Grand Départ Lille
First run in 1906, the Paris-Lille stage was a traditional curtain-raiser for the Tour de France.
It was run on seven occasions on routes that were every bit as testing as Paris-Roubaix in the modern era! This was backed up by Georges Speicher’s stage win in 1934, the Frenchman going on to take victory in Paris-Roubaix two years later.
Ferdi Kübler (above) won on the same route in 1947, when it launched the first post-war Tour, but he was narrowly beaten in Lille in 1954 by Louison Bobet.
Bernard Hinault also triumphed in the city in 1980, having won the time trial on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit the day before.
The historic capital of Flanders hosted a Grand Départ in 1960 and again in 1994, when Britain’s Chris Boardman created a sensation in the prologue, which he covered at a record average speed of 55.152km/h. Twenty years on, the Tour returned to Lille after completing a Grand Départ in England. Marcel Kittel had hit the ground running with victories in Harrogate and London, and his purple patch continued when he celebrated a third victory in just four stages.
Boulogne
In 2012, the sensation that was Peter Sagan had already burst into life at Seraing, but it was in Boulogne that the future triple world champion claimed his first success on the roads of the Tour… in France. The first-ever finish in France’s most important fishing port dates back to 1994 and a produced a rare finale: a sprinter winning in the polka-dot jersey, Jean-Paul Van Poppel taking his ninth and final Tour success.
Dunkirk
It was during the Grand Départ of the 2001 race that a Tour finish last took place in the city renowned as the home of 17th century naval commander Jean Bart. Christophe Moreau won the prologue and consequently the privilege of wearing the Yellow Jersey. Known also for the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque (Four Days of Dunkirk), whose winner is awarded a pink jersey, the town also welcomed the Tour peloton in 2022 for the start of a stage to Calais, which was won by Wout van Aert in the Yellow Jersey.
Related reading
- See how visitors prepared for the race in how to prepare for the Tour de France Grand Départ.
- Go further back with the surprising history of Lille and our guide to Lille’s culture and history.
Andy Sutcliffe is a British cycling journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of Cycling Weekly, where he also launched Cycle Sport and Mountain Bike Rider magazines. He later founded Cabal Communications, launching titles including Procycling. After decades covering the world’s biggest races from team cars, helicopters and press centres, Andy now lives in Templeuve-en-Pévèle, just south of Lille, where he teaches English and works in marketing for local businesses. He created Tour de Lille to help visitors make the most of their trip to the city and region he now calls home.
