Your Guide To The 2025 Tour de France 2019 Tour De France Paris Guide

The 2025 Tour de France kicks off in Lille on Saturday. We have a two-part series for you if you want to learn the rhythms of the sport. You’ve come to the right spot if you’re looking for a sneak peek at the three weeks of racing.

Even though the exact route varies each year, the general outline of the Tour de France is a charming rhythm. The Tour always becomes more challenging as it progresses; the race starts on level ground and then, in the second and third weeks, it hits the Pyrenees and Alps in some order to determine the winner. The Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), the Tour’s organizers, have put aside their arrogant sense of superiority and improved their race over the last 15 years by taking inspiration from other races. Mixed, Ardennes-style hilly stages and shorter, punchier mountain days have replaced the endless, 200-kilometer+ days of pancake-flat racing and monotonous mountain slogs.

In recent memory, the route that the ASO created for 2025 is one of my favorites. Only at Stage 10 will there be a true mountain day, and until Stage 12, the Tour will not ascend anything classified as either 1 or hors categorie (literally “out of category,” too difficult for classification). However, the first ten days will not be dull at all. It’s true that the route design aims to keep Jonas Vingegaard within a minute or so of Tadej Pogacar until the end of the second racing week, but they did a fantastic job of making the sprinter and transitional stages much more interesting than they usually are.

You can use this guide to find out what kind of stage you’ll be in on any given racing day. A daily summary of the route, along with some observations about each stop, can be found below. However, we must first introduce the men who will be riding this device.

A few observations regarding the men who will be riding the thing.

In the Tour de France, the rivalry between two riders who have split the previous five Tours will be the defining dynamic. Tadej Pogacar is the main character in the Tour de France; he won the overall and six of the stages last year. As the current winner of the greatest rivalry the sport has seen since Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond in the 1980s, Pogacar leads Jonas Vingegaard 3-2 in yellow jersey victories. Vingegaard rides lamely, in contrast to Pogacar’s feisty, almost reckless aggression. Vingegaard has hardly competed this year, in contrast to Pogacar, who dominated the sport during the spring and even attempted to win several races that a Tour winner has no business competing in. In the past, Pogacar has outperformed Vingegaard in every category of terrain save the most exacting, such as long, excruciatingly challenging climbs at altitude. Vingegaard used excellent team tactics to defeat Pogacar twice, choosing the Tour’s longest and most difficult climbs to make his move.

Both Pogacar’s UAE Emirates squad and Vingegaard’s Visma squad are incredibly strong. The Emirati royal family, as the name implies, finances the UAE and has more wealth than God. They are the sport’s closest thing to villains. In its own right, Visma is a superteam, with the second-largest budget in cycling. In addition to having two climbing lieutenants who could compete on Grand Tours if given the opportunity (Vingegaard has two previous winners on his side), each team has significantly stronger domestiques than the other teams in the race. This implies that they will be able to push the pace of the race most of the time due to their strength. The UAE-Jumbo rivalry will change the face of racing even on days when neither rider is actively attempting to destroy the other.

The rider to keep an eye on below that duo is Remco Evenepoel. In the time trial and road race, he won two Olympic gold medals after finishing third the previous year. Evenepoel’s body is a veritable aerodynamic marvel; he is a small man with the shape of a bullet. For the first time in a year, the 2024 Tour podium raced one another at the Criterium du Dauphine. After Pogacar’s poor early time trial, cycling fans were ecstatically anticipating that perhaps he had lost his position as the sport’s undisputed best rider. After that, he stunted poor Vingegaard and Evenepoel during the climbing stages. Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull, who will be riding with Primoz Roglic, the best rider of his generation who hasn’t won a Tour, finished third in that race. João Almeida, Simon Yates, Mattias Skjelmose, Matteo Jorgenson, Adam Yates, Carlos Rodríguez, Santiago Buitrago, Felix Gall, and Ben O’Connor are the other riders aiming for At least a top-five finish or Evenepoel’s podium position, in my opinion.

The teams vying for sprint stage victories are the other organizing force. These are Evenepoel’s Soudal-Quick-Step, which is riding for Tim Merlier; Skjelmose’s Lidl-Trek, which is riding for Jonathan Milan; and, most ominous of all, Alpecin-Deceuninck, which is riding for Jasper Philipsen. Philipsen’s incredibly talented team is in France specifically to increase his record of nine stage victories from the last three Tours. He has Mathieu van der Poel as a lead assistant, and he is the only player who has ever consistently defeated Pogacar. Merlier has been perhaps the season’s best pure sprinter, though Milan and Philipsen can both handle easier climbs fairly well. Though he hasn’t been tried, the fight should be enjoyable. With a team built around him, Biniam Girmay, the triple stage winner and green jersey holder from the previous year, is back. However, he hasn’t performed well this season, so it’s unclear if he will build on his incredible 2024 Tour. Additionally competing for sprints are Dylan Groenewegen, Jordi Meeus, Arnaud De Lie, and, with luck, Wout van Aert.

Time to head out. The quantity of steam nose emojis reflects my opinion of how thrilling the racing will be at a particular point. Only seven steam nose guys can be earned by a stage. The reason for my “pick to click” is obvious. Pogacar will most likely win about four stages again, but according to the Escape Collective fantasy game’s rules, I have to choose a different rider for every stage.

The Path.

Stage 1 is Lille Métropole to Lille Métropole, which is 184 points 9 kilometers on Saturday. July 5. .

I love you.

This is the first Grand Départ to start inside France in a few years, and it’s a fairly simple race. This year, the entire race actually takes place inside French borders, which is extremely uncommon. Despite having three different climb categories, none of them are difficult enough or near enough to the finish line to push out the pure sprinters in Stage 1, which is a typical sprint stage. It will take a wicked turn of speed for the winner to win because the finishing straight is long and wide after a few corners. Normally a stage like this would only deserve one steam nose guy, but since the yellow jersey is at stake, two are awarded.

Click here: Philipsen.

The second stage is Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, which is 209 points 1 km Sunday. 6 July.

😧😤😤😤.

Although the finish is quite challenging, this stage might seem like more traditional first-week fare. Let’s investigate further. The final ten kilometers look like this.

My favorite kind of race is an Ardennes classic, and that’s a little easier to finish. Controlling a team will be challenging, but not impossible. Considering that the finish is not pancake flat, that dynamic is incredibly entertaining. The finish line is just around a right-hand corner, and the last kilometer is uphill. Though you never know with UAE, I don’t think it’s difficult enough for the general classification (GC, the overall standings) guys to start seriously fighting each other. Seek out a classics enthusiast or a more resilient sprinter to win this race. I would kill Mads Pedersen wholeheartedly if he were here.

Click here: Girmay.

Stage 3: Monday, 178point 3 km from Valenciennes to Dunkerque. July 7.

Haha.

It was the second consecutive stage to run north and end on the English Channel. Though it slides alongside the Canal Exutoire and is somewhat tortuous, the run-in has no particularly noteworthy topography. Hopefully, we will have a headwind on Stage 3, as it appears to be a rather dull stage.

Merlier is the pick to click.

Stage 4: Amiens Métropole to Rouen, Tuesday, 174.02 kilometers. July 8.

😧😤😤😤.

There was a significant climb near the finish line, making it another extremely thrilling Ardennes day. The feline. Less than a kilometer long, the third one on this list is steep enough (with a 15 percent section) and has a summit that is close enough to the line (about 5 to 5 kilometers) to likely determine the stage. To set up such a move, the only question is who will persuade their team to drill the previous three climbs. Given that the Tour is so early, the breakaway is unlikely to be permitted to compete for the stage victory, so Pogacar has everything written all over this stage. However, I will not pick him, and although I do believe a Dane will prevail, it will not be Pogacar’s fiercest opponent. Amstel Gold seems to be coming to an end at the end of this phase. Pogacar lost that year’s major Ardennes race. Who did it?

Mattias Skjelmose is the one to click.

Stage 5: Wednesday, Caen to Caen, 33 km (ITT). July 9.

Haha.

Although the variety of riders in time trials is interesting, the events themselves are rather dull when broadcast on television. With a brief detour into the tiny hills of the Calvados region in between, this stage starts and ends in Caen (not Cannes). Remco is the best at all types of ITT, so it doesn’t really matter that it’s fairly flat.

Click on Evenepoel.

Step 6: Bayeux to Vire Normandie, Thursday, 201point 5 km. July 10.

😤😤😤.

The five Cats and the coast are to the south of this hilly stage. The peloton should become softer before the Cote de Vaudry thanks to 3s. Someone will attack on the few hundred meters above 10 percent in the middle of the short climb. Although it is so near the line, it is not difficult enough to deter a chase. After climbing 3,550 meters, I doubt the pure sprinters will reach the finish line, but even if they do, the stage ends on a 14 percent kicker. That Lidl-Trek has the best uphill sprint specialist in addition to a top pure sprinter is a good thing. Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel might also take aim at one another in this one.

Choose to click: Nys Thibau.

Stage 7: 197-kilometer journey from Saint-Malo to Mûr-de-Bretagne (Guerlédan), Friday. August 11.

😤😤😧.

On top of the Mûr-de-Bretagne, the Tour’s second stage concluded four years ago. Van der Poel launched a ferocious attack to win the stage by a significant margin and ride into the yellow jersey after retaliating against a few early attacks.

There is no reason to believe that any other rider will be able to accompany him this year. However, many will attempt, and the peloton will see the Mûr for the first time before facing it in the finish. Even though the first 80% of this stage appears level and largely featureless, the peloton will be trudging along the northern coast of France at the end, which will be a lot of fun. This area is notorious for its gnarly crosswinds, which have the potential to split the peloton and make it very difficult for anyone to stay in contact. Riders will likely be exhausted when they arrive in Mûr-de-Bretagne, as is the case in a classics race.

Click here: Van der Poel.

Stage 8: 171.4 km, Sat., from Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Laval (Espace Mayenne). 12 July.

Haha.

This year’s Tour organizers made a grave error by scheduling two dull, flat sprint stages for the second racing weekend. Fans will only be able to watch two of the few sprinting stages on the weekend instead of the fantastic Saturday fare that would have been the Mûr stage. Now is a fantastic moment to put on a show by doing something with your loved ones. By avoiding TV for an entire weekend, you can demonstrate to them how much you are giving up. As you do so, be sure to wheeze and moan about what a good person you are. Just be careful to keep your distance from them for the final five kilometers. The last three kilometers will include two large roundabouts that the peloton must navigate, making for an exciting positioning battle.

Choose Milan to click.

Stage 9: 174.01 km from Chinon to Châteauroux, Sun. 13. July.

Haha.

Although Chinon produces a variety of noteworthy dry red wines, the Loire valley is mainly recognized for its white wines, making it a regional oddity. A specialty is cabernet franc, which is served in the renowned Caves des Painctes, a network of tunnels transformed into an enormous wine cellar. François Rabelais, a highly influential French writer from the Reformation era, hails from Chinon as well. To him, raise a glass!

1 point five kilometers with a flat finish and an arrow-straight finish.

Choose Groenewegen to click.

Le Mont-Dore (Puy de Sancy) to Ennezat, Stage 10: 165point 3 km, Monday. July 14th.

And 😤😤😤😤.

Finally, some good food. I’ve always thought the Massif Central mountain range is very beautiful, and it’s the only one in the 2025 Tour’s first mountain stage. Although there are eight categorized climbs in Stage 10, none of them are more challenging than Cat. 2. There are eight of them, and in between them are a number of deviously challenging uphill drags. My point is that, along with the first cat, this is good shit. There won’t be a place to hide if number two is placed immediately after the starting line. You can anticipate some enormous attacks on nearly every climb, and the racing will be intense and fast throughout the day. It feels like a GC day, but the stage hunters will be hostile. The primary cause of this is that the first rest day is approaching, and the team that receives the yellow jersey or makes the first significant GC statement will make their opponents sit with the weight of defeat for an additional day.

Pogacar is the option to click.

Stage 11: Wednesday, Toulouse to Toulouse, 156 points and 8 kilometers. July 16. .

Haha, haha.

The biggest advantage of this circuit around Toulouse and the nearby towns is the size of the crowds. When riders regularly pass through residential areas, the streets ought to be crowded, and spectators will congregate near the finish line. But don’t be duped. Depending on the year, the Côte de Pech David has been rated as a 4 or a 3. Though brief, there is a 20 percent ramp at the beginning that ought to loosen things up. Although it seems more likely that the sprint teams will be able to catch up to anyone who crosses the finish line with daylight, this could be a breakaway day.

Click on Meeus.

Stage 12: Auch, 180point 6 km, Thursday, to Hautacam. 17. July.

😤😧😤😤😤.

From the terrifying Hautacam, the race moves to the Pyrenees for three fairly gnarly, nonstop days of strenuous climbing. Two summit finishes have taken place here in the previous 16 years, making the summit a regular feature of the Tour. The victor of that stage won the Tour in both 2014 and 2022. Here, three years ago, Vingegaard put more than a minute on a tired Pogacar to cement his first yellow jersey. Although our Tour’s main climbing stage is a little easier than it was the previous time, the Hautacam is still so difficult that it makes little difference.

The Hautacam is not a place to hide. The switchbacks are devoid of trees, and riders will not have any respite from the likely scorching weather save from the throngs of people who will be there to shout for their favorites. Although the first seven kilometers alternate between sections that are about 6% and 8%, the winner will be determined in the middle of the climb. Halfway through the climb, riders will have to climb two kilometers of double-digit gradients. The stage winner will most likely make their move there.

Select Vingegaard to click.

On Friday, Stage 13: Loudenvielle to Peyragudes, 10:09 km (ITT). July 18. .

😤😤😤.

It will be a tough race with two summit-finish days in between the second and final time trials. Because Peyragudes saves its best for last, it’s a challenging climb and an intriguing one for an ITT. The last three kilometers will be extremely challenging, particularly since riders will need to gauge their level of effort while traveling in order to avoid taking too long. In essence, eleven kilometers is a sprint, but the finishing kicker will punish anyone who pushes themselves too hard too soon. Get ready to witness some of the most jerky riding you’ve ever seen during a time trial.

Furthermore, I must point out that the stage’s profile in the official Tour roadbook is incredibly deceptive. The y-axis is being violated by this.

Choosing someone other than one of the big three is kind of pointless, especially since Evenepoel is such a fantastic time trialist. However, I have to follow my own rules, so: Roglic.

Stage 14: 182.6 km on Saturday from Pau to Luchon-Superbagnères. July 19. .

😧😤😤😤😤😤.

The final climb is called Luchon-Superbagnères, but all I see is what appears to be the French term for Super Banger, which is what this stage will be. The Tour’s most difficult stage, which spans the renowned Tourmalet, the stunning Col d’Aspin, the frequently featured Peyresourde, and Luchon-Superbagnères, features nearly five kilometers of vertical gain. Here, altitude may be a factor because the race will take place at 2,000 meters above sea level. Although the last climb is one of the route’s easier HCs, it is still quite difficult, particularly after the first three. At the conclusion of a challenging day, Vingegaard enjoys the long, steady ascent at altitude. Observing the strategies used on this stage will be exciting. This type of race should take place on a Saturday. Who will get a teammate in the breakaway, and how will they use them later in the race? When will UAE or Jumbo strike? Is the Tournalet too early for either team to feel comfortable pushing the pace?

Eddie Dunbar is the choice to click.

Step 15: Muret to Carcassonee, Sun., 169point 3 km. July 20. .

😤😧😤.

This is where the Tour’s first noticeable breakaway stage is. After the efforts of the last three days, I doubt that any of the major teams will want to invest significant energy in chasing moves. Additionally, while the sprint teams might attempt to control the break, I doubt they will be able to do so because there will be so many teams eager to put a rider in the break.

Additionally, Stage 15 is far enough into the race for the teams that haven’t won a stage yet to become a little desperate. The opportunities to win something are dwindling. This is for the stage-hunting artists, but the climbers will have a say later.

Click here: Neilson Powless.

Stage 16: Mont Ventoux to Montpellier, Tuesday, 171:5 km. 22 July.

😤😤😤😤.

This stage is incredibly straightforward: 152 kilometers of anxious anticipation followed by one of the most well-known ascents in Tour de France history. In the previous summit finish on Ventoux, Chris Froome’s ass was running up the road due to the large number of fans who clogged the roads.

Despite being in the Alps, Ventoux’s summit feels and looks like the moon’s surface, so what kind of climb is it? Very little vegetation covers its lunar slopes. Because it is a little easier, the peloton will ascend Ventoux from the east side. However, since there are sections well over 10 percent at the beginning and end of the climb, easier is relative. It feels like another day at GC.

Choose to click: I’m sorry I didn’t let myself repeat. Yates Simon.

Stage 17: Wednesday, 160 point 4 km from Bollène to Valence. July 23. .

I love it.

Located in the eastern foothills of the Alps, Stage 17 is a typical transition stage that winds north through the Rhône Valley. The sprint teams will want to chase because it’s the last obvious sprint day, but none of the GC teams will want to because they’re sandwiched between two difficult days. This stage is difficult to determine because it occurs so near the end of the race that it is impossible to predict how many riders will have dropped out, leaving their teams exhausted from heat and crashes. I doubt that Alpecin will have the stamina to pursue this one for Philipsen, for example, if they have lost four riders.

Click on this: Van Aert.

Stage 18: Traveling 171 1 5 km on Thursday from Vif to Courchevel (Col de la Loze). 24 July.

😤😤😤😤😤.

I admire the ASO’s commitment to giving the riders the most psychological suffering possible. Since all three of the HC climbs available here are traditional Alpine fare, they will require endless slogs up mountains that are moderately steep. There is nothing particularly sharp here, but the length and elevation of all three climbs are what make them challenging. The peloton must ascend from a few hundred meters above sea level to almost 6,000 feet three times. The Tour’s high point this year is the Col de la Loze summit.

The part about the psychic trauma is that Vingegaard smote Pogacar there to end the 2023 Tour. For the first two weeks of the race, the two were within seconds of one another, and it appeared that we would be reaching one of the most close finishes in Tour de France history. On Stage 16 of that year’s Tour, Vingegaard then took over by smashing Pogacar. Pogacar attempted to reply the following day, but instead his legs collapsed. Pogacar grunted, “I’m gone, I’m dead,” into his radio to acknowledge one of his most agonizing losses, which took place at Col de la Loze.

They’ve circled this one, you know. Additionally, you can be sure Jumbo will feel secure because he has already destroyed Pogacar here.

Jorgenson is the one to click.

On Friday, Stage 19: Albertville to La Plagne, 129point 9 km. July 25. .

😤😤😤😤😤.

The last chance for anyone to gain time is at stage 19. The race should be extremely fast and challenging to manage because the 129-kilometer stage is relatively short for a major mountain day. Although La Plagne is long and high enough to be decisive, there are surprisingly few difficult sections from which to launch attacks. The Tour hasn’t been there since 2002. Its position in the race, however, guarantees GC action as well as possibly a breakaway vying for the stage victory. This reminds me of the Isola 2000 stage from last year, where a breakaway had a chance to win, but Pogacar became avaricious and won for fun.

Click here: Ben Healy.

Stage 20: Sat., 184.2 km from Nantua to Pontarlier. 27 July.

😤😧😤.

It seems a little anticlimactic that the last day of racing before Paris would be so meaningless, but rather than a final Grand Prix battle, we have what appears to be a traditional breakaway day. With Sunday coming up, the big sprinters might be reluctant to expend their energy, and everyone who hasn’t won a stage yet will be giving it their all to win this one. This stage comes to an end a few kilometers from the Swiss border, which is relatively close to Bern and Geneva. I’ll finally return my rental car, which is sure to smell like crazy, after the stage is over and riders head back to Paris for the last day of racing.

Click here: Søren Wærenskjold.

Stage 21: 132 point 3 km, Sun., from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris (Champs-Élysées). July 27.

😤😤😤😤.

Ah, Paris! Usually, Stage 21 of the Tour is a parade, a completely uninteresting photo opportunity that, at the very end of a slow day, becomes a race. Not now. The ASO is stirring things up and giving the climb up Montmartre some attention because the Olympic road races were so fantastic. Last summer’s crowds in Paris were incredible, and this time around, they’ll undoubtedly be equally packed. Regretfully, I do not believe that the race will conclude with the breakaway excitement that the organizers had hoped for. The Olympic road race is different because it is contested between national teams, which are smaller and do not use race radios. The climb is challenging, but probably not challenging enough to actually unseat any of the sprinters. Controlling movements is made easier by both of those. I am sure that this will be an enjoyable stage, but I doubt that anyone will try anything.