and the Bugey's Best Secret
The Grand Colombier sits at 1,501 metres in the Bugey limestone plateau of the Ain department — a summit that has terrorised Tour de France and Critérium du Dauphiné pelotons for decades, and one that visiting cyclists consistently underestimate because the Ain doesn't have the Alps' marketing budget. Here's how to ride it.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Catalonia: The Coast, the Pyrenees, and the Riding Around the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ
Catalonia hosts the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ on July 4 — the first time the race has opened on Catalan soil. A guide to the cycling terrain the opening three stages will cross, the Girona pro-cyclist hub that anchors the broader Catalan cycling scene, and where to ride if you're visiting the region across the Tour window.
By ZealZag TeamThree Weeks to Barcelona: Tour de France 2026 Sets a Route Built for Climbers
The 2026 Tour de France rolls out from Barcelona on July 4 for the first Grand Départ on Catalan soil in race history — a 3,333-kilometre route across 23 days with 54,450 metres of elevation, 8 mountain stages, 5 mountain finishes, and Alpe d'Huez on two consecutive days. The opening team time trial is the first since 1971.
By ZealZag TeamAfter the Classics: Europe's Summer Road Cycling Calendar and What Each Race Decides
Spring is done — Roubaix, Liège, the Ardennes monuments. The Giro runs into June. Then comes the part of the calendar that actually determines how a season is remembered: five months of stage racing and one-day racing from Dauphiné to Il Lombardia.
By ZealZag Team