The Tour du Limousin-Périgord offers punchy climbing, unpredictable finishes, and a proving ground for stage racers looking to sharpen form in late summer.
The Tour du Limousin-Périgord is a four-day stage race held each August in southwest France. Run across the rolling hills and river valleys of the Limousin and Périgord regions, it sits on the continental calendar as a late-season opportunity for climbers and all-rounders.
Also known as: Tour du Limousin
Run since 1968, the race has long served as a late-summer testing ground for French talent and ambitious stage hunters.
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 French stage racing at its most honest: short enough to reward aggression, hilly enough to sort the climbers, and open enough that a well-timed move can rewrite the general classification overnight. The race unfolds across terrain that refuses to flatten, through towns built from honey-colored stone and valleys cut by the Dordogne and Vézère rivers. It attracts riders chasing form before the autumn classics and teams willing to gamble on stage wins when the hierarchy is still fluid.
The route typically includes several summit finishes or hilltop arrivals, with short, steep climbs that favor punchy accelerations over sustained power. Stages rarely exceed 180 kilometers, but the constant undulation and narrow roads through the Massif Central foothills mean the racing stays compressed and reactive. General classification gaps tend to open on the queen stage, usually positioned midway through the race, though time bonuses at stage finishes and intermediate sprints can keep the leader's jersey in play until the final day. Expect breakaways to succeed when the peloton miscalculates, and expect late attacks on rolling finales where positioning matters more than raw watts. The race rewards riders who can climb repeatedly without fading and who read the tactical rhythm of a small, motivated field.
Four-day stage race through the Limousin and Perigord regions of central France.
A puncheur or young talent who can handle the rolling central French terrain.
August. A late-summer stage race that attracts French talent and development riders.
Most recent winner: Ewen Costiou
Won in 2021, a French climber using the race for late-season sharpness.
Won in 2023 at 20, continuing the race history of launching young French talent.
The Limousin and Perigord hills of central France.
Rolling terrain through the Massif Central foothills, with short punchy climbs.
The Dordogne region provides scenic agricultural roads.
