Tour de France 2025: Route Announcements

Homecoming

PARIS, France (October 29, 2024) — Christian Prudhomme revealed the route of the 2025 Tour de France in crisp detail at the Palais des Congrès de Paris this morning. It features glamorous summits such as Luchon-Superbagnères, the Mont Ventoux and the Col de la Loze, in the heights around Courchevel. Before these high-altitude showdowns, the main contenders for the yellow jersey will get two chances to turn the balance of power in their favour: a flat time trial around Caen and a mountain time trial at Peyragudes.

The 112th edition, which will start in Lille and take place entirely within the confines of France, will pay tribute to all-time French cycling greats, from Jean Robic and Louison Bobet to Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Bernard Thévenet and Laurent Fignon.

The 2025 edition will also mark the fiftieth anniversary of the polka-dot jersey, the best young rider classification and the first finish of the race on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Talk about colouring inside the lines! The unveiling of the Grand Départ Lille-Nord de France came in the wake of three editions that got the show on the road in Denmark, Spain and, most recently, Italy. The route of the 112th Tour de France will stretch for 3,320 kilometres without venturing beyond the borders of France, taking the peloton from the Esplanade du Champ de Mars in Lille in the inaugural stage, on 5 July, to the finish on 27 July, when a powerful sense of homecoming will sweep through the peloton as the riders barrel down the Champs-Élysées in Paris for the fiftieth time.

The milestone of turning fifty serves as a central theme, as the year 1975 marked both Bernard Thévenet’s victory ending Eddy Merckx’s reign, the debut of the polka-dot jersey in the Tour de France peloton, and the establishment of a young rider classification rewarded with the white jersey. The names that stand out from the illustrious annals of French cycling will also be present along the route in the shape of brushes with history in which the stars of the peloton will be eager to shine.

 

After a stint prepared in Région Hauts-de-France, where the opening salvo of the puncheur war will be fired in Boulogne-sur-Mer (stage 2), the competition will continue at the same ferocious pace in Normandy, with a stage win up for grabs in Jacques Anquetil’s home town of Rouen (stage 4). A trek through Norman Switzerland culminating in Vire will dispel any lingering doubts on the ability of the region to host a stage with a cumulative altitude gain of 3,500 metres (stage 6).

The peloton will roll through the Breton town of Yffiniac to mark 40 years since Bernard Hinault claimed his last victory, but the tribute will soon turn into a challenge with a double serving of the Côte de Mûr-de-Bretagne at the end of the day (stage 7). Right after that, the stage to Saint-Méen-le-Grand will be a blast from the past, harking back to the third consecutive victory of the local hero Louison Bobet, 70 years ago. The opening week will draw to a close on 14 July with a firework display on the leg-breaking terrain of south-central France, with a record seven category 2 climbs before the finish at the Le Mont-Dore ski resort, at the foot of the Puy de Sancy (stage 10).

The Massif central will be merely the gateway to the mountains, as a Pyrenean trilogy will quickly follow with a stage to Hautacam (stage 12), a mountain time trial leading to Peyragudes (stage 13) and, as the icing on the cake, the return to Luchon-Superbagnères (stage 14), held on a model of the course on which things started to go south for The Badger in his duel with Greg LeMond in the 1986 Tour de France.

Another climbing fest will come in Provence, where the cream of the climbing crop will clash for a prestigious win at the summit of the Mont Ventoux (stage 16), twelve years after the last stage finish at the observatory. However, the fight for the yellow jersey will rage on in the Alps. An altitude gain of 5,500 metres awaits the peloton on the road to the Col de la Loze, which will be tackled head-on from Courchevel this time round (stage 18). If the race has not yet been decided by then, there will be a new opportunity to tip the scales in the stage to La Plagne (stage 19), at the end of an ascent where Laurent Fignon struck hard in 1984 and 1987. The slopes of the Jura on the road to Pontarlier (stage 20) are unlikely to shake up the overall podium, as is the returning finale on the Champs-Élysées, which will set up a rematch between the winners and losers of the probable sprints in Dunkirk (stage 3), Laval (stage 8), Châteauroux  (stage 9), Toulouse (stage 11) and Valence (stage 17).

STAGE	TYPE	DATE	START AND FINISH	DISTANCE
1	Flat	05 Jul 2025	Lille Métropole > Lille Métropole	185 KM
2	Hilly	06 Jul 2025	Lauwin-Planque > Boulogne-sur-Mer	212 KM
3	Flat	07 Jul 2025	Valenciennes > Dunkerque	178 KM
4	Hilly	08 Jul 2025	Amiens Métropole > Rouen	173 KM
5	Individual Time-Trial	09 Jul 2025	Caen > Caen	33 KM
6	Hilly	10 Jul 2025	Bayeux > Vire Normandie	201 KM
7	Hilly	11 Jul 2025	Saint-Malo > Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan	194 KM
8	Flat	12 Jul 2025	Saint-Méen-le-Grand > Laval Espace Mayenne	174 KM
9	Flat	13 Jul 2025	Chinon > Châteauroux	170 KM
10	Mountain	14 Jul 2025	Ennezat > Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy	163 KM
–	Rest Day	15 Jul 2025	Toulouse
11	Flat	16 Jul 2025	Toulouse > Toulouse	154 KM
12	Mountain	17 Jul 2025	Auch > Hautacam	181 KM
13	Individual Time-Trial	18 Jul 2025	Loudenvielle > Peyragudes	11 KM
14	Mountain	19 Jul 2025	Pau > Luchon-Superbagnères	183 KM
15	Hilly	20 Jul 2025	Muret > Carcassonne	169 KM
–	Rest Day	21 Jul 2025	Montpellier
16	Mountain	22 Jul 2025	Montpellier > Mont Ventoux	172 KM
17	Flat	23 Jul 2025	Bollène > Valence	161 KM
18	Mountain	24 Jul 2025	Vif > Courchevel Col de la Loze	171 KM
19	Mountain	25 Jul 2025	Albertville > La Plagne	130 KM
20	Hilly	26 Jul 2025	Nantua > Pontarlier	185 KM
21	Flat	27 Jul 2025	Mantes-la-Ville > Paris Champs-Élysées	120 KM

Race in Focus

ROUTE

STAGES

NEW STAGE TOWNS

From a total of 39, 8 new stage towns/locations will be joining the Tour club:

• Lauwin-Planque (start of stage 2)
• Bayeux (start of stage 6)
• Chinon (start of stage 9)
• Ennezat (start of stage 10)
• Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy (finish of stage 10)
• Bollène (start of stage 17)
• Vif (start of stage 18)
• Mantes-la-Ville (start of stage 21)  

MOUNTAINS

• This 112th edition will feature climbs and summits in the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Jura.
• The Col de la Loze (2,304m) will be the highest point of the 2025 Tour. For the first time, the climb will tackled via its eastern flank from Courchevel.  
• 39 years ago in 1986 – that was the last time a Pau > Luchon-Superbagnères stage appeared on the Tour route. 

ELEVATION GAIN

• The total vertical gain during the 2025 Tour de France will be 51,550m. 

2 TIME TRIALS

• The 5th stage, Caen > Caen (33km), will provide ideal terrain for rouleurs who specialise in solo efforts. The terrain and gradients will be quite different on stage 13’s 11km TT between and Peyragudes 

TIME BONUSES

• Time bonuses will be awarded at the finish of each stage, with 10, 6 and 4 seconds awarded to the first, second and third riders, respectively. 

RIDERS

• 176 riders representing 22 teams will line up for the start on Saturday 5th July. 

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The Diagonal of Queens

The route of the 4th edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – held for the first time over 9 days from 26 July to 3 August – was unveiled at the Palais des Congrès in Paris by its director Marion Rousse.

The Grand Départ will take place in Brittany, launching the peloton on a route that takes in the Alps via the Massif Central. After the breathtaking finale at Alpe d’Huez last July, the riders have a crucial meet at the finish on the Col de la Madeleine, but it could be all to play for on the final day as they approach the resort of Châtel, in the heart of the Portes du Soleil.

On 2 August thousands of cyclists will be able to take part in the first edition of L’Étape du Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift modelled on L’Étape du Tour de France, the 33rd edition of which will be held on 20 July between Albertville and La Plagne. The race will involve a more accessible route between Chambéry and the Col de la Madeleine, after which participants will get the chance to watch the champions battle it out.

A wide diagonal stretches across the map of France, with over 1,000 kilometres separating Brest from the Alpine resort of Châtel as the crow flies, involving a total of 1,165 kilometres of pedalling for the riders, who will be competing for the first time over nine days in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. The peloton kicks off its Brittany leg in the Morbihan, with a stage between Vannes and Plumelec; the punchers who came out on top at the côte de Cadoudal in the Grand Prix du Morbihan will be familiar with this stage’s finish.

The following day in Finistère, racers will need explosive power if they want to get ahead in Quimper, on the climb where Peter Sagan won in 2018. The 2025 route then visits sprinting country in Angers (stage 3) and Poitiers (stage 4), before offering up increasingly demanding terrain in the Creuse on the way to Guéret (stage 5) and upping the ante further in the Puy-de-Dôme department as riders’ legs are tested on the Col du Béal and Col du Chansert climbs (stage 6).

After the Massif Central, a gradual approach to the Alps between Bourg-en-Bresse and Chambéry (stage 7) may well offer the chance for a breakaway, as long as riders are able to get over the Col du Granier without letting up. But a battle between the favourites for the Yellow Jersey on the Queen Stage is a much more realistic prospect, with a Tour first finish on the Col de la Madeleine (stage 8), 2,000 metres above sea level and at the end of a savage 18.6km climb with an average gradient of 8.1%.

Recent history teaches us that nothing is decided until the final stage. And this warning is all the more valid given that during the final 124 kilometres between Praz-sur-Arly and Châtel (stage 9), the champion in yellow will have to hold off her rivals as she climbs the Col de Joux-Plane, keeping her composure as she plunges down to Morzine before entering the final stretch.

Race in Focus

1

• Clermont-Ferrand, will be the first city to welcome the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on two occasions after hosting the Grand Départ in 2023.

3

• The race’s categorised climbs will be spread over three massifs: the armoricanMassif, the Massifcentral and theAlps.

5

• Five stages will take place entirely within a single department: the 1st (Morbihan), 2nd (Finistère), 6th (Puy-de-Dôme), 8th (Savoie) and 9th (Haute-Savoie).

9

• The number of stages. There are 2 flat, 2 medium mountain, 2 high mountain and 3 hilly stages.

15

• The fifteen departments the peloton will race in are Morbihan, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Vienne, Indre, Haute-Vienne, Creuse, Puy-de-Dôme, Ain, Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie (as well as 4 regions: Bretagne, Pays de la Loire, Nouvelle Aquitaine, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

154

• The number of riders at the start, comprising 22 teams of 7 racers each.

166

• In kilometres, the length of the longest stage, the 5th, between Chasseneuil-duPoitou Futuroscope and Guéret.

1,165

• In kilometres, the total distance of this 4th edition, a record high.

2,000

• In metres, the altitude of the Col de laMadeleine, the highest point of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, which features on stage 8.

3,490

• In metres, the vertical gain on stage 8, which will feature the toughest climbs during this 4th edition of the race

17,240

• In metres, the total vertical gain during the race, beating the previous record.

Double delight for L’Étape

On 20 July 2025, the 33rd edition of L’Étape du Tour de France will tackle the roads of stage 19 of the Tour de France between Albertville and La Plagne. The course (131 km and an altitude gain of 4,500 m) features five mountain passes, including the gruelling Col du Pré, the Cormet de Roselend and the summit finish atop La Plagne. It promises a unique day for the 16,000 expected cyclosportives.

Pre-registration opens on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, and registrations will begin on November 6, 2024, at 4 PM on time to.

New for 2025: the first edition of L’Étape du Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will take place on August 2, 2025, between Chambéry and the Col de la Madeleine.