2025 Tour de France - Ultimate stage-by-stage guide

For the first time since 2021, the Grand Depart begins on home soil with the opening stage starting and finishing in the city of Lille. This stage marks a huge opportunity for the sprinters, being one of the flattest routes of this year’s Tour de France. In total, there are three categorised climbs on the route, but none are too severe, and the final climb comes 45 kilometres from the finish.

Additionally, the stage winner will pull on the race’s first yellow jersey, something which the sprinters have had little chance of in recent years. The last sprinter to pull on the yellow jersey after stage 1 was Alexander Kristoff in 2020, when the Norwegian won a treacherous stage in Nice.

As the opening stage of the Tour de France always is, it will be a nervous and chaotic affair, and the heightened pressure of a bunch sprint awaits. The key for the GC riders will be to avoid any incidents or accidents because the race can’t be won on the opening stage, but it can already be lost.

The race’s longest stage comes very early, on the second day of racing, with a mammoth 212-kilometre-long route. It’s a hilly affair with plenty of lumpy terrain to contend with, in the Artois and Boulonnais regions.

Short steep climbs shape the nature of stage 2, and should see the puncheurs thrive. With a tricky finale featuring two categorised climbs in the last 10 kilometres and an uphill ramp to the finish line, the yellow jersey will likely change hands.

The two key climbs, the Côte de Saint-Étienne-au-Mont, standing at 0.9 kilometres at 10.8% and the Côte d’Outreau, 0.8 kilometres at 7.9%, will certainly sting the legs of many and provide a tempting launchpad to attack.

Stage 3 is officially the flattest road stage of the 2025 Tour de France. If this one doesn’t end in a bunch sprint, something has gone seriously wrong for the sprinters. A single categorised climb on the stage in the final 35 kilometres is the only key point of elevation gain.

The last time Dunkirk featured as a host location at the Tour de France was in 2022 on stage 4, where Wout van Aert soloed to victory in the yellow jersey in the city.

However, race director Christian Prudhomme has said that the stage has been designed to encourage the formation of echelons in the final 35 kilometres. Therefore, it could turn into another chaotic stage if the wind plays ball.

An exciting finale awaits on stage four, with plenty of short, steep climbs to contend with. It should be one for the puncheurs and potentially the GC contenders too, with six categorised climbs inside the final 60 kilometres. 

The final hill is 0.9 kilometres long and averages a steep 10%, providing a great opportunity for the puncheurs to attack. Equally, it could be advantageous to wait until the summit to launch an attack on the other side of the hill when most riders will be on their limit. 

There may be GC gaps on a stage of this nature with a rollercoaster finish in Rouen, but with a descent in the final few kilometres before the kick up to the line, things could get tricky and technical.

The first of two individual time trials at this year’s Tour de France, and this is one for the specialists. Completely flat and wide roads will allow the riders to maximise their power output, and therefore, the strongest riders will thrive on a route of this nature.

33 kilometres is a long enough distance for the riders to build into their efforts, meaning that surprises are unlikely and the specialists should come to the fore. 

Depending on whether a strong time trial specialist has survived the previous few hilly stages or a GC contender succeeds here, we could have another change in race leadership.

Stage 6 looks set to be an unforgiving day of racing in Normandy. It’s a long stage at over 200 kilometres, has over 3,200 metres of climbing, including 9 categorised climbs. The final of these is a 700-metre-long drag averaging 10% to the finish line in Vire, Normandy.

On paper, it’s another stage for the puncheurs, but this could easily turn into an important stage for the GC riders, even if things stay together up until the final kicker to the finish line.

The iconic Mûr de Bretagne returns to the Tour for the first time since a very special day in 2021, where Mathieu van der Poel took his maiden grand tour stage win and went into the yellow jersey.

The climb will be the key feature of the stage, with the peloton set to tackle it twice in the final 20 kilometres, including the finish, just as they did back in 2021. Van der Poel attacked both times up the climb in 2021, but that shouldn’t be necessary for the stage win this year.

The climb stands at 2.2 kilometres at 6.2%, but has much steeper pitches, meaning that timing and intelligence will be just as important as strength in order to take the stage win.

After many hilly days in succession, stage 8 will be a relief to many, in particular the sprinters. It’s a flat profile beginning in Saint-Méen-Le Grand and heading out of Brittany and into Mayenne. According to Christian Prudhomme, the route for the most part is sheltered from the wind and is primed for a bunch sprint.

However, an interesting aspect of the stage is the kilometre-long false flat drag to the line, which may influence the type of sprint finish we see in Laval.

Tom Steels, now a sports director at Soudal Quick-Step, won the last stage that finished in Laval back in 1999 and will be hoping that his team's sprinter Tim Merlier can shine on this stage and follow in his footsteps. 

It’s not quite the thrilling profile you would expect to see for a Sunday stage, particularly as this is the second successive flat stage after Saturday’s stage 8.

For the second day in succession, there are also no categorised climbs, and therefore the race is primed for another sprint finish in Châteauroux, where Mark Cavendish (2008, 2011, and 2021) has won three stages of the Tour de France in the past.

Typically, this stage would mark the end of the first week, but one more stage remains before the rest day, and many riders will already have one eye on it whilst racing this flat stage 9.

The race continues onto its tenth stage without a rest day for the first time since 2019. The explanation for this is that the stage takes place on Bastille Day, France’s national holiday, a day that can not be missed in the Tour de France.

Consequently, expect fireworks on this fascinatingly designed stage in the Massif Central, a region which always delivers exciting racing at the Tour de France. There is hardly a metre of flat road packed into 163 kilometres and 4,400 metres of elevation gain, including seven second-categorised climbs.

The stage finishes on Le Mont-Dore, a 3.2 kilometre climb that averages a vicious 7.9%. Whether or not this is a stage for the breakaway, there is still likely to be GC action also. Will we see the first French hero on Bastille Day since 2017, when Warren Barguil won an epic short stage in Foix in the polka dot jersey?

This is a stage that you do not want to miss...

Beginning and finishing in the city of Toulouse, which has appeared in 28 editions previously, this stage has been profiled as flat and is true to form for the most part.

However, there is the short, steep Montée de Pech David climb, which is 0.9 kilometres at 9.1% inside the final 10 kilometres of the stage.

Will the presence of this climb be enough to entice riders to attack or even impact the sprinters and their trains ahead of the finish in “Avenue Cavendish” as it has been described by the race director?

Stage 12 features the first major summit finish of this year’s race, the renowned Hautacam climb situated in the Pyrenees. The race leader has won the stage atop the Hautacam on the previous two visits to the climb, Vincenzo Nibali and Jonas Vingegaard in 2014 and 2022, respectively.

With two time climbs as appetisers in the Col du Soulor and Col des Bordères, many riders will be suffering before they even reach the foot of the Hautacam. The Hautacam itself certainly isn’t a sight for sore eyes, with a length of 13.6 kilometres and a brutal average gradient of 7.8%. This climb will find any weakness in one’s armoury.

There could be a major shake-up in the general classification after a difficult stage like this.

The second individual time trial of the 2025 Tour de France is completely different to the first, as it is a mountain time trial up to the top of Peyragudes featuring the extremely steep finale up the ‘007’ altiport runway. Peyragudes features as a stage finish for the first time since stage 17 in 2022, where Tadej Pogačar in the white jersey beat race leader Jonas Vingegaard in a thrilling sprint up the steep ramp to the line. 

In total, the climb is 8.1 kilometres long and averages 7.5%, including the super steep ramp to the finish line. What makes the time trial even tougher is the fact that the riders will only have just under two kilometres to build momentum before they hit the foot of the Peyragudes climb.

A thorough and well-timed warm-up will be crucial as there’s no room to hide on an individual effort that is as savage as this.

When the Tour de France visits Pau, you know the Pyrenees are nearby. Pau is the third most visited location in Tour de France history, behind only Paris and Bordeaux. Once more, it will host the start of a crucial stage for the general classification contenders.

The stage features four very well-known climbs, including an ascent of the Col du Tourmalet (19km at 7.4%), Col d’Aspin (5km at 7.6%), Col de Peyresourde (7.2km at 7.9%), and a summit finish on Luchon-Superbagnères (12.4km at 7.5%).

The route is based on stage 14 from the 1986 edition, which was the penultimate time that a Tour de France stage finished atop Superbagnères and was won by Greg LeMond of La Vie Claire, who would carry the yellow jersey to Paris. Robert Millar also won atop Supebagnères three years later in 1989, which is one of the most iconic editions in Tour de France history, also won overall by LeMond.

This is a typical transition stage in the second week of the Tour de France, and takes place in the Occitanie region in the Southwest.

On paper, it’s a stage primed for a breakaway with plenty of climbing, but no major mountains that will swing things in favour of the pure climbers and the summit of the final climb comes with 52 kilometres remaining.

Therefore, a large variety of riders will fancy their chances on this type of stage, and we could see a major battle for the breakaway.

Montpellier has featured in 33 previous editions of the Tour de France, with the first coming back in 1930. Here, the city will host a stage that finishes atop one of the most iconic climbs in all of cycling. None other than the mighty Mont Ventoux.

Incidentally, Montpellier’s last stage start at the Tour was back in 2016 on the infamous stage that finished up Mont Ventoux, won by Thomas De Gendt, but remembered for Chris Froome running up the mountain in the yellow jersey.

Ventoux is iconic for numerous reasons, including the unique landscape, historical events in previous editions and the high exposure to wind near the top, along with the obviously savage distance of 19.5 kilometres and average gradient of 7.9%.

The traditional third week “flat” stage is a 161-kilometre route from Bollène to Valence in the Southeast and the Drôme region. If this stage were in the opening week of a grand tour, the odds of a bunch sprint are very likely.

However, at this stage of the race, it will be a case of which teams are fresh and strong enough to control the stage for a sprint. We have seen the breakaway thrive in many week 3 transition stages, and this could be another to add to the record.

It will be a tug of war between the sprint teams and the breakaway.

Stage 18 is the queen stage of the 2025 Tour de France, and it’s easy to understand why when you look at the race profile.

Beginning in Vif, the peloton will tackle three iconic climbs in the Alps, the Col du Glandon, Col de la Madeleine and the recently discovered Col de la Loze across 171 kilometres, featuring over 5,500 metres of climbing. This is set to be one of the toughest stages in recent Tour history.

Both the Col du Glandon (21.7km at 5.2%) and Col de la Madeleine (19.1km at 7.9%) are super long climbs with savage gradients throughout and take the riders over 2,000 metres above sea level.

Despite only making its Tour de France debut in 2020 and returning once since, in 2023, the Col de la Loze has established a reputation for being one of the toughest climbs in the Tour de France full stop.

In its previous two appearances, Miguel Ángel López and Felix Gall claimed the stage honours respectively, and the climb was the setting for Pogačar’s famous “I’m gone, I’m dead” moment in 2023.

The Col de la Loze will be slightly different this year as the riders reach Courchevel before the final four kilometres, which are set on a cycle track where Christian Prudhomme says that the route is just as irregular as in its previous appearances.

Another key factor of the climb is the altitude, as the summit is around 2,300 metres above sea level, and this will have a significant impact on the outcome of the stage.

This stage could prove to be most decisive in this year’s Tour de France.

The final summit finish of the 2025 Tour de France, and the last stage guaranteed to see key action amongst the general classification in a jam-packed climbing stage. Just under 4,800 metres of climbing in 130 kilometres is something that the riders will feel in their legs, especially being nearly three weeks deep.

Both the Col du Pré and Cormet de Roseland are within range for a potential long-range attack, but it’s nearly certain we will see action of the summit finish to La Plagne. The final summit finish of the 2025 Tour de France stands at 19.5 kilometres long with an average gradient of 7.2%.

Will the battle for the maillot jaune still be competitive enough at the start of the day for this stage to be one for the ages?

It’s an interesting design, to say the least, for stage 20 this year. Usually, this stage presents the final opportunity where riders can make a difference in the general classification. This is not to say that there won’t be decisive action in this stage, just that a large amount of the climbing comes within the first 60 kilometres and the stage doesn’t feature a major mountain test.

The final 60 kilometres include some tricky tests, with the final categorised climb being the Côte de Longeville. The climb is 3.4 kilometres at 5.5%, but it comes quite a way from the finish line in Pontarlier, with 24 kilometres remaining from the summit.

As the saying goes, the riders make the race, not the route, so there’s always potential for fireworks on stage 20 of the Tour de France.

The traditional final stage parade around the capital city is back after a year's hiatus, but this year there is a twist. To mark the 50th anniversary of this iconic finish, and inspired by the 2024 Olympic road race in Paris, which saw over 500,000 fans on the roadside, the Tour de France peloton will climb the Montmartre hill.

Whilst this stage has been a dead certainty to end up in a bunch sprint, three ascents of the Montmartre hill are likely to rip the traditional stage 21 script up this year. The climb is 1.1 kilometres long at 5.9% and with the final ascent coming 6 kilometres from the finish line, the Tour de France is still in play in all senses.

The champagne celebrations may have to be put on hold until after the stage this year, as we enter unknown territory on stage 21.