The 108 Tour de France gets under way in Brittany on Saturday June 26, 2021, with the 190-kilometre opening stage from Brest to Landerneau.
The Tour de France appears to have reverted to type for the 2021 race, with just three summit finishes and two flat time trials 58 km long.
Main fact for Tour de France 2021:
Key climbs of the Tour de France 2021
Stage 7 - Signal d’Uchon
An average gradient of 5.7 per cent across 5.7km (max gradient 18%!). With 18km from the 635m summit to the stage finish, we may even see GC contenders try to steal some time too.
Stage 9 - Montée de Tignes
The Monteé de Tignes is demanding even for the most capable climbers in the world. 21km long and an average gradient of 5.6% will be true test for the GC contenders. It is also the first summit finish of the 2021 Tour de France edition, just before the first rest day.
Stage 11 - Mont Ventoux
Two ascents of Mount Ventoux for the first time in Tour de France history. With a final descent to the finish line in Malaucène it is also opportunity for competent descenders. Over 4600 vertical metres and 200km of stage distance it could brake some GC contenders.
Stage 17 - Col du Portet
Col du Portet was first tackled at the Tour in 2018. The climb will be hard for many riders, with an 8.7 average gradient across the lenght of 16km, with some steep pitches over 10% at the start and end of a climb. The climb will definitively show who is feeling the best in the last week of the Tour.
Stage 18 - Col du Tourmalet
Col du Tourmalet is the highest paved mountain pass in the French Pyrenees at 2115m. It will not feature as final climb of the stage. It will be warm-up for the final climb on Luz Ardiden, which is not as long Tourmalet. This is also the last mountain stage of the race, where all the cards will be played.
Dates and stages of Tour de France 2021
Stage | Date | Route | Distance |
---|---|---|---|
Stage 1 | June 26 | Brest - Landerneau | 198km |
Stage 2 | June 27 | Perros-Guirec - Mûr-de-Bretagne | 183km |
Stage 3 | June 28 | Lorient - Pontivy | 183km |
Stage 4 | June 29 | Redon - Fougères | 150km |
Stage 5 | June 30 | ITT: Change - Laval Espace Mayenne | 27km |
Stage 6 | July 1 | Tours - Châteauroux | 161km |
Stage 7 | July 2 | Vierzon - Le Creusot | 249km |
Stage 8 | July 3 | Oyonnax - Le Grand-Bornand | 151km |
Stage 9 | July 4 | Cluses - Tignes | 145km |
Stage 10 | July 6 | Albertville - Valence | 191km |
Stage 11 | July 7 | Sorgues - Malaucène | 199km |
Stage 12 | July 8 | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Nîmes | 159km |
Stage 13 | July 9 | Nîmes - Carcassonne | 220km |
Stage 14 | July 10 | Carcassonne - Quillan | 184km |
Stage 15 | July 11 | Céret - Andorra la Vella | 191.5km |
Stage 16 | July 13 | El Pas de la Casa - Saint-Gaudens | 169km |
Stage 17 | July 14 | Muret - Saint-Lary-Soulan | 178km |
Stage 18 | July 15 | Pau - Luz Ardiden | 130km |
Stage 19 | July 16 | Mourenx - Libourne | 207km |
Stage 20 | July 17 | ITT: Libourne - Saint-Emilion | 30km |
Stage 21 | July 18 | Chatou - Paris Champs-Élysées | 108km |
Tour de France 2021 start list
Here are the squads down to race the 2021 Tour de FranceTour de France 2021 contenders
The two main contenders just happen to be the Slovenian duo that stole all the headlines last year. The battle for the yellow jersey came down to Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic in 2020. Ineos Grenadiers, has a very strong roster and is coming off Egan Bernal’s confident victory in the Giro d’Italia.Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) *****
Jumbo-Visma dislodged Ineos Grenadiers last year and the yellow train was in control during the whole race. Until the Planches des Belles Filles time trial on the penultimate day, where Pogacar stole the yellow jersey from Roglic with an incredible performance.
Roglic hasn’t ridden a lot in 2021, instead preferring to train hard at altitude and on training camps. He won Tour of the Basque County in April and would have also dominated Paris-Nice before a final stage crash. The main question for Roglic this year is the unknown form of the his Team. They will not be strong enough to control the race as last year, but in the end, this is not bad thing for the Roglic.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) *****
It is good first half of the year behind the 22-year-old Slovenian. He has won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and most recently the Tour of Slovenia. The first disappointment of the season came just before the Tour, when he lost his national championship jersey in time trial. He finished only third in flat time trial, even without Primoz Roglic present in the race! But he still remains top contender for retaining the yellow jersey in Paris. Last year the main weakness was his team, but this year UEA has strengthen his rooster with Rafael Majka and Marc Hirschi.
Richard Carapaz (Ineos), Geraint Thomas (Ineos) ****
Richie Porte (Ineos), Miguel Ángel López (Astana), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) ***
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - QS), Wilco Kelderman (BORA), Simon Yates (BikeExchange) **
Where to watch Tour de France 2021 - streams and TV
United States
You can watch the Tour de France live on NBC and NBCSN.
Streaming providers who offer NBCSN include: - Fubo.TV, Peacock TV, Hulu, Sling, YouTube TV, AT&T TV Now
United Kingdom
For the UK viewers, you can just tune in Eurosport to watch it from your favourite screen. The Eurosport Player also comes with a monthly or annual pass which you can use to watch live stream Tour De France from your device.
ITV4 will also be showing daily live coverage from all 21 stages as well as evening highlights. In the UK, ITV4 is a free-to-air channel and will be available on all digital television packages.
The other option is GCN+, which runs in partnership with Eurosport. The online platform is accessible on desktop and phone, offering uninterrupted live coverage and broadcasting of entire stages.
Europe
Eurosport is broadcasting each stage live in full and streaming via the Eurosport Player and the GCN App.
Austria | DAZN |
Belgium | Een, Sporza, Canvas, RTBF |
Czech Republic | ČT Sport |
Denmark | TV 2 |
France | La Une, Eurosport |
Germany | DAZN, Das Erste |
Italy | DAZN Italia, Rai 2 |
Luxemburg | 1.RTL |
Netherlands | NPO 1 |
Norway | TV 2 |
Portugal | RTP 2 |
Slovakia | Dvojka |
Slovenia | TV Slo 2 |
Spain | DAZN España, RTVE |
Switzerland | DAZN Schweiz, SRF |
Australia
Viewers in Australia will be able to watch Tour De France live on free-to-air channel SBS or Eurosport. A full replay of each stage will be on SBS On Demand each day. They will also have a regular half hour highlights package on its website and on TV.
Canada
FloBikes has exclusive broadcast rights in Canada for the 2021 Tour de France.
New Zealand
Viewers in New Zealand can watch the Tour via Sky Sport or Sky Sport Now streaming platform.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Viever of Sub-Saharan Africa can watch the Tour de France on Supersport channels.
Asia
China | Zhibo.tv |
Japan | J Sports |
Pan-Asia-Pacific | EurosportAsia, GCN |