Tour de France Week 2 route guide: Mountains, sprint battles and key stages to watch

From the steep roads around Le Lioran to the summit finish at Plateau de Solaison, the second week carries significance well beyond the race for yellow.

The overall lead may look settled for now with Tadej Pogacar's (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 2.42 minute lead over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), but the podium is not. Second and third place remain in play, and the mountain stages in the second week offer repeated chances to take time.

There is plenty at stake elsewhere too. Stages 11 and 12 could prove crucial in the green jersey contest between Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team), and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

In the Massif Central, the Vosges and on the road to Solaison, the battle for the polka dot jersey should intensify as more climbing points come into play.

With three demanding mountain stages, two opportunities for the sprinters and a long, unpredictable day to Belfort, week two could reshape several classifications before the next rest day.

After a rest day in the Cantal, the Tour resumes on Bastille Day with an arduous run into the Massif Central, where the effects of the 3,900m of climbing could well be amplified by the stifling heat so typical in these parts in mid-July.

The bulk of the climbing is also packed tightly into the second half of the stage, which underlines the difficulty of the finale. The Massif Central doesn’t boast the mammoth passes of the Alps and the Pyrenees, but it exacts a toll through sheer attrition.

The Col de la Griffoul (5.9km at 6.7%), Col de Prat de Bouc (3.2km at 5.8%) and Côte de Murat (6.6km at 4.4%) are the preamble to what should be a dramatic finale. The Puy Mary – aka the Pas de Peyrol – climbs for 7.8km at 6%, with a wickedly steep upper section, and it’s followed immediately by the Col de Pertus (4.4km long at 8.5%), which comes just 14km from the line.

The short, sharp Col de Font de Cère comes just before the finish, and the road kicks up once again at Le Lioran. Jonas Vingegaard famously caught and beat Tadej Pogacar on this finale in 2024, and it’s no surprise that ASO have opted to revisit that terrain so quickly. 

Key moment: The Col de Pertus offers the most obvious launchpad for an attack among the overall contenders.

Last July, technical director Thierry Gouvenou suggested that sprint stages were an endangered species in the Tour due to the way sprinters’ team bolted down the race on flat days to ensure a mass finish.

Despite that warning, the sprinters have their chances – albeit well spread out – on this Tour, and they won’t want to waste this opportunity on the road to Nevers. Although there is 1,800m of climbing on the agenda, none of it is particularly demanding, with the main obstacle coming on the Côte de Billy-Chévannes (1.5km at 6%) with a touch under 40km to go.

The sprinters will expect to be the fore once again as the race roars into Nevers. 

Key moment: The Côte de Billy Chévannes could give the breakaway hope, but the long run to the finish favours the sprint teams.

The day starts on the former Formula 1 circuit at Magny Cours and it’s hard to shake off the sense that this is another stage destined to fall to the fastest men in the peloton. The run east back across the Loire towards Chalon-sur-Saône is a largely flat one, and there should still be a solid coalition of sprinters’ teams eager to control affairs.

That said, teams still with nothing to show from their Tour will be growing increasingly desperate, and some optimistic escapees will hope the late climb of the Côte de Montagny-lès-Buxy (2.6km at 3.9%) can derail at least some of the sprint trains. 

With almost 20km between the climb and the finish, however, the sprinters should have ample time to get themselves organised and fight out the win.

Key moment: The final climb (Côte de Montagny-lès-Buxy) could disrupt the chase briefly, although the sprinters should still have enough road to regain control.

The Tour’s only stage over 200km in length brings the race into the Vosges, but only after a largely flat run past Besançon and Thibaut Pinot’s hometown of Mélisey. As ever at this point in the Tour, there will be a scramble for the early break, and its composition will determine whether it’s given the leeway to go the distance.

The terrain grows more arduous in the final phase of the stage, with the Col des Croix (5.4km at 4.9%) followed quickly by the venerable Ballon d’Alsace, which was the first real mountain tackled in the history of the Tour back in 1904.

The climb is 8.7km at an average of 6.9% with stretches that graze 9%. Those kinds of gradients might tempt a GC man onto the offensive, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the summit is still some 30km from the finish in Belfort. The break will fancy its chances.

Key moment: The Ballon d’Alsace should decide the stage, particularly if a strong group of climbers has made the early escape.

When Le Markstein featured on the final weekend in 2023, the hope was that it would see the fight for the yellow jersey go down to the wire, but Jonas Vingegaard’s knock-out blow on the Col de la Loze had already put the race far beyond Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian sprinted to the stage win, but the day is remembered for the outpouring of emotion as Thibaut Pinot bade an attacking farewell to the Tour.

This time out, the trek through the Vosges comes with more than a week of the Tour still to go and the race should still be in the balance by this point. Pogacar and Vingegaard – and any third man in the GC contest – will be primed for this tough day, which features 3,800m of climbing slung across seven ascents.

The Grand Ballon (21.5-km) is first up, followed by the Col du Page (9.8km at 4.7%) and the Ballon d’Alsace (8.7km at 6.9%). After that softening-up process, the race tackles four more ascents in the last 60km, with the Col du Schirm and Col du Hundsruck preceding a two-part final climb.

The ascent to Geishouse (10.9km at 7.3%), which features sustained pitches at 9%, is followed quickly by the Col du Haag (11.2km at 7.3%). The steep final mile of that ascent is more than 10% and there are just over 5km from the summit along the ridge to the finish at Le Markstein. 

Key moment: The final kilometre of the Col du Haag is the clearest place for the leading contenders to make the difference.

When Christian Prudhomme revealed the route last October, he spoke of a Tour designed to be “in crescendo.” The slow-burning flame grows rather hotter on stage 15, which brings the race from the Jura into the Massif des Bornes for a new summit finish at Plateau de Solaison.

There is some 4,700m of total climbing on the agenda, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that the real showdown will be saved for the stiff final climb, which took its bow in pro cycling at the Dauphiné back in 2022.

The gentle but long Col de la Savine and Côte de Doppe are followed by some rolling terrain and the more demanding Col de la Croisette (7.6km at 8.8%), but the yellow jersey group should be together come the foot of Plateau de Solaison (11.6km at 8.9%). 

The winnowing process will begin right at the bottom, with long sections at 11% sure to burn off all but the strongest riders. The gradient doesn’t ease off much from there. Jonas Vingegaard, winner in 2022, will hope he can lay a glove on Pogacar here, but it won’t be straightforward. 

Key moment: The steep opening section of Plateau de Solaison could isolate the favourites before the decisive attacks begin.