A mid-June stage race through southern France that serves as final preparation before the Tour de France.
La Route d'Occitanie is a four-day men's stage race held each June in southern France. The route typically moves through the Occitanie region, finishing with a summit stage in the Pyrenees that settles the general classification.
Race hubs are the canonical route for evergreen context, route notes, and current watch destinations. Broadcast rights can move by market, and edition-level details stay current when race week approaches.
This is the last chance to race into form before the Tour de France. The calendar slot makes it a proving ground for riders finalizing their condition and teams testing their mountain support. The Pyrenean finale usually delivers a genuine climbing test, and the June heat adds another variable that separates those who are ready from those who are not.
The race builds across four days, with the opening stages typically favoring sprinters or breakaway specialists before the route turns upward. The decisive stage is almost always a Pyrenean mountain finish, often featuring multiple categorized climbs and a summit arrival that can create gaps of several minutes. Time bonuses and positioning in the earlier stages matter, but the general classification is nearly always settled on the final climb. Teams use the race to rehearse Tour de France mountain trains, so expect to see domestiques setting tempo on the lower slopes before leaders attack in the final kilometers. The mid-June timing means heat can be a factor, particularly on exposed valley roads leading into the climbs.
Four-day stage race through southwestern France, typically building toward a Pyrenean summit finish.
The decisive stage almost always features a Pyrenean mountain finish that settles the GC.
The mid-June timing makes it a final form test for riders targeting the Tour de France.
Most recent winner: Eddie Dunbar
Egan Bernal won convincingly and went on to win the Tour de France weeks later.
Romain Bardet used the Pyrenean terrain to take the overall on French home soil.
Won in 2019 before his breakthrough Tour de France victory.
Won in 2022, a French climber on southwestern French roads.
Won in 2024 with time-trial and climbing strength.
Southwestern France, from rolling foothills to the Pyrenees.
The race typically includes at least one Pyrenean mountain stage that decides the overall classification.
Rolling stages through southwestern France before the mountains arrive.
