Do cities pay to host the Tour de France?

As in most World Tour stage events, which include the Tour de France, towns will actually pay to receive the ability to host the start or end of a stage. The race generates tourism and visibility to small towns and villages to a much wider audience than they’d normally receive.

Sometimes race organizers will actually even stipulate that the town must remove some stage furniture (such as speed bumps or bollards) prior to the race arriving in town. So you’ll have the town bulldoze these traffic calming measures, or completely redesign some roads, such that they’re safe enough to host the finish for cycling events.

The amount these host cities pay varies based on the day of the week, with Sunday stages being the most expensive. Bergamo, which hosted the end to stage 15 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia paid €300,000 for the Sunday race.