Legendary Giro climb Colle delle Finestre could debut at Tour de France in coming years!
CyclingFriday, 31 July 2026 at 06:00
Italian cycling fans can look forward to a pretty good chance of Tour de France crossing the Alpes to visit its neighbor. In particular the city of Sestriere has expressed a serious interest to host a stage finish - and that may well be a signal that the legendary Colle delle Finestre will be a part of that year's route.
A significant meeting on the topic took place in Susa in recent days between Sestriere's mayor Gianni Poncet, former Tour winner Bernard Hinault, and Philippe Colliou, director of the Tour de l'Avenir where Colle delle Finestre made its appearance as final climb in 2024.
The city representatives' goal is to host a stage finish of a Tour de France stage in Sestriere in either 2027, or the following edition of 2028.
This initiative is also supported by Elvio Chiatellino, who was involved in organizing the Tour's passages in Pinerolo in 2011 and 2024, the last time the Grande Boucle passed through Italy.
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This would not be the first time Sestriere appeared on Tour de France route though.
The ski resort has most recently been used in 2024 stage from Pinerolo to Valloire, before the race entered France in a stage which featured Col du Galibier and saw Tadej Pogacar triumph.
Historically, several high profile figures have triumphed in Sestriere such as Fausto Coppi (1952), Bjarne Riis (1996) or Lance Armstrong (1999).
Simon Yates launched himself into pink jersey on Colle delle Finestre
Historical climb's debut
However the most exciting part is that one of the ways to reach Sestriere is via Colle delle Finestre - the legendary mountain pass where history of Giro d'Italia has been written.
In 2018, Chris Froome launched his winning move there, cracking pink jersey Simon Yates to complete his Grand Tour collection.
And last year, Simon Yates wrote a story of decade when he returned to the venue of his greatest defeat to launch an attack on strategizing duo Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz to jump into pink jersey on last day possible.
The Municipality of Sestriere formalized its candidacy by sending a letter to Christian Prudhomme, the Tour de France director: "The Municipality of Sestriere's continued interest in hosting a stage finish of the Tour de France in 2027 or 2028, perhaps following the ascent of the Colle delle Finestre for an epic stage. This event would make Sestriere's candidacy for European Capital of Sport in 2028 even more relevant in terms of prestigious, international events."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- ouch! Let's hope he recovers in time for a successful Vuelta, but I'm going to assume that he's not going to be at the level he wishes or needs to compete with, say, Pogačar (by now I assume he's going).RidesHills31-07-2026
- go wout!Crashjames31-07-2026
- Alec Segaert is present, so on stage 1 there is always a chance of a disruption of the sprint
Rafionain-Glas31-07-2026 - I'm a fan and hurts me to have to say - this is just plain stupid of both him and the team! “We may have misunderstood the Tour a bit this year,” Vingegaard said following his withdrawal. “We made me better on the longer climbs. But it could well be that we should have realised I needed to be a bit more explosive and look more closely at the route.''Cyclingsbestfan31-07-2026
- LOL passing men is no significant achievement for elite female cyclists unless they are actually prosRafionain-Glas31-07-2026
- Visma's Vuelta gifting was certainly complicated, with JV having almost wiped out Kuss's lead before a public outcry led to Visma's decision to hold back. But Jonas seemed fine with letting almost victory go.Hills3331-07-2026
- I can read, and am responding to another comment or, dumbdevilCrashjames31-07-2026
- imo the pogs gifting is way obvious... Visma riders obeyed team orders even though Kuss deserved his victory with Roglic having a sook.
Davide31-07-2026 - yup.OCexile31-07-2026
- I'm one of those who really hopes Pog is clean, as he has real (and entertaining) skills like attacking at just the right moment to beat Carapaz and Martinez on Alpe d'Huez, taking just the right line to pull away on the descent on Stage 6, crashing in such a way that he can carry on and win, or avoiding crashing over a bidon. For me, the real moment of temptation to boost performance in some way would surely be when a rider is feeling desperate (whether to win again or simply not crack); and we might not be aware of such an inner struggle.Hills3331-07-2026
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