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2024 Tour de France final stage moved to Nice because of Paris Olympics

2024’s Tour de France will see its final stage taking place in Nice rather than the Champs Elysees in the centre of Paris. Nice has been given the final stage due to the Olympics clashing with the end of the Tour de France. Due to Paris having to look after all of the Olympic events throughout the city, it adds restrictions on what else the French gendarmerie is able to cover. It is the first time in the Tour de France’s history that the final stage won’t take place in or near to Paris, with Nice down on the southern Mediterranean coast.

“It’s with some emotion that I am announcing the final stage of the Tour De France 2024 will be held in Nice.”

Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice

The Champs Elysees itself will also be an Olympics venue for events like the walking distances and running of the marathon. Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme has also confirmed that the final stage in Nice will be a time trial. The last time the Tour de France saw a time trial on the final stage was the infamous finish that saw Greg Lemond beat Laurent Fignon in the 1989 edition by just 8 seconds.

The Promenade des Anglais in Nice is almost the Champs Elysees of the south of France. Subject to a terrorist attack in 2016, it has seen various changes to increase security. The long straight roads are ideal for a simple time trial, with 4.4 miles of road in each direction. The road hosted the finish of the opening stage of the 2020 Tour de France, with a crash in the rain with 3km to the finish. Norwegian Alexander Kristoff took the victory that day ahead of former world champion Mads Pedersen. Hopefully, we should avoid any repeat of the big pile-ups with the stage set to be a time trial.