- With 100 days to go before the start of the 113th edition of the Tour de France, the city of Barcelona has kicked off the final stretch with great fanfare in preparation for welcoming the cycling champions. The mayor of the Catalan capital, Jaume Collboni, was joined by Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme to officially open the festivities and start the countdown, in the presence of Miguel Indurain and current Spanish champion Ivan Romeo. A total of 50 municipalities in Catalonia have decked themselves out in yellow.
- At the same time, many French towns have also decorated their buildings, illuminated bridges and fountains, and mobilized their young students. Approximately 30,000 schoolchildren were expected this morning to participate in the 9th edition of the Tour de France Dictation.
CATALONIA DRESSES IN YELLOW… AND SINGS THE TOUR
While the riders are expected to take center stage near Montjuïc Hill and at the foot of the Sagrada Familia for the team presentation in early July, it was in front of the Arc de Triomphe on Passeig Lluis Companys that an official ceremony was held to unveil the countdown that will accompany the people of Barcelona until the start of the first stage. Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain made the trip for the occasion, accompanied by Spanish champion Ivan Romeo. In keeping with this gathering, a total of 50 municipalities in Catalonia illuminated or decorated 130 sites, all decked out in the colors of the Yellow Jersey. For one evening, the Catalan capital was thus transformed, from the Sagrada Familia to Casa Batlló, via the Palau Sant Jordi, the National Theater of Catalonia, and Terminal 1 of the airport, symbolizing the city’s welcome to visitors and television viewers who will follow the race. The Tour de France’s arrival in Barcelona also sparked the creativity of several artists, including the group Doctor Prats, who performed “Energia!,” the official song of the Grand Départ, on stage.
GRAND DÉPART FROM BARCELONA: IN THE MAKING SINCE 2009
With next July fast approaching, it’s a good time to revisit the history of the Tour de France and the Catalan capital. Not to the first visit, which took place in 1957 and saw René Privat win in the morning, followed by Jacques Anquetil’s victory in a time trial on Montjuïc in the afternoon, but rather to the most recent one during the 2009 Tour, when Thor Hushovd won the 6th stage. Christian Prudhomme recalled yesterday afternoon the content of a conversation he’d had at the time with Mayor Jordi Reu: “He explained to me that the year of the Tour’s last visit to Barcelona, 1965, was also the year of his birth. That’s not the only reason, of course, but we already had plans to organize a Grand Départ there. Election cycles changed those plans, but his former advisor, Jaume Collboni, became mayor in 2023 and immediately revived the bid. That’s how this Grand Départ came to be, because Barcelona had been dreaming of it for a long time. So I know there will be great pride here in hosting the Tour, and therefore huge crowds coming out to see the riders.”
THIERRY GOUVENOU: “AT MONTJUÏC, THE FAVORITES WILL HAVE TO GIVE IT THEIR ALL”
The celebration marking 100 days until the Tour de France served as an opportunity for an open reconnaissance ride for journalists along the roads where the champions will battle it out during the first two stages. Race director Thierry Gouvenou provided some insights, starting with details of a new team time trial, modeled after the format used in Paris-Nice and taking individual times into account: “There will be about fifteen kilometers of flat terrain on the city’s wide avenues, followed by two climbs, with the teams likely to split up on the final climb up Montjuïc. The leaders will give it their all here to shave off a few seconds.” A completely different scenario is in store for the second stage, which will start further south in Tarragona, beginning with a route along the coast. But the scenario should then get tougher, according to Gouvenou: “There’s already the Santa Creu d’Olorda climb, about 50 kilometers from the finish, where the pace will pick up significantly as we head into Barcelona, so the sprinters will already be struggling. Because the final circuit will be very difficult. The climb up Montjuïc Castle, which will be tackled three times in total, is somewhat similar to the San Luca climb in Bologna in 2024, a bit shorter than the Pique climb in Bilbao in 2023, but also similar to the Saint-Etienne-au-Mont climb in Boulogne last year. We always get a good show on this type of course. The advantage is that it doesn’t lead to huge gaps that would freeze the general classification, and it gives a real sense of the strengths of the expected contenders over the next three weeks. On the first weekend of the Tour, we want to highlight the race favorites; they’ll be forced to go all out.”
DICTÉE DU TOUR: 30,000 CHILDREN EXPECTED
Just like the race that all cycling fans look forward to in July, the Dictée du Tour de France kicked off in Barcelona. This 9th edition, which brings together some 30,000 students this year, began at the French high school in Barcelona with a reading of a text from the daily newspaper L’Équipe written by Pierre Chany after the Tour de France passed through Barcelona in 1965. Christian Prudhomme stepped into the role of a schoolteacher, setting an example for all the champions gathered this morning in schools across some fifty cities along the route of the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. The recently retired Arnaud Démare is taking on a new role in front of schoolchildren in Compiègne (the starting city of Paris-Roubaix), while Sylvain Chavanel is teaching in Thonon-les-Bains, Nans Peeters in Isère, and the 2025 polka-dot jersey winner Elise Chabbey in Geneva. Once the exams have been graded, the top students will be invited to go behind the scenes and watch the riders cross the finish line on the day the stage passes through their town.
