L'Étape La Paz 2027

Pull on a bib stamped Tour de France without setting foot in Europe? In La Paz, you can ride it every year 🚴. Far from the Alpine passes, Étape La Paz by Tour de France sets up its start arch at the southern tip of Baja California, in Mexico, facing the Sea of Cortez. Part of the global L'Étape by Tour de France series, this amateur road race lets riders experience, for a day, the sensations of the biggest cycling event on the planet 🚲. Start and finish on the famous Malecón, this seafront where the city of La Paz loves to stroll 🌊.

Three routes await your legs, from the most relaxed to the most demanding. The "Ruta Sprint" kicks things off for beginners and families, a way to soak up the atmosphere without blowing up your thighs 😅. The "Ruta Corta" turns up the heat for regular riders, while the "Ruta Larga" sends the sharpest cyclists out on the day’s big loop—the one that separates fresh legs from heavy legs 🥵. Stopwatches also come into play with the Reto Cronometrado, a timed segment that rewards the fastest, not to mention the team and duo rankings to spice up the ride 🏁. It all gets rolling at dawn, when the sun is barely rising over the malecón ☀️.

The scenery is in a whole other league 🌵. The roads leave the seaside behind and cut through the peninsula’s golden deserts, between giant cacti and long straight lines washed in light. On the other side of the handlebars stretches the Sea of Cortez, that arm of the sea that Commander Cousteau nicknamed "the world’s aquarium" 🐋. Whales, dolphins, sea lions, and turtles call it home, and you sometimes spot them from the saddle 🐬. Between sand, ocean, and an immense sky, every pedal stroke pays you back in panoramas.

Behind the event lies a clever concept 💡. Led by the organizers of the Tour de France, the L'Étape series has spread to the four corners of the globe to give amateurs a taste of the biggest celebration in cycling. La Paz joined the adventure a few seasons ago and is already on its sixth edition, bringing together more than 1,200 cyclists and thousands of visitors who come to boost the atmosphere on the North American continent 🎉. Run under Union Cycliste Internationale regulations, the event mixes sporting seriousness with a party spirit, and even carries real weight in the local tourism economy 💰. Étape La Paz cultivates a special charm 🌟. The yellow jersey hovers over the shoulders of the most ambitious. Aid stations take on the feel of a fiesta, and the team or duo categories turn the ride into a shared adventure. The cool start, before the sun starts to beat down, adds its own magic by the water 🌅.

Once the bike is racked, La Paz unfolds its treasures 🏖. Just a couple of pedal strokes away, Balandra Beach, often cited among the most beautiful in Mexico, invites you for a swim, while Espíritu Santo Island draws snorkeling fans and playful sea lions. For your taste buds, fish tacos and the famous chocolata clams delight stomachs made hungry by the effort 🌮. Between pedal strokes and sunburns, Étape La Paz by Tour de France has found the perfect recipe: French cycling is best enjoyed with your feet in Mexican sand, a bottle in hand 💛.