From Florence to the Beaches of Nice: How to Watch the 2024 Tour de France

This years race covers 3,492 km (2,165 mi) spread over 21 stages, with eight days for the sprinters, two individual time trials, seven mountain stages, and about four stages for the punchy opportunists who head up the road in search of do-or-die breakaway stage victorieswe love those guys.

Heres everything you need to know about the 2024 Tour de France:

Route of the 2024 Tour de France

The route of the 2024 Tour de France is unlike any weve ever seen, mainly because its bookended by two of the biggest firsts in the events 110-year history: its the first to begin in Italy and the first to end outside of Paris (in Nice).

The Tour begins in Florence on Saturday, June 29th, the first of three-and-a-half stages in Italy. And were expecting fireworks right away: Stages 1 and 2 are two of the toughest opening stages weve ever seen, even harder than the opening stages of last years Tour, which took place in the hilly Basque region of northern Spain.

After a day for the sprinters on Stage 3, Stage 4 begins in Pinerolo and brings the race back into France via the 2,642m Col du Galibier. The second-highest climb in this years race, the first rider to the summit will win a cash prize given each year in honor of Degrange. By the end of one of the earliest mountain stages in Tour history, the GC battle will be in full swing.

The sprinters will then get two more chances as the race heads north. But the GC battle will resume on Friday, July 5th, with Stage 7, the first of two individual time trials in this years Tour. The first week ends with Sundays Stage 9, an exciting stage featuring 14 sections of white gravel roads through Frances Champagne region. This will be the first gravel stage in the history of the mens Tour de Francethe women completed a gravel stage of their own through the region in 2022.

After the Tours first Rest Day, the race resumes on Tuesday, July 9th, and begins a southwesterly tripthrough the Massif Central, which hosts a rugged finish to Stage 11toward the Pyrenees. Along the way, the sprinters will have a few more opportunities to win a stage before the high mountains return over the weekend.

And they return in a big way, with back-to-back hors categorie (beyond category) summit finishes in the mountains that form the border between France and Spain. Saturdays Stage 12 takes the riders over the Tourmaletwhich Desgrange first thought was too hard for the Tour de Franceand ends with a finish at the Pla d’Adet ski resort, while Sundays Stage 13 ends on the Plateau de Beilleafter almost 198km of racing.

As if the mountains arent enough cause for excitement, its also a holiday weekend: Sunday is Bastille DayJuly 14thso expect the roads on both days to be packed with festive fans. By the end of the day, the list of riders capable of winning the 2024 Tour de France will be much shorter than it was a week prior.

The Tours third and final week takes the race back east, where an Alpine finale looms. In all, the riders will spend four days in the mountains during the third week, first in the high Alpswith summit finishes at the end of Stage 17 ( at Superdvoluy) and Stage 19 (at Isola 2000). And dont snooze on Thursdays Stage 18, a saw-toothed stage from Gap to Barcelonnette thats filled with short, jagged climbs and could be the perfect place for an ambushor a Hail Marybefore the final weekend.

But this years final weekend is not what weve come to expect from Tours of the past. With the Summer Olympics beginning in Paris just five days after the end of the race, this years Tour skips its traditional finish on the Champs Elysees and instead finishes in Niceafter the hardest final weekend weve seen in decades.

The weekend opens on Saturday, July 20th, with Stage 20, a short but intense stage through the maritime Alps featuring four categorized ascents, including a summit finish on the Category 1 Col de la Couillole.

And just in case that doesnt settle things, Sundays Stage 21 certainly will, asfor the first time in 35 yearsthe Tour de France ends with an individual time trial. And its a hard one: a 33.7 km race against the clock that takes the riders over the Col d’ze, a tough Category 2 ascent that always features in the final stage of Marchs Paris-Nice, an 8-day stage race that Tour contenders often use to build form during the first part of their seasons.

This might bode well for American fansfor two reasons. First, the last time the Tour de France ended with an individual time trial, American Greg Lemond defeated Frances Laurent Fignonwho entered the day wearing the yellow jerseyto win the Tour by eight seconds.

And this years winner of Paris-Nicewhich finished with a stage over the Col d’zewas American Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), a 24-year-old from Idaho who took the yellow jersey on that final stage. Jorgenson will be lining up at this years Tour; could history repeat itself? We cant wait to find out.

When it comes to watching the Tour de France, youve got lots of options. NBCs Peacock ($5.99/month or $59.99/year) streams all events organized by A.S.O., which means you can watch the Tour de France now and then the Tour de France Femmes in August. (And if youre looking for ad-free coverage, youll need a subscription to Peacock Premium Plus, which runs $11.99 per month or $119.99 for the year.)

The Peacock app is available on Roku, Apple devices, Android and AndroidTV devices, Google platforms, Chromecast, Xbox consoles, PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles, VIZIO SmartCast TVs, and LG Smart TVs. You can also watch online via the Peacock website.

If you have a good cable package and prefer conventional viewing on your television, youre in luck: NBC will offer the race to cable subscribers via the USA Network and CNBC. Live coverage often starts around 7 a.m. EDT, so 9-to-5ers will likely need to record each stage and watch later. (Check the full schedule for details.)

If youre in Canada, FloBikes ($29.99/month CDN) is the best way to watch the Tour de France. All 21 stages are available live and on-demand on FloBikes.com, the FloSports iOS app, and the FloSports app for Amazon FireTV, Roku, and Apple TV.

Denmarks Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) won the 2023 Tour de France, defeating Slovenias Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates) to defend his title from 2022. The two champions engaged in a tense battle during the first two weeks of the race and entered the second Rest Day separated by just ten seconds on the Tours General Classification.

But Vingegaard exploded at the start of the third week, crushing Pogaar in an individual time trial on Stage 16 and then dropping him in the Alps on Stage 17. In just two stages, the Danes lead went from ten seconds to more than seven minutes. Pogaar saved face by winning Stage 20, but for the second year in a row, the winner of back-to-back Tours in 2020 and 2021 was forced to settle for second placeand the white jersey as the Tours Best Young Rider. Pogaars teammate, Great Britains Adam Yateswon Stage 1 and wore the Tours first yellow jerseyfinished third overall.

Belgiums Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was without question the Tours best sprinter. The Belgian won four stages and ran away with the green jersey as the winner of the Tours Points Classification. Italys Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) won the polka dot jersey as the Tours King of the Mountains.

Jonas Vingegaard-Hansen (Visma-Lease a Bike)

At this point in time, were waiting to hear if Vingegaard will even be starting this years Tour de France. The defending champion was one of several Tour favorites taken down in a massive crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in early April. The Dane spent twelve days in the hospital after breaking several bones and suffering a punctured lung in the fall and only resumed training a few weeks ago. Visma-Lease a Bike recently said he has a 50-50 chance of starting the race, but only will do so if the team feels hes 100% ready to challenge for a third consecutive victory.

Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates)

The uncertainty surrounding Vingegaards participation makes Pogaar the top favorite. The Slovenian won back-to-back Tours in 2020 and 2021 and scored back-to-back second-place finishes behind the Dane in 2022 and 2023. Hes been training since winning six stages and the General Classification at the recent Giro dItalia and looks on track to become the first rider since Italys Marco Pantani (in 1998) to win the Giro-Tour double.

Primo Rogli (BORA-hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (SoudalQuick-Step)

Vingegaard wasnt the only Tour contender who went down in that terrible crash at the Tour of the Basque Country: Slovenias Primo Rogliwho was leading the race at the timeand Belgiums Remco Evenepoel were victims as well, and both riders immediately abandoned the race. Rogli injured his kneebut suffered no major injuriesbut Evenepoel needed surgery after breaking his clavicle and scapula.

Unlike Vingegaard, both riders were able to get back to training relatively quickly, and they both competed at the recent Critrium du Dauphin. Rogli won two stages and the General Classification despite almost cracking at the end of the final stage. Evenepoel won the Dauphins only individual time trial, but showed he still has some room to improve after fading in the mountains. He finished the race in seventh place overall.

Carlos Rodrguez (INEOS Grenadiers)

Rodrguez, who won a stage and finished fifth in last years Tour de France, won the final stage and finished fourth overall at the Dauphin, the latest in a series of high-stage race finishes for the 23-year-old. Hell likely be joining Colombias Egan Bernal (who won the Tour in 2019) and Great Britains Geraint Thomas (Who won the Tour in 2018) on the starting line in Florence to form one of the deepest eight-rider line-ups in this years race.

Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike)

If Vingegaard proves unable to start the Tour, dont be surprised if Visma-Lease a Bike turns to Matteo Jorgenson to lead the team in his place. After winning Paris-Nice and Dwars door Vlaanderen in March, the American spent much of April and all of May at training camps, building form for the summer.

Well, it mustve worked, as the 24-year-old nearly snatched the Dauphin from Rogli after riding away with Rodrguez at the end of the final day. In the end, he lost the race by only eight secondsanother interesting coincidence given Lemonds margin of victory at the Tour in 1989.

The American has never captained a team at the Tour de France, but he raced the French grand tour in 2022 and 2023so he at least knows what the Tours pressure-cooker atmosphere feels like. And he should benefit from the presence of his teammate Sepp Kuss, the American who shockingly won last years Vuelta a Espaa and played a pivotal role in each of the six grand Tours won by the team prior to his own victory at the Vuelta last September.