Have you ever found yourself riding along or pouring over a copy of the TdF magazine, lazily daydreaming about riding the Tour de France route?
Yes?!
Well, if you’re ready to turn your daydream into a reality, Le Loop will help you do just that.
Their annual event follows the entire Tour de France route, one week ahead of the pros. You can choose to do anywhere between two and all twenty-one stages of the tour, fully supported by mechanics, medics and massage therapists. At the same time, you’ll be raising funds for the William Wates Memorial Trust, supporting some of the most disadvantaged young people in the UK.
We spoke to Kate, one of the organisers of the event, about what it involves and just how much training you need to do to cycle the Tour de France route!
Please note that the information in this article is based on the 2026 event. As the Tour de France route and prices changes each year, some of the information in this article will not be accurate in future years.
If you’re looking for a Tour de France cycling holiday without a charity element (or one that’s spectator only), read this article about what to look for in a Tour de France cycling tour.
Sponsor Message
Considering cycling the Tour de France?
Le Loop's annual event follows the entire Tour de France route, one week ahead of the pros! Choose one of their Loops to ride anything from two to all 21 stages of the Tour.
Exclusive offer for Epic Road Ride's readers: get free bike transport from the UK, worth £100! To claim this, you just need to email Le Loop the code after booking your Le Loop place. Offer available until 30 April 2027.
Interested? Find out more on the Le Loop website.
Part 1: The event
1. Tell us about your event – what, where and why?!
Le Loop follows the exact route of the entire Tour de France, one week ahead of the pros.
This usually means the very end of June through July. In 2026, we ride from Saturday 27th June to Monday 20th July. Riders sign up for one of our ‘Loops’: anything from two to all twenty-one stages of the Tour de France route. Either join us for the Pyrenees, or the Alps, the Barcelona Start or anything in between. Just find the stages and the dates that work best for you.
2. Why do people enter your event?
People ride Le Loop because they’re looking for a cycling challenge. Maybe they’ve been life-long fans of Le Tour and would love to cycle in the footsteps of their cycling heroes … maybe they’ve cycled a 100 miler and want to find out if they could get up and do the same again … and again!
Or maybe they’ve never done anything on this scale before and this is the challenge of a lifetime.
There’s a loop to suit everyone.
Some ride because they want their bucket list tick to mean more than just their own personal achievement. Le Loop was created by the William Wates Memorial Trust as their main fundraising event. Each year we raise, on average, £400,000 that is given by the Trust in grants to charities that work with some of the most disadvantaged young people in the UK, helping them to keep away from a life of crime and violence.
Our riders get the chance to meet some of the young people we’re helping and that inspires them to climb that next col and even make it all the way to Paris.
We also have a huge number of riders returning year after year. Why do they come back? Well the route is different every year of course – whatever A.S.O (the official TDF organisers) have designed for the pros, we ride – so they come to experience riding different parts of France. They also return for the legendary camaraderie on tour and the pleasure of a cycling trip where everything (apart from the pedalling) is done for you; from four fantastic and varied feedstops each day, to medical and massage support, and our cheery team of mechanics to fix any bike troubles.
3. What do people love about taking part in your event?
Time and again the same word comes up: camaraderie.
Yes, the route is incredible and watching the pros ride it one week later allows huge bragging rights and yes, the support on tour from our team is fantastic, but it’s the teamwork and friendships built out on the road that turn this into something so much more than just a sportive.
Every rider will have their good days and their bad days on tour. On a bad day there is always someone to offer you their wheel to hang onto and on a good day, there’s the opportunity to pay them back. We get through stages of the Tour de France route just as the pros do – by supporting each other through thick and thin. The fact that this correlates perfectly with what the young people are going through who we are supporting through the William Wates Memorial Trust is the icing on the cake.
Big smiles after summiting a big mountain climb (photo credit: Le Loop)
4. What are the highlights of the route?
Every year of course is different, but for 2026…
Barcelona
What a glorious place to start a Tour! We love the 2026 Grand Depart, not just for the opportunity to visit such a lovely city but also for the variety of cycling in the first three stages; a short time trial (a city sightseeing arrival Tour for us), a lovely, flat coastal ride and then immediately into the mountains with views to die for (and a lite option for anyone who needs it). Three days, three entirely different cycling experiences and a whole load of challenge.
Another day, another switchback! (photo credit: Le Loop)
Gavarnie
Stage 6 is a contender for the best Tour stage of 2026. Gavarnie has never featured in the Tour before, so this is a treat we never anticipated. If you haven’t been, Gavarnie is one of the most special Pyrenean destinations, high in the mountains near the Spanish border. There are rock formations to swoon over and a night spent deep in the rugged mountains – and all that after a day of spectacular cycling, which includes the most famous of Pyrenees climbs; the Tourmalet.
The iconic Tourmalet sculpture (photo credit: Le Loop)
Alpe d’Huez
It’s impossible to ignore the Alpe d’Huez double, which is the pre-finale of 2026 – and another treat we didn’t see coming. We remember going down the Sarenne in the 2013 Alpe d’Huez double, but we didn’t imagine this awesome twist. The climb speaks for itself; it’s going to be a very special couple of days in the mountains!
Le Loop Tour de France team (photo credit: Le Loop)
5. What’s the hardest thing about taking part in your event?
For the riders who take on the whole route from the Grand Depart to Paris, I honestly think the hardest part can be coming home! We live in a bubble for 3 weeks and the transition back to ‘normal’ life can be bewildering.
But of course, before all that, to take on multiple stages of the Tour de France there needs to be a serious commitment to training through the winter which can be tough when the weather is grim. With busy lives, finding the time to put the hours in is also a challenge and it needs friends and family to be on board and supportive.
On the ride itself … getting enough rest is the challenge. Some years ASO give us a route that requires more early morning transfers to the next stage start than others. These all eat into critical sleep time, but our riders soon master the art of sleeping on coaches at the drop of a hat!
Cyclists enjoying a well-earned refuelling stop on the Le Loop route (photo credit: Le Loop)
6. How fit do you have to be to take part in your event?
By the time you arrive on tour you need to not be phased by taking on 100 miles in a day. I don’t mean that should feel like a breeze … 100 miles is never a breeze … but it shouldn’t freak you out. You’re then going to have to get up and do that again the next day after all.
The speed of the group varies enormously and on a big mountain day we could be spread out 3 or 4 hours apart.
To help this along we ‘neutralise’ the first 40km to the first feed stop. This gives everyone the chance to take it easy at the start of the day, ride with folk you’ll maybe not see for the rest of the day and just warm the legs up.
Once everyone’s arrived at that first feed stop all riders are free to ride at their own pace. Quickly people find others going a similar speed and work together often in small pelotons. If a rider gets dropped, they just relax and wait for the next little group to come past and hop on the back with them. We have a back van but we won’t actually pull anyone off the course unless they are becoming a danger to themselves. Our team stays out there with the riders on a big mountain day until the last rider is in – which will probably be in the dark. They’re guaranteed a hero’s welcome when they come in to dinner!
It’s well worth getting some practice in during the winter at riding in a peloton so that you can take advantage of this on some of the flatter, faster sections of the tour. We write a monthly training blog for all our riders to help them build up mileage and endurance (physical and mental) through the winter and spring so that they’re in great nick for the start of the tour.
Making new friends is all a part of the Le Loop experience (photo credit: Le Loop)
7. What are your top tips for anyone thinking of taking part?
Embrace the winter training – buy the kit you need to make that as comfortable as possible and for every mile in the cold and wet you can visualise the sunny roads of France in the knowledge that the miles you’re putting in now will pay off in spades on tour.
Embrace the fundraising aspect of taking part in Le Loop just as much as the training – don’t put it off – just throw yourself into it with enthusiasm and you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll hit your minimum sponsorship requirement AND how rewarding the experience will be.
Looking for more ideas? Take a look at this article for some useful fundraising tips for charity cycling challenges.
Riders tackling a classic Alpine hairpin (photo credit: Le Loop)
Sponsor Message
Considering cycling the Tour de France?
Le Loop's annual event follows the entire Tour de France route, one week ahead of the pros! Choose one of their Loops to ride anything from two to all 21 stages of the Tour.
Exclusive offer for Epic Road Ride's readers: get free bike transport from the UK, worth £100! To claim this, you just need to email Le Loop the code after booking your Le Loop place. Offer available until 30 April 2027.
Interested? Find out more on the Le Loop website.
Part 2: Your charity
8. Why do you organise this event?
Le Loop was created by the William Wates Memorial Trust as their principal fundraiser and as a way to remember William (who was killed during his gap year in Honduras in 1996 in a bungled street robbery).
Le Loop was first run in 2006 and 2010 for William’s friends and family, it was opened up to the general public in 2012 and hasn’t looked back. It’s operated every year since with the exceptions of the covid years 2020/21 and is going from strength to strength.
Each year our riders raise on average £400,000.
They pay the full cost of their ‘holiday’ to Le Loop, then have a minimum fundraising requirement that goes directly to the William Wates Memorial Trust.
Funds raised are given in grants to charities that work with some of the UK’s most disadvantaged young people, helping to keep them away from a life of crime and violence. They use sport, music, mentoring, the arts and education to engage with young people.
For a full list of the charities we are currently supporting visit www.wwmt.org and download their most recent Annual Report.
We give all our riders opportunities to visit the charities we’re supporting so they can see the work for themselves. This never fails to inspire them and redouble their fundraising efforts.
We also invite two young people from the projects to join us on tour – either to ride a stage (or as much of it as they can) or work with our support team. They and their support worker tell their story to the riders in the evening, giving our riders a chance to really understand what life is like for these young people. It is humbling and massively inspiring in equal measure: we all appreciate just how lucky we are to be doing something we love and that we have opportunities that we should never take for granted. Many of our riders tell us that meeting these young people is a highlight of their tour.
Le Loop riders cycle to raise invaluable funds for charity (photo credit: Le Loop)
9. How much does it cost to enter?
The cost and fundraising depend on how many stages you will be riding. It ranges from £715 to ride two stages, with £1000 fundraising, to £5,450 to ride all 21 stages of the tour with £3,000 fundraising. The majority of our riders are somewhere in between with a minimum fundraising requirement of £1,200.
| Stages ridden | Overnights | Cost to cyclist | Minimum sponsorship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | £920 | £1,200 |
| 7 | 8 | £1,840 | £1,200/£1500 |
| 10 (including 1 rest day) | 12 | £2,760 | £1,500 |
| 21 (including 2 rest days and a Nice supplement) | 24 | £5,450 | £3,000 |
What’s included?
- Accommodation – mostly twin share. Single supplements are available to buy in January. Unlike the pros, we usually sleep at the place the stage ends, and that sometimes means our accommodation options are limited. One night we’ll be in a major town and might be treated to a 5* hotel, but other times we might be in the only hotel on a mountain col and it’ll be much more basic. The norm is somewhere in the middle. Occasionally, we’re in exactly the same hotels that the pros use. The extreme variety becomes one of the more fun parts of the tour!
- All food – 3 meals and the best feedstops you’ve ever seen
- Fully signed route – the stuff of legend!
- Mechanical, medical and moral support
- Luggage Transfers
- Coach transfers to the next stage start when the stages aren’t contiguous
What’s not included?
- Travel to and from France (but we’ll give you advice on the best travel routes)
- Bike Transport (£50 each way if you want us to drive your bike there and back)
- Evening massage (£15 or €15 per massage if you’d like one – highly recommended)
- Beer/wine/dinner drinks
10. Where can people find out more?
Website: www.rideleloop.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RideLeLoop/
Instagram: @rideleloop
LinkedIn: ride le loop
Sponsor Message
Considering cycling the Tour de France?
Le Loop's annual event follows the entire Tour de France route, one week ahead of the pros! Choose one of their Loops to ride anything from two to all 21 stages of the Tour.
Exclusive offer for Epic Road Ride's readers: get free bike transport from the UK, worth £100! To claim this, you just need to email Le Loop the code after booking your Le Loop place. Offer available until 30 April 2027.
Interested? Find out more on the Le Loop website.
A big thank you to Kate for sharing these insights on the event. We think it sounds fantastic fun – and a brilliant charity to be raising money for.
Have you done Le Loop before? Or planning to do it this year? Drop us a comment below to let us know!
Want more event ideas?
If you’re seeking inspiration for your next cycling challenge, but Le Loop isn’t quite what you’re after, check out our events hub page, which has guides to tons of cycling events including:
Got a question for Kate?
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Kate is a passionate cyclist who has explored the world by bike, including Europe, central America and South East Asia. Kate is a key member of the Epic Road Rides team; when she's not busy commissioning articles for Epic Road Rides, you'll find her busy writing and editing articles herself.
Last Reviewed: 09 December 2025
First Published: 05 November 2025
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Kate is a passionate cyclist who has explored the world by bike, including Europe, central America and South East Asia. Kate is a key member of the Epic Road Rides team; when she's not busy commissioning articles for Epic Road Rides, you'll find her busy writing and editing articles herself.
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Sponsor Message
Considering cycling the Tour de France?
Le Loop's annual event follows the entire Tour de France route, one week ahead of the pros! Choose one of their Loops to ride anything from two to all 21 stages of the Tour.
Exclusive offer for Epic Road Ride's readers: get free bike transport from the UK, worth £100! To claim this, you just need to email Le Loop the code after booking your Le Loop place. Offer available until 30 April 2027.
Interested? Find out more on the Le Loop website.
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