Tour de France 2025: Stage guide for the all-French 112th edition - six summit finishes and new-look finale in Paris as Tadej Pogacar eyes yellow
Updated 04/07/2025 at 15:47 GMT+1
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For the first time in five years, the Tour de France takes place entirely on French soil over a challenging 3,339km route that includes no fewer than six summit finishes. It may take 10 stages for the first of those summit finishes to land, but a lumpy opening week, two time trials and a total of 52,500m of climbing should play host to a sumptuous battle for the yellow jersey.
Thomas feeling ‘apprehensive’ and ‘nervous’ ahead of Tour de France
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Six potential sprints, six lumpy stages for the puncheurs, two time trials and six summit finishes – including the return of Mont Ventoux and a first venture up the eastern side of the Col de la Loze – makes for a varied and highly demanding route for the 2025 Tour de France.
Every moment of the 112th edition of the Tour is live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Not since the Covid-ravaged 2020 edition has a Tour taken place entirely on French soil – and what this July’s race may lack in foreign forays, it more than makes up for in summit showdowns, Classics-style unpredictable days in the saddle, and two wholly different individual time trials.
And if all those uphill finales will have fans fearing – or relishing – a Tadej Pogacar whitewash, it’s worth remembering that the route includes several locations where the Slovenian has struggled before, notably the climb to Hautacam and the interminable Col de la Loze.
Fans of bunch sprints may be disappointed with at most only six stages likely to conclude in a group gallop, with even the final traditional ride into Paris getting a sprucing up with the addition of three ascents of the Butte de Montmartre.
Meanwhile, the only time bonuses this year come at the finish, where the top three riders will pocket 10-6-4 seconds in the battle for the maillot jaune.
Stage 1 – Saturday, July 5, Lille to Lille – 184km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 1 profile
Image credit: ASO
There may be a few lumps along the way of the Tour curtain-raiser, but a flat run-in and the desire of too many teams should ensure that it is a sprinter – for the first time since 2020 – who dons the first yellow jersey after a fast finish in Lille. Three Cat. 4 climbs means we will have a rider in polka dots, too.
Stage 2 – Sunday, July 6, Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer – 209km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 2 profile
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While the riders won’t reach 200m above sea level all day, the roads are relentlessly up-and-down, with three spiky climbs in the last 30km – plus a ramped finale in Boulogne – making this a day that the Peter Sagans and Julian Alaphilippes of old would relish. The longest stage of the race and only one of two that exceeds 200km.
Stage 3 – Monday, July 7, Valenciennes to Dunkerque – 178km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 3 profile
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The riders crest the summit of the gentle Cat. 4 climb of Mont Cassel with 30km remaining, so there will be ample time for any struggling sprinters to return to the fold ahead of what is almost guaranteed to be a bunch kick in Dunkirk – especially with so few options for the fast-men in this puncheur’s paradise of an opening week.
Stage 4 – Tuesday, July 8, Amiens to Rouen – 174km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 4 profile
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The deliciously named Cote Jacques Anquetil – where the five-time champion used to train in the shadow of his own chateau – kicks off a frantic final third of racing that includes all of the day’s five categorised climbs.
The last of these uphill tests may only be 800m long, but the 10.6% gradient of the Rampe Saint-Hilaire will be the final nail in the coffin of any sprinters who have managed to hold on thus far.
A showdown between the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Thibau Nys is possible on the uphill finish in Rouen.
Stage 5 – Wednesday, July 9, Caen to Caen – 33km TT
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 5 profile
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If Remco Evenepoel wants to build on his third-place finish in Paris last year, then this is one of the few days when he can make the difference.
The double Olympic champion was in a different league against the clock in the Dauphine, where Jonas Vingegaard also stole a (very temporary) march on Pogacar.
Flat and never rising above 62m, this 33km race of truth is one for the pure specialists and should be a big-ring battle between Vingegaard, Filippo Ganna and that man Evenepoel.
Stage 6 – Thursday, July 10, Bayeux to Vire Normandie – 202km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 6 profile
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Tour de France route planner Thierry Gouvenou pays homage to his hometown of Vire Normandie with an intriguing Ardennes-style stage that crams in six categorised climbs and 3,550m of vertical gain on the lumpy roads of Normandy.
It starts in Kevin Vauquelin’s backyard at Bayeux and ends in the town twinned with Totnes. This one will pack more of a punch than even the strongest of Calvadoses, the local tipple.
Stage 7 – Friday, July 11, Saint-Malo to Mur-de-Bretagne – 197km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 7 profile
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It is yet more deja-vu on the Tour with the fourth undulating-stage-with-a-punchy-finale of the opening week.
This one is probably the pick of the bunch, with the same double ascent at Mur-de-Bretagne as the one where Van der Poel snared the yellow jersey in 2021. Pogacar was second that day ahead of Primoz Roglic – will the same three be in the mix again four years later?
Stage 8 – Saturday, July 12, Saint-Meen-le-Grand to Laval – 171km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 8 profile
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Another concession to the sprinters – although the finish in Laval is slightly uphill so will suit debutant Jonathan Milan, as well as last year’s green jersey, Biniam Girmay, to a tee.
The decaffeinated gradients of a short climb 16km from the finish shouldn’t be enough to despatch any of the fastmen before the finale.
Stage 9 – Sunday, July 13, Chinon to Chateauroux – 174km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 9 profile
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The only thing rarer than a Tour de France weekend stage without any significant climb is, well, two of them.
The second of likely back-to-back bunch sprints plays out in Mark Cavendish’s old stomping ground of Chateauroux, where the Manx Missile won in 2008, 2011 and 2021. The only jeopardy could come from potential splits on exposed roads that are no strangers to buffeting crosswinds.
In honour of the Tour's leading stage winner, Chateauroux has been renamed Cavendish City for the race's visit.
Stage 10 – Monday, July 14, Ennezat to Mont-Dore – 165km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 10 profile
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As Bastille Day falls on the second Monday of the race, the usual rest day has dropped back to Tuesday – and the profile for this Quatorze Juillet bonanza more than makes up for the sleepy sprint stages over the second weekend.
No fewer than eight categorised climbs – all but one Cat. 2 tests – pepper the route as the riders head into the Massif Central for a stage inspired by the training rides of local veteran Romain Bardet.
The finale takes place on the Puy de Sancy (3.3km at 8%) for the first of the race’s six summit finishes, where we will either see a GC battle deluxe or a breakaway going the distance; perhaps both.
With a maximum 37 KOM points up for grabs, too, we should also see some movement in the polka dot jersey competition on a day that sees the riders amass the best part of 5,000m of climbing.
Stage 11 – Wednesday, July 16, Toulouse to Toulouse – 157km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 11 profile
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After a rest day in Toulouse, we have a stage that both starts and finishes in the same "pink city" renowned for its rose-coloured 'foraine' bricks. Put simply, this one may or may not finish with a bunch sprint.
Four categorised climbs in the last third could damage the chances of many of the fast men – especially as the last peak hits 12.4%.
But a flat 8km run into Toulouse could see some sprinters battle back. That said, given its place after the rest day, plus those uphill tests, it’s more likely we see the breakaway – or Pogacar – go the distance.
Stage 12 – Thursday, July 17, Auch to Hautacam – 181km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 12 profile
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Given that Pogacar’s major ouch-moment from 2022 came on the climb to Hautacam, it’s apt that the race’s return to that same Pyreneean climb starts in Auch.
The Slovenian conceded over a minute to his Danish rival on the 13.8km long 7.8% climb to all but relinquish his hopes of winning a third successive Tour.
Three years on – with Pogacar now 3-2 up in his yo-yoing head-to-head with Vingegaard – the world champion has the chance to make amends on what is the first major summit showdown of the 2025 race.
Stage 13 – Friday, July 18, Loudenvielle to Peyragudes – 10.9km TT
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 13 profile
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There’s good reason to include this as the Tour’s seventh summit finish, given it is just that – albeit tackled individually.
After the largely pan-flat time trial in Caen in the opening week comes this 10.9km race of truth which, after a few kilometres to blow off the cobwebs, is basically a timed effort up the Col de Peyragudes (8km at 7.9%).
A largely flat opening 4km is perhaps long enough to raise the question of whether or not riders should swap bikes at the foot of the climb.
The finish plays out on the brutal ramp of the Altiport de Peyresourde, where Pogacar pipped Vingegaard in 2022 but was unable to eat into his Danish’s rival GC lead. An increased time cut to 33% will be music to the ears of 66% of the peloton.
Stage 14 – Saturday, July 19, Pau to Superbagneres – 183km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 14 profile
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For the first time in 39 years, the peloton will ride from Pau to Superbagneres in what is a re-run of Stage 13 of the 1986 Tour, when Greg LeMond came of age in his quest for yellow.
The American’s solo win in Superbagneres saw him come within 40-seconds of the yellow jersey of his La Vie Claire team-mate Bernard Hinault, whom he trailed by over five minutes just 24 hours earlier. We all know what happened next.
It is a sign of what is still in store in the final week that a stage featuring the holy trinity of the Tourmalet-Aspin-Peyresourde and the best part of 5,000m of climbing may not be the queen stage of the 2025 Tour.
Stage 15 – Sunday, July 20, Muret to Carcassonne – 169km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 15 profile
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It is a shame Thomas De Gendt has retired because the Belgian breakaway specialist would have loved this intriguing test.
Three climbs – including one that hits double digits – are followed by a lumpy plateau, a long descent and a flat finish in Carcassonne.
A lot will depend on how the teams of the sprinters want to play this – because a bunch gallop is not beyond the realms of plausibility on the eve of the second rest day.
Stage 16 – Tuesday, July 22, Montpellier to Mont Ventoux – 172km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 16 profile
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The Giant of Provence returns for the first time since 2016, when the aforementioned De Gendt took the spoils on the shortened stage to Chalet Reynard (the day Chris Froome did a bit of running). This time round, the Tour should go right to the top for a first summit finish since Froome won in 2013.
Of course, the race visited Ventoux twice in the same stage in 2021, when Wout van Aert soloed to glory in the valley at Malaucene.
In 2025, the riders will have a flat 155km to recharge the batteries after the rest day. Then it is each man to his own on the legendary 15.7km climb from Bedoin, which has an average gradient of 8.8% as it rises to 1,910m in the heart of Provence.
Stage 17 – Wednesday, July 23, Bollene to Valence – 160km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 17 profile
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Two climbs either side of the midpoint in this transitional stage will entice the usual breakaway fodder but may not be enough to stop the sprinters stealing the limelight in Valence.
With the final stage in Paris hillier than usual, this could be the last chance for the sprinters.
Stage 18 – Thursday, July 24, Vif to Col de la Loze – 172km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 18 profile
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With a total of 5,500m of vertical gain, the queen stage of the 112th edition of the Tour is this tortuous affair that slaps the riders with the gargantuan Glandon (21.7km at 5.1%) and mighty Madeleine (19.2km at 7.9%) before tagging on a showdown on a third HC climb that is – somehow – both longer and steeper than what’s gone before.
Already a firm fan favourite after wins from Miguel Angel Lopez in 2020 and (down in Courchevel) Felix Gall in 2023, the Col de la Loze returns for a third outing, but this time the highest point of the race is tackled from the eastern slope.
The final climb is perhaps slightly less severe than the western approach, although the lofty summit remains 2,304m high and reachable only by the highest cycle path in Europe.
Stage 19 – Friday, July 25, Albertville to La Plagne – 130km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 19 profile
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If Thursday’s stage wasn’t enough, then this relatively short test shoehorns five climbs – two of which hors categorie – into just under 130km of relentless Alpine pedalling purgatory.
The finish – for only the fifth time in Tour history and the first since 2002 – plays out on the climb to La Plagne on a 19km climb that rises at a steady gradient of around 7% after a whopping 4,550m of altitude gain.
The road up to the ski resort is not the most beautiful, but Tour aesthetes will get their fix with the charming Col du Pre, which follows the lush Col des Saisies in what could be a tense opening half to the stage where the GC battle could be turned on its head.
Stage 20 – Saturday, July 26, Nantua to Pontarlier – 184km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 20 profile
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There’s been a growing trend to eschew a massive summit finish in the high mountains on the penultimate stage of the Tour in recent years.
After three time trials in succession, we had Pogacar’s win in the Vosges in 2023 and his victory on the Col de la Couillole in the Alpes Maritimes in 2024.
In fact, you have to go back to Vincenzo Nibali’s win at Val Thorens six years ago for a proper mountain showdown – and that was shortened to 60km on account of landslides.
This year’s final GC showdown plays out in the Jura on a route that is more ambush and breakaway territory than a battleground for yellow.
There may only be four lower-category climbs on the agenda, but the road is relentlessly up-and-down, with 2,900m of climbing before a somewhat subdued flat run into Pontarlier.
Time will tell if the gamble pays off – on paper, it looks like an intriguing stage that could light up the second week of a Tour, but perhaps not Stage 20.
The drama could be huge as riders battle to save their Tour, but it is unlikely it will have a large bearing on the outcome of the race.
Stage 21 – Sunday, July 27, Mantes-la-Ville to Paris – 132km
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Tour de France 2025 Stage 21 profile
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After the Olympic Games put paid to last year’s finale in Paris, the race returns to the City of Light for a final-day showdown on the Champs-Elysees with a twist.
Indeed, the unforgettable scenes of the Olympic peloton riding up and down the Butte de Montmartre and past the Basilica de Sacre-Coeur have proved too much for the Tour route planners to ignore.
The upshot of the success of the Olympics is a final stage that blends the Summer Games with the traditional Champs-Elysees Tour showdown, with the riders following four laps of the usual city-centre circuit with three loops up to Montmartre and back.
It remains to be seen if a rider like Remco Evenepoel can solo to glory as the Belgian did in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at Paris 2024, or if things come back together for a reduced sprint on the Champs-Elysees.
Either way, it should be the most eagerly-anticipated final stages in the Tour’s recent history – certainly since the infamous time trial in 1989.
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Tour de France 2025 route map
Image credit: From Official Website
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