Barely finished, the Tour de France is again talking about him. On the side of the Alsatian Station of the Champ du Feu, where the cycling race of the Tour Alsace ended with a good success this Sunday, August 3, 2025, the good wills unite their strengths to attract a stage of the Grande Boucle in 2026. Review of the indices.
The Tour de France is a big loop, everyone knows. Clean and figuratively. As soon as the cycling event was finished (with the victory of Tadej Pogačar on July 27, 2025), and already the next edition is on all the mouths, and in all the heads.
Thus, the question circulated a lot in the cycling world during the Alsace Tour, which ended this Sunday, August 3, 2025: will the Tour de France go through the Champ du Feu (Bas-Rhin) during its next edition in 2026? Apparently, goodwill activates behind the scenes to make the event possible, but without anyone officially confirming, in any case for the moment, the candidacy of the territory.
When you ask Alice Morel for example, the history of the town of Bellefosse (Bas-Rhin), if there is a project, or an intention in this sense, a large smile is taking shape on her face: “Yes, I can answer for mayors of these mountain municipalities, Belmont, Bellefosse, the Hohwald. We would of course be very happy to welcome a test of the Tour de France. Now you have to let the idea go out and that it materializes. Thomas Voeckler spent his childhood here in the fire field and he could be great support for us. And then there is television, the Tour de France are very beautiful images of our landscapes.”
The latest beautiful images of the Tour de France in Alsace date back to 2023, the year when the big loop stopped at Markstein. The problem to be resolved is the same as at the time: it is necessary to find funding, thanks to the various partners.
At the time, communities had got their hands in the pocket to get the stage. “”In Markstein, the budgetary context was simpler. Today, with the scarcity of financial means, being able to participate in the same height seems to me more complicated“Explains Frédéric Bierry, the president of the European community of Alsace.”It is for this reason that we have to look at that carefully: can we expand the partnership? Find patrons. You have to work with the organizers of the race if they are interested in the transition to the fire field.“
In any case, the municipalities will not be able to ensure the cost alone. Frédéric Bierry continues: “When these are cities, they can absorb costs, when they are rural villages like Belmont, he does not necessarily have the means to welcome a stage, this supposes the competition of other communities.“
But the field of fire does not lack advantages to achieve its goal. First on the “network” side, as Jean-Pierre Reverdy, the director of Tour Alsace operations underlines, with enthusiasm, “We have already had Christian Prudhomme [NDLR : le directeur du Tour de France] On the phone, he told us: “You will tell us how it is, maybe the Tour de France will come. ” Especially since Christian Prudhomme came to walk with his parents here in the field of fire.”
Logistics assets are not outdone either. Former runner Alain Vigneron is categorical: “It is super well sized here: the Tourmalet is much narrower, superbagneres too. It would not take much to install everything you need here, just half an hour from Strasbourg and Strasbourg.”
Alice Morel confirms: “Here, there is everything to welcome the tour: roads in good condition, hotel infrastructure so we would have a lot of arguments to argue to get there. You have to continue to have good coordination between the public and the private sector. Between our municipalities, the department, the region.”
For the record, the Tour de France has already gone twice through the field of fire, but without stopping there. It was in 1985 and 1987. For the next edition in preparation, hotels, roads and good contacts with the organizers are already validated. It remains to complete the budget. “”To date, discussions are underway“Confirm Alice Morel.
The Grande Boucle’s journey will be unveiled on October 23, 2025, Alsace will then know if the fire field appears on the route.
Tour de France 2025
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The Tour de France 2025 will take place from July 5 to 27, with a big departure from Lille and a traditional arrival on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The course of this 112nd edition, entirely traced in France, totals 3,320 km distributed over 21 stages, including two individual time trials and five arrivals at the top. The key stages include the ascent of Mont Ventoux on July 22, followed by arrivals at altitude in Courchevel (Col de la Loze) on July 24 and at La Plagne on July 25, promising a spectacular final in the Alps. For its 4th edition, the Tour de France women 2025 will take the runners of Vannes on July 26 in Châtel, on August 3. Photo: Frédéric Pény / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
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