Paris-Versailles

Paris-Versailles, nicknamed La Grande Classique, is a 16.2 km point-to-point road race linking two of France's most recognizable landmarks: the Eiffel Tower and the Château de Versailles. First run in 1976 and organized since 1991 by the Association Paris-Versailles, the race starts at the foot of the Eiffel Tower on the Quai Jacques Chirac and finishes on the Avenue de Paris facing the palace gates, crossing Issy-les-Moulineaux, Meudon, Chaville, Vélizy-Villacoublay, and Viroflay along the way. Around the 6 km mark the course enters the Meudon forest and climbs the Côte des Gardes, a roughly 2.2 km ascent averaging 7% grade with pitches near 9% — the race's defining test, contributing to about 180 meters of total elevation gain before a rolling run-in to Versailles. Capped at 25,000 runners, the race has become one of the most sought-after entries in French road running: the 2026 edition's bibs sold out in under four days of registration opening. Alongside an elite field, Paris-Versailles draws a huge cross-section of recreational runners and remains one of the largest and most prestigious mass-participation road races in the Île-de-France region outside the Paris Marathon itself.