60 years in the waiting: Granollers welcomes back the Tour de France

Granollers will once again stand on the map of cycling history this summer. After more than six decades since the Tour de France last graced its streets, the French Grand Tour returns to the capital of Vallès Oriental; this time not just as a passing spectator, but as the departure city for Stage 3 of the 2026 edition.

This year’s Tour promises a blend of tradition and novelty. The route, unveiled by ASO earlier this year, begins with three opening stages in Catalonia before crossing the Pyrenees into France. From Barcelona to La Cerdanya and onwards into French terrain, the peloton will face a mix of coastal winds, technical descents, and mountain leg-burners that recall past Spanish escapades by the Tour.

Granollers last witnessed the cycling whirlwind that is the Tour de France in 1965, the year the peloton thundered through town as they raced from Barcelona to Perpignan. However, the city’s first dance with the Tour came even earlier in 1957, when legendary names like Jacques Anquetil ruled the roads. In both editions, the arrival of the Tour was a cultural upheaval that turned quiet streets into living corridors of excitement, recounts Ismaël Garcia (Isma) from Vintage Bikes Granollers, a shop that feels like a shrine to cycling’s golden decades.

This July Granollers will feel that heartbeat again, and will become part of its living story. The Tour de France will not simply pass nearby, the city itself will host the start of Stage 3. And with that comes a different kind of energy, one that extends far beyond race day. In the lead-up, the “village départ” transforms the urban landscape.

The entire city seems to share that sentiment. “Everyone’s involved: the cycling club – which turns 100 next year – the schools, the volunteers. There’s an incredible sense of pride and belonging. It’s like we’ve drawn the jackpot,” Isma adds. “Now that I’m 33, I appreciate it even more. To experience the Tour here and to be able to collaborate with the event is a real privilege.”

The city has embraced the occasion as a collective effort, with volunteer initiatives already underway and a clear intention to showcase its capacity for hospitality and organisation. For Isma, the event also carries personal significance. Through his project “Ferros amb Rodes” he will take part in both the Grand Départ in Barcelona and the stage start in Granollers. While details remain under wraps, he hints at what’s to come: “In Barcelona, we’ll present something unique about the history of the bicycle.”

Closer to home, another highlight is already taking shape. An exhibition at the Granollers Museum will offer him the chance to share not just restored bicycles, but also the stories behind them. “It’s a way of showing what cycling means to me,” he explains, “and the lives these bikes have lived before reaching my hands.”

Read the full interview with Isma from Ferros amb Rodes in Nafent volume 18, the Tour de France special, available in our webshop.

“For one day, the world will be looking at our city,” he says. “That’s something to be proud of.”