For the first time ever in its 111 years, the start of one of the most famous international cycling races takes off in Italy and will cross the regions of Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Piedmont before heading into France. The Grand Start takes place this Saturday, June 29 from Florence so you can imagine how the excitement is growing as this day approaches!
This year’s edition will also have a special finish: because of the Olympics taking place in Paris at the same time, the race will end in Nice, France.
Official Events for the Tour de France in Florence
Starting tomorrow, June 27, the teams will be officially presented in the evening from 6 to 8pm, taking place between Palazzo Vecchio and Piazzale Michelangelo. The teams will meet up, taking press shots in Palazzo Vecchio and from there each departing toward Piazzale Michelangelo. The teams will pass behind Palazzo Vecchio, take the Lungarno Generale Diaz, cross the Arno on Ponte alle Grazie and then once they reach Piazza Poggi, take the winding ramparts behind the Torre San Niccolò up to the Piazzale.
AT Bus will organize a special free shuttle to reach the Piazzale Michelangelo: you can pick it up outside of the city center from Piazza Vittorio Veneto at the end of the Cascine Park, along the center from Piazza della Indipendenza, SS Annunziara and Via della Colonna. Check out the map below.
The Fan Park in Piazza Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce right now is setting up a “Fan Park” with stands offering promotional material, running from June 27 to the 29th. The park will officially open at 2.30pm on the 27th and will offer a wide variety of activities for children and adults, with entertainment, games, gadgets and food stands. Open from 11am on the 29th and 29th, closing at 9pm on the 27th and 28th and at 6pm on the 29th.
Muse, the Bartali museum and Destination Florence as hosts will also have informational stands.
The Race
The official start of the race will take place on Saturday, June 29, for the first stage FLORENCE – RIMINI which will be dedicated to the great Italian cyclist Gino Bartali. The race will start in non-competitive mode in the Cascine Park (shortly before noon) and the cyclists will wind their way through the city center as a sort of warm up, heading to Piazza della Signoria first and a quick stop for an “institutional” start (around noon). Then the teams will continue on to and pass through Piazzale Michelangelo and head back down to Viale Europa and to Bagno a Ripoli for the official start just outside the city of Florence.
The route of the first stage will cross the territories of Bagno a Ripoli, Pontassieve, Pelago, Rufina, Dicomano, and San Godenzo where the teams leave Tuscany and cross into the region of Emilia Romagna and head toward the finish line in Rimini.
The second stage will depart from Cesenatico and end in Bologna, while the third stage will depart from Piacenza and arrive in Torino. You can check out all of the details of these Italian stages on the official website Le Tour Italia.
Additional events and initiatives tied to the Tour de France 2024
The Bartali Museum in Ponte a Ema, will be open extraordinarily free to the public from June 17 to June 30 (hours 10am-1pm Monday through Thursday, and 1-6pm Friday through Sunday with longer hours on Friday, June 29 from 10am to 6pm.
The Bardini museum will also be open every day from 2 to 8pm from June 23rd to June 30th to host visitors to the city attending the start of the Tour de France.
The Fondazione Romano will also have special openings this week: from June 23rd to June 30th, the musuem will be open every day from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday from 1 to 5pm. You can visit the Fondazione Romano along with the Brancacci Chapel considering they share a single ticket.
If you’d like to see an exhibition of vintage bikes, head to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi’s Carriage Gallery: on display, you will be able to see race bikes created by local artisan bike shops until June 30th.
