Cycling
Discover the route for the Tour de France 2025
July will see the traditional start of the biggest bike race of them all – the Tour de France. Every year the race sees changes to the route, so here's an overview of the course for the iconic event.
The Tour de France 2025 is getting close. This year, the most famous and prestigious race in road cycling will start in Lille on Saturday, July 5, and wind through 21 stages before finishing on the Champs-Élysées in Paris as usual.
Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe will be taking part for the second year running and team leader Primož Roglič will line-up for the start in Lille after opting to race the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double this year, instead of defending his Vuelta a España title in August. After being forced to retire from the Tour in 2021, 2022 and 2024, the Slovenian - a four-time winner of the Vuelta - is determined to shake things up among the race favourites like defending champion Tadej Pogačar, two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard, former world champion Remco Evenepoel and legendary Belgian all-rounder Wout van Aert.
The official route of the Tour de France 2025
© Tour de France
01
Stage 1 to Stage 4: A Lille departure and gusty days on the coast
After starting in Italy for 2024's race, the Tour de France is returning to its roots this year and will set off from the northern city of Lille, running the opening four stages through the Hauts-de-France region, which are mostly flat. While the sprinters will be in the spotlight, the contenders for the King of the Mountains jersey could also make a statement right from the start on the short but steep Côtes de Cassel and Mont Noir on the first stage.
Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe will be riding in support of Primož Roglič
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
The second stage from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer also features a couple of leg-burning hills on the Côte de Saint-Etienne-au-Mont (11 percent), followed by the Côte d'Outreau (8.8percent). The following two stages are much flatter, but could become significantly more challenging due to notoriously gusty winds along the northern French coast.
- Stage 1: Saturday, July 5, Lille to Lille - 185km - flat
- Stage 2: Sunday, July 6, Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer - 212km - hilly
- Stage 3: Monday, July 7, Valenciennes to Dunkirk - 178km - flat
- Stage 4: Tuesday, July 8, Amiens to Rouen - 173km - hilly
02
Stage 5 to Stage 9: The first TT and punchy stages in the West
The first ITT in the Tour de France is always an exciting moment
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
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Before the Tour de France reaches the Pyrenees and the first major mountain stages, the peloton will cross the country through western France. The first individual time trial (ITT) will take place on July 9 in Caen on a flat, wide roads - perfect conditions for time trial specialists to shine.
The following day, the riders will start in Normandy at Bayeux and take on 201km of hilly terrain that will take them to Vire. The route then continues along the country's west coast, heading to Brittany for Stage 7, where the Tour's punchier riders will fight for valuable seconds in the overall classification again, before Stage and Stage 9 will provide the setting for explosive final sprints.
- Stage 5: Wednesday, July 9, Caen to Caen - 33km - individual time trial
- Stage 6: Thursday, July 10, Bayeux to Vire - 201km - hilly
- Stage 7: Friday, July 11, Saint-Malo to Mûr-de-Bretagne-Guerlédan - 194km - hilly
- Stage 8: Saturday, July 12, Saint-Méen-Le-Grand to Laval Espace Mayenne - 174km - flat
- Stage 9: Sunday, July 13, Chinon to Châteauroux - 170km - flat
03
Stage 10 to Stage 14: The mountain stages arrive
Stage 10 is where the serious challenges begin in the Tour de France 2025. The first mountain stages take the peloton through the Massif Central, with Stage 10 seeing riders start in Ennezat and alternate between climbs and descents over 163km. The beautiful landscapes of the Auvergne will contrast with the difficulty of the terrain on which the GC favourites should excel.
The first mountain stages show who's really in the GC hunt
© Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool
After a rather quiet Stage 11 around Toulouse (despite a 20 percent climb that might sort out the peloton, the teams make their way into the Pyrenees, where Stage 12 begins with flat terrain for around 100km before the riders tackle the famous 16.3km climb up to Hautacam where they'll gain 1,209m. The second individual time trial of the Tour follows on Stage 13 and it's a feared mountain TT where riders have to tackle an 8km ramp with an average gradient of 7.9 percent. It's a decisive day that should be marked in the calendar.
The following day, Stage 14, the peloton will contest an old classic of the Tour de France, starting in Pau and leads over four summits that includes the legendary Col du Tourmalet and finishes on the summit of the 12.4km climb to Luchon-Superbagnères – a finish that's not been part of the Tour since 1989.
- Stage 10: Monday, July 14, Ennezat to Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy - 163km - mountains
- Stage 11: Wednesday, July 16, Toulouse to Toulouse - 154km - flat
- Stage 12: Thursday July 17, Auch to Hautacam - 181km - mountains
- Stage 13: Friday, July 18, Loudenvielle to Peyragudes - 11km - individual time trial
- Stage 14: Saturday, July 19, Pau to Luchon-Superbagnères - 183km - mountains
04
Stage 15 to Stage 21: Unmissable alpine climbs lead to Paris
After the stages in the Pyrenees, it's off to the Alps for the peloton. Sprinters will have a chance on Stage 15 from Muret to Carcassonne before the world's best climbers take on Mont Ventoux on Stage 16, where the barren, legendary mountain will be the final of the stage.
Riders' legs can recover a little on the flat Stage 17 from Bollène to Valence, although strong gusting winds could be a spanner in the works, while Stage 18 promises quite a show of climbing. The peloton starts in Vif and tackles a series of climbs including the the Col du Glandon and the Col de la Madeleine, before finishing on the legendary Col de la Loze up to Courchevel and the highest point of this year's Tour at 2,304m.
Jai Hindley climbs the Col du Noyer during the 2024 Tour
© Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool
Stage 19 will be the final high-mountain challenge and although at 130km, the route from Albertville to La Plagne is relatively short, it's packed with climbs and descents that give virtually no rest that could produce and explosive day in the General Classification battle. Stage 20 takes the peloton back towards the North, with a bumpy 185km from Nantua to Pontarlier where breakaway riders are expected to take center stage before the grand finale of Stage 21 on Paris's beloved Champs-Élysées. After the race's finish in Nice last year to accommodate the Paris Games, the sprinters will once again be fighting for victory in front of the Arc de Triomphe as the Maillot Jaune rides home to celebrate ultimate glory.
- Stage 15: Sunday, July 20, Muret to Carcassonne - 169km - hilly
- Stage 16: Tuesday, July 20, Montpellier to Mont Ventoux - 172km - mountains
- Stage 17: Wednesday, July 23, Bollène to Valence - 161km - flat
- Stage 18: Thursday, July 24, Vif to Col de la Loze de Courchevel - 171km - mountains
- Stage 19: Friday, July 25, Albertville to La Plagne - 130km - mountains
- Stage 20: Saturday, July 26, Nantua to Pontarlier - 185km - hilly
- Stage 21: Sunday, July 27, Mantes-la-Ville to the Champs-Élysées in Paris - 120km - flat
6 min
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