L'Étape du Tour

The event takes place on roads closed by the police to other traffic, with refreshment stops, mechanical assistance, and medical support provided along the route.

Events are currently being staged in Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and the USA.

The first, on 11 July, on the Modane – Alpe d'Huez stage covering 109 km, was the shortest in history.

The second Étape for 2011, on 17 July, was actually the longest in history, covering 208 km, from Issoire to Saint Flour in the massif central (south of Clermont-Ferrand).

On 7 July, the Étape recreated stage 20 of the 2013 Tour de France, starting in the town of Annecy and finishing at the ski station of Annecy-Semnoz at an altitude of 1,655m.

The race was shortened to 122 km and three mountain passes after Col de la Ramaz had to be skipped due to rockfall danger on the descent.

The 2017 event, held on 16 July, followed a nearly identical route to what was used four days later for Stage 18 of the 2017 Tour de France.

L'Étape du Tour 2018 was held on 8 July and featured a 169 km route from Annecy to Le Grand-Bornand, taking in four significant climbs, and totalling 4,756m of vertical ascent.

The 30th edition of L'Étape du Tour took place on 10 July 2022 on the same route as stage 12 of the Tour de France between Briançon and Alpe d'Huez over 167 km with more than 4,700m of climbing, including the Col du Galibier (Hors Catégorie), Col de la Croix de Fer (Hors Catégorie), and the final climb to Alpe d'Huez (Hors Catégorie).

In the COVID-19 aftermath only 11,000 riders out of 16,000 inscriptions showed up at the starting line, and 8,685 finished within the official time limit, with many suffering in temperatures exceeding 40°C.