Revving Up for the 2025 Tour de France: A Route So Tough, Even the Baguettes are Sweating!
Well, well, well! Hold onto your racing bikes, folks, because the full route for the 2025 Tour de France was unveiled today in Paris, and let me tell you, it’s going to be a doozy!
Set to kick off on July 5, 2025, in the lovely Lille (that’s in Northern France for all you geography dropouts), this year’s Tour promises to be as fiery as a French chef’s temper when they’re out of truffles! Over the course of three grueling weeks, riders will tackle familiar beasts like the Mont Ventoux and the notorious Col de la Loze, along with two time trials – because why not throw in a clock to make it even more competitive? Sounds like the Tour de France just threw a raucous party, and everyone’s invited, but the only requirement is to leave your dignity at the door!
The 2025 Tour de France in a Nutshell
- Starting once more in France after a world tour detour
- 21 stages of pure cycling madness
- A staggering 3320 kilometers (that’s enough to cycle from Paris to the moon and back, assuming the moon had a decent bike lane)
- 7 flat stages, for all the speedy sprinters out there
- 6 hill rides because who doesn’t love a picturesque climb followed by brutal suffering?
- 6 mountain stages –“If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not doing it right!”
- 2 time trials for those who enjoy riding against the clock rather than their fellow competitors
- 5 uphill finishes that will make you question your life choices
- And two rest days, because even cyclists need to recharge their batteries!
This year, it’s all back to France, and you’d better believe those cobblestones from the Paris-Roubaix are getting jealous. The sprinters will have their moment in the sun right off the bat, which effectively means we can expect lots of colorful, spandex-clad chaos!
Stage by Stage Breakdown: It’s Like a Cycling Soap Opera!
Things heat up quickly, particularly during the second stage from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, which sounds delightful until you realize the ride includes climbs so steep they could give you existential crises! The Côte du Haut Pichot is just the warm-up, with grades that might make even the bravest cyclist cry into their energy gel!
Fast forward to that tempting third stage where we see the peloton racing to Dunkirk. No categorized slopes mean it’s all out sprint until they reach that finish line. If they were all athletes in a high school talent show, this would be ‘who can showboat the hardest?’ But wait! Just when you think it’s all light and breezy, stage four from Amiens to Rouen throws a curveball – hill specialists, you’re up to bat!
And then, just when cyclists think they can catch their breath, the first time trial is looming – 33 km of sweating bullets in Caen, followed by hilly rides that would crush the dreams of your average Sunday cyclist.
Ah, the anticipation of those characters who claim they “love cycling” but not so secretly refer to the climbs as “torture devices.” I’m looking at you, every cyclist who grunted up the Mont Dore-Puy Sancy!
The Pyrenees Saga: Unpacking the Drama
Not one but three stages through the Pyrenees? It’s essentially a mountainous trilogy where every climber can expect sweat and tears to blend into one beautifully tragic narrative! Starting with a stage from Auch to Hautacam, where only the strongest will survive, and culminates with a special mention of the notorious Superbagnères making a comeback after its long vacation. It’s like that one friend who disappeared for ages and then walks back into your life with the audacity to ask for a reunion party!
Mont Ventoux, Col de la Loze – Call the Tour de Suffering!
Then, just when the cyclists thought they had had enough – BAM! The mythical Mont Ventoux makes its return! It’s like summoning a dragon in a video game: exhilarating for the players, terrifying for the characters!
And let’s not forget about those giant climbs in the Alps that’ll leave everyone gasping for air and maybe a bit of home cooking – après cycling, anyone?
In Conclusion: Back to Paris, the City of Love
Finally, the grand finale in Paris! The sweet end to a suffering-soaked adventure with one last stage leading into the iconic Champs-Élysées. As they roll into the capital, we can only imagine the cheers, the heartaches, and perhaps a few tears – mostly from the cyclists realizing they have to fend for themselves in Paris’ twisty roads without their precious team cars!
If you fancy yourself a cycling aficionado or merely someone who enjoys watching fit people suffer under the sun, the 2025 Tour de France promises to be a spectacle of determination, grit, and – let’s face it – some absolutely ridiculous bike shorts!
So, grab your baguettes, put on your best cycling kit, and get ready for a summer of joy, drama, and a few ouchies on the bike seat!
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 12:27 PM
The full route of the race was presented in Paris today Tour de France 2025. As has been known for some time, the 112th edition of The Great Loop in Lille in Northern France. In the following three weeks, the riders will be faced with stages to Mont Ventoux and the Col de la Loze, as well as two time trials. One of these concerns a climbing time trial to Peyragudes.
The 2025 Tour de France in a nutshell
- The Tour de France starts in France for the first time since 2021
- The Tour de France takes place entirely in France
- 21 stages
- 3320 kilometer
- 7 flat stages
- 6 hill rides
- 6 mountain stages
- 2 time trials
- 5 uphill finishes
- Rest days on Tuesday 15 and Monday 21 July
The start of the Tour will ‘normally’ take place in France again this year after visits to Copenhagen, Bilbao and Firenze. It is the Hauts-de-France region that The Great Departure may organize. The round starts on Saturday, July 5, with a ride to and from Lille. The sprinters seem to have their turn right away, because the organization ignores the nearby cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix.
A day later, in the stage from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, there are opportunities for puncheurs. If you look closely at the route, you will see a succession of short and steep climbs. The final promises to be particularly tough, with the Côte du Haut Pichot (1 km at 10%), Côte de Saint-Étienne-au-Mont (900 meters at 11%) and – just five kilometers from the finish – the Côte d’Outreau (800 meters at 8.8%). The last 1.3 kilometers in Boulogne-sur-Mer also run up a false flat.
In the third stage, the fast men seem to be on their way again, when the peloton races from Valenciennes to Dunkirk. The riders cross the Kasselberg with just thirty kilometers to go – just like on day one. This is the only categorized slope of the day and so we can expect a sprint in Dunkirk, where the Four Days of Dunkirk also finishes every year.
The fourth stage leads from Amiens to Rouen and has a difficult finale, in which the hill specialists can enjoy themselves again. The classification riders can start on Wednesday, because then the first time trial is on the program. The chrono stage with start and finish in Caen is 33 kilometers long. We then stay on the west coast for a while, with hilly rides to Viré and Mûr-de-Bretagne respectively on Thursday and Friday. The latter finish happened four times before in the Tour. The last time, in 2021, the victory went to Mathieu van der Poel.
First rest day on Tuesday, three Pyrenees stages
The first mountain stages will not follow on Saturday and Sunday, but two flat stages. The finish is in Laval on Saturday, Châteauroux on Sunday. The drivers do not get a rest day afterwards, as is customary on the second Monday. That’s because it’s July 14th. On the French national holiday, the cycling festival continues as usual and a ride through the Massif Central is on the program. The finish at Mont Dore-Puy Sancy (3.3 km at 8%) is quite short, but can cause (small) differences between the classification riders. Especially because it is a grueling ride: it goes up and down all day.
With ten racing days in hand, the riders can enjoy their first rest day. And the stage with start and finish in Toulouse, despite a nasty slope eight kilometers from the finish, can perhaps still be used to recover somewhat.
That will be necessary, because the second week contains three consecutive stages through the Pyrenees. There is a stage from Auch to Hautacam on Thursday, an eleven-kilometre climbing time trial to Peyragudes on Friday and a stage from Pau to Luchon-Superbagnères on Saturday. In 2022 there were also arrivals at Hautacam (15.9 km at 7.6%) and Peyragudes. At Peyragudes the day’s victory went to Tadej Pogačar, but a day later he had to bow his head to Jonas Vingegaard.
Superbagnères (12.4 km at 7.5%) returns to the Tour after a long absence. The climb was included six times in the round, but was no longer included in the route after Robert Millar’s victory in 1989. The climbs that precede Superbagnères in 2025 are classics that regularly return to the route: Col du Tourmalet (19 km at 7.6%), Col d’Aspin (5 km at 7.6%) and Col de Peyresourde ( 7.1 km at 7.8%).
Mont Ventoux, Col de la Loze in La Plagne
Following the triptych in the Pyrenees, another opportunity for the sprinters will follow on Sunday. The start of this fifteenth stage is Muret, the finish in Carcassonne. After the second rest day, a new mountain stage follows. That day, from Montpellier rest stop, via Bedoin, you head to the top of the mythical Mont Ventoux (21.4 km at 7.5%). The ‘Giant of Provence’ was last on the course in 2021. By the way, the finish was not at the top, but after a descent, in Malaucène. Wout van Aert took the victory at the time.
Via a stage from Bollène to Valence, where the sprinters will probably get another chance, the race will then be set for the Alps. There are two rides on the program. The first finishes at the Col de la Loze (26.2 km at 6.5%). This time the finish will be on top and not after a short descent, as in 2023. For the Col de la Loze, the Col du Glandon (21.8 km at 6.9%) and Col de la Madeleine (19 km at 8% ) two other Alpine giants are also climbed.
“
The second Alpine stage goes to La Plagne. Dutch cycling enthusiasts are mainly familiar with this winter sports resort from the 2002 Tour, when Michael Boogerd was victorious after a long solo. The Tour de France has not taken place since then. The Critérium du Dauphiné was still there in 2021. The Ukrainian Mark Padun then surprised with a stage victory, after which he also won the final stage of the round a day later. For the final climb, the riders also get the Côte d’ Héry-sur-Ugine (11.3 km at 5.1%), Col des Saisies (13.7 km at 6.4%), Col du Pré (12 km at 8%) and the last part to the Cormet de Roseland (5.9 km at 6.5%).
Back to Paris
On the penultimate day of the round, a hilly transition stage from Nantua to Pontarlier awaits. The round then ends with the traditional stage to Paris, which is back after a year of absence. In the last edition, the Tour ended in Nice, because finishing in the capital was not possible due to the Olympic Games.
