The Tour de France's final stage of this year’s race could include three ascents of the Butte de Montmartre as the race gets set to return to its traditional Paris finish.
Last year saw the race wrap up in Nice due to the Olympics taking place in the French capital, but will return to Paris this year. According to a report in Le Parisien, the Amaury Sport Organisation [ASO], the race's organiser, is weighing up whether to adapt the final stage on its return to Paris to include three ascents of the inner city climb which featured in both of the Olympic road race events.
The idea reportedly is a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the first ever finish on the Champs-Élysées. However such a significant adaptation of the final stage would require extensive preparation.
ASO has reportedly submitted a proposal file to the Paris Police Prefecture which contains a full breakdown of the idea.
Unlike the Olympic road races, the final stage of the Tour would reportedly still finish on the Champs-Élysées after taking in three ascents of the Butte de Montmartre, a cobbled climb which proved so decisive last summer.
The adjustment would potentially open up the final day to an array of different riders in a stage which has long held the title of being an unofficial sprinters World Championships. Remco Evenepoel launched his gold medal winning move on the Butte du Montmartre before soloing to the finish in the Trocadéro in August last year.
Given the logistical difficulties it could potentially pose, getting an adaptation of this magnitude signed off is unlikely to be a straightforward process. According to Le Parisien the Police Prefecture has already expressed reservations about the proposal from ASO.
Sources told the French daily that the central two issues are that ten mobile brigades would be required to install filter barriers along the course and it is likely to mean that Montmartre could be blocked to traffic for a period of up to three days.
The Tour de France starts in Lille on 5 July. A spokesperson for ASO declined to comment on the reported route change when approached by Cycling Weekly.
