Tour de France: 2024 race to finish in Nice instead of Paris

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard won the 2022 Tour de France

The Tour de France will finish outside of the Paris region for the first time in its 121-year history when the 2024 edition concludes in Nice.

The final stage of the Grand Tour has traditionally finished on the Champs-Elysees in the French capital.

But because of the Olympics starting days later in Paris, the 110th edition of the race will end with a time trial.

It will return to Paris in 2025, 50 years after the first finish on the Champs-Elysees.

"Nice is a city that shines, it's known around the world," Tour director Christian Prudhomme said.

"There is the beauty of the setting and the mountains nearby. The city offers an exceptional setting and a great course."

Nice hosted the Grand Depart in 1981 and 2020 and is familiar territory for cycling's elite as it has hosted the finish of the Paris-Nice - one of the most iconic races in the sport - since 1933.

The Tour has not concluded with a time trial since 1989.

The final stage has usually been ceremonial, with the leader not challenged, but that will change in 2024 when the time trial means the race could be undecided until the last moment.

The 2023 edition of the Tour, taking place from 1 to 23 July, will finish in Paris as usual.

The first edition of the Tour, in 1903, finished in Ville d'Avray, a suburb of western Paris. The next two Tours also finished in the surrounding Paris area but the winners were celebrated at the Parc des Princes.