FOR THE FIRST time since 1905, the Tour de France will not have its usual finish in Paris in 2024, closing instead with a time trial in Nice, organisers announced today.
Although the race has been brought forward one week so as not to clash directly with the Olympic Games, which is being hosted in 2024 by Paris, it will still finish on 21 July, just five days before the opening ceremony.
Hence the decision to move the finish to Nice on the southern Mediterranean coast. The city has hosted the Tour 37 times previously with two starts, in 1981 and 2020.
“Nice is a city that shines, it’s known around the world,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme told AFP
“There is the beauty of the setting and the mountains nearby. The city offers an exceptional setting and a great course.”
The race will also conclude with an individual time trial for the first time since the legendary finish in 1989 when American Greg Lemond stole the yellow jersey from Frenchman Laurent Fignon, winning by just eight seconds, the smallest margin in history of the Tour.
The first two Tour de France races in 1903 and 1904 both concluded in Ville d’Avray, just outside Paris, but every edition since 1905 has ended in the capital.
Since 1975, that has meant a grand showpiece along the Champs-Elysees.
The race is already slated to return there in 2025.
“We will be delighted to return to Paris and the Champs-Élysées for the 50th anniversary of the first arrival on the Champs in 2025″, said Prudhomme.
