La Route d'Occitanie (2.1), France
Formerly La Route du Sud - la Dépêche du Midi

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The race:

Route d'Occitanie is short stage race is held in Southwest France during the second and/or third week of June. Since it comes just before the week of national championships and then the Tour de France, it can be an especially important race for those riders looking for one last chance to prove themselves.

The Route du Sud was created in 1977 as the Tour du Tarn at the initiative of racer (noted for his sprinting prowess) Jacques Esclassan. Esclassan himself won that first edition. In 1982 the name was changed to Tour Midi-Pyrénées and then in 1988 it was given its penultimate name, La Route du Sud. In 2018 the name was again changed, this time to Route d'Occitanie.

It is currently organized by La Dépêche du Midi, a French regional daily paper.

Since 2005 the Route d'Occitanie has been rated 2.1 by the UCI and is part of the UCI Europe Tour.