le Tour de France, 2025

5 July - 27July, 2024

vertiginously hilly, then relentless climbs

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daily : 'vision' of the day

Stage 9 : New sprint in Châteauroux?

Except for the possible wind and the heat, no difficulties are expected this Sunday between Chinon and Châteauroux. Milan wants to repeat, Merlier wants his revenge.

After Jonathan Milan's success on Saturday in Laval, the ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday is still in the sprinters' hands, between Chinon and Châteauroux, where Briton Mark Cavendish won three times!

The heat is expected to be there once again, with temperatures of over 30°C expected in the shade, with possible thunderstorms at the finish of this flat 171 km stage.

The wind could play a role in the finale, which features several changes of direction. "But I don't think the sprint teams will miss this important event for them," emphasizes Thierry Gouvenou, the Tour de France's route planner. But this may be the last guaranteed bunch sprint, as future opportunities look more uncertain.

This will be the fifth time that a stage of the Grande Boucle has arrived in Châteauroux, and the first four have not escaped the "big thighs." In 1998, Italian Mario Cipollini opened the ball before Mark Cavendish entered the fray for three successes in 2008, 2011, and 2021.

The favorites: Merlier out for revenge?

In Laval on Saturday, the Italian made a strong impression and claimed his first Tour de France victory, probably not his last. But a certain Tim Merlier was missing from the sprint. The Belgian from Soudal-Quick Step suffered a puncture around ten kilometers from the finish. The winner of the third stage (in Dunkirk) will be looking for revenge this Sunday. However, we'll be keeping an eye on Wout Van Aert, who returned to join the sprint on Saturday (on a false-flat finale that suited him well) to secure a fine second place. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Phil Bahaus (Bahrain-Victorious), and Soren Waerensekold (Uno-X Mobility) could also join the final sprint.

what to look forward to on the 2025 TDF

The Tour de France starts on Saturday - three weeks of yellow joy!

For the first time since 2020, the Tour de France will take place entirely in France. The race can be well thought be run in two halves - the first ten stages flat and hilly for sprinters and punchers, followed by the second half of sometimes brutal mountainous stages in the Pyrenees and Alps, ending with the traditional finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

The 2025 Tour de France route comprises

• seven flat stages,
• six hilly stages and
• six mountain stages, with
• five high altitude finishes:

• Mont-Dore, 1324 m (stage 10),
• Luchon-Superbagnères,, 1784 m (stage 15),
• Mont Ventoux,, 2024 m (stage 19),
• Courchevel Col de la Loze (peak, 2,304m), 1676 m (stage 20).
• La Plagne Tarentaise

• four mountain ranges: Massif Central, the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Jura
• the summit of the Tour will be the Col de la Loze , its peak at 2,304m, stage 20 going up to 1676 m
• two individual time trials:

• stage 5 : Caen – Caen (33 km / 21 mi)
• stage 13, a mountain time trial : Loudenvielle – Peyragudes (10.9 km / 6.8 mi)

• two rest days

A commentary

Will Tadej Pogacar find someone in his way to prevent him from winning a fourth Tour de France? The Slovenian, winner of the 2020, 2021, and 2024 editions, sets off from Lille on Saturday, July 5, as the overwhelming favorite, one year after his Giro-Tour double in 2024, which preceded his world championship title and another exceptional classics campaign.

Facing him, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, two-time winner of the event and second last year, and the Belgian Remco Evenepoel are outsiders, even if they will have to overcome their severe defeat in the recent Critérium du Dauphiné.

For Pogacar, it will first and foremost be necessary to avoid the pitfalls of a first week that is not lacking in them. While the North will certainly not offer any cobbled stages, the nerves and wind will be there, and the risk of a crash is always high in the early days. Subsequently, the crossing of Normandy and Brittany promises a magnificent battle of punchers where Matthieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert could face off. But on this terrain, a few French riders could come and join the fight, like Kevin Vauquelin (winner in Bologna in 2024), Romain Grégoire, Paul Lapeira, and of course Julian Alaphilippe, who is making his return to the Tour in his new colors for the Swiss team Tudor. French cycling, orphaned by Thibaut Pinot and now Romain Bardet, cannot yet count on its new nugget, Paul Seixas (still too young at 18), but could rely on its climbers David Gaudu, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, but especially the young Lenny Martinez, formidable on difficult finishes, and winner of the last stage of the Dauphiné.

After crossing the Pyrenees (Hautacam, Superbagnères, Peyragudes), the rendezvous with Mont-Ventoux and two very difficult Alpine stages (La Plagne and Courchevel), the final stage of this Tour de France will indeed end on the Champs-Élysées, as usual, but will follow the spectacular route of the Olympic Games, via Rue Lepic and the climb of Montmartre. A finale that should condemn the sprinters and offer a beautiful spectacle, or even a final twist...

Eight cities will host the Tour de France for the first time, in order of visit :

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)  

grand départ à Lille

A race around the city of Lille : Lille – Lille.
A bumpy visit to the seaside : Lauwin-Planque – Boulogne-sur-Mer
Visiting a significant WW2 location - eighty years on : Valenciennes – Dunkirk.

Map showing the three stages in Lille and nearby towns.

all these cathedral and history-filled towns

• Dunkirk (end, stage 3) – Channel seaside town and port where, 85 years ago this year, over 338,000 British and French soldiers were rescued and returned to England, to fight again. The allied forces  had to retreat in the face of overpowering German Panzer attacks, hzving been outflanked by the Germans, to retreat to the area around the port of Dunkirk.
• Amiens cathedral– a giant cathedral , its spire is 112.7 m high, and with a labyrinth.
• Bourges cathedral – another cathedral giant.
  
• Chinon – where Henry II, King of England and France, died. Henry II was father of Richard I, Richard the Lionheart,.
• Toulouse – home of la Cité d'espace, (Space City), a space-oriented theme park.
• Auch cathedral , full of detailed wood carvings – set atop atown of steep hills into the bzck streets,
• Carcassonne – a fairy-tale rown, as reinvented by Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
• Pau –  birthplace of Henry IV of France.

the 21 stages for 2025

[Note: blue links go to profile section on this page,
            yellow links go to associated pages at abelard.org]

The race's distance is 3,338.8 kilometres or 2074,6 miles.

bonus seconds and bonus points

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

be careful how you ride - yellow cards and more

With the start of this year's Tour de France appears the jury report, a daily update on punishments handed out to teams and riders during the race. The UCI officious busies are finding excuses to 'catch' 'criminals'. Just an excuse to push people around by those that "can't'.

On 1 January 2025, the UCI started the yellow card system. The list of yellow cards (4-page pdf) - without physical existence - issued by the Commissaires officiating at these events, is constantly updated on the UCI website. The relevant race incidents are listed in article 2.12.007 of the UCI Regulations. Yellow cards may be imposed either in addition to other sanctions provided for in the race incidents table, or independently. Accumulating yellow cards over a defined period of time results in a suspension , explained in a diagram and video at th UCI website..

Every day, the race UCI commissaires cast sharp and picky eyes at the peloton as it cycles through France.. Seven UCI-appointed officials, from Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, and New Zealand, can spot a sticky bottle or a rider illegally littering from a mile off.

More dangerous 'sins' are also penalised,
TDF commissaires now able to enforce cycling's new yellow card system. Two yellow cards within 30 days result in a rider being disqualified from the race and receiving a seven-day suspension, while three yellow cards within the same 30-day period lead to a 14-day ban.

Here's the current yellow card list:

the  24 infringements that can result in a yellow card

• 3.4    - Rider taking off mandatory helmet during the race.
• 4.2.1 - Hand sling between teammates.
• 4.2.2 - Hand sling between riders from different teams.
• 4.3    - Pushing off against car, motorcycle, rider; rider pushing another rider.
• 4.6    - Rider holding onto vehicle or mechanical intervention from a moving vehicle.
• 4.7    - Sheltering behind or taking advantage of the slipstream of a vehicle.
• 4.9    - Follower leaning out of a vehicle or holding equipment outside a vehicle.
• 4.10  - Unauthorised feeding (4.10.1 – 4.10.2 – 4.10.3 – 4.10.4 – 4.10.5 – 4.10.6)
• 4.11  - Irregular feeding (“sticky bottle” or feeding outside feed zone, etc.).
• 4.1   - Non-compliance with the article 2.3.025 by a team assistant during feeding
• 5.1   - Irregular sprint, deviation from the chosen line that obstructs or endangers another rider.
• 5.2   - Rider decelerating during a sprint and endangering other riders
• 6.1   - Obstruction by a rider or vehicle in order to prevent or delay the movement of another rider or vehicle
• 6.3   - Breach of regulations or guidelines concerning vehicle movements during the race or failure to comply with the instructions of commissaires and/or the organisation
• 6.4   – Interviewing a rider during the race.
• 6.5   - Interviewing a sport director during the last 10 kilometres of a race or conducting the interview from a car rather than a motorbike.
• 7.1   - Deviation from the race route constituting an advantage, attempting to be placed without having covered the entire race route.
• 7.6   - Use of sidewalks/pavements, paths or cycle lanes that do not form part of the race route.
• 7.7   - Passing through a level crossing that is closed or in the process of closing (lights flashing and/or audible warnings).
• 7.9   - Using a non-compliant position or point of support on the bicycle that represents a danger to the rider or competitors.
• 8.1   - Failing to respect the instructions of the organiser or commissaires.
• 8.2.1 - Assault, intimidation, insults, threats, improper conduct (including pulling the jersey or saddle of another rider, blow with the helmet, knee, elbow, shoulder, foot or hand, etc.), or behaviour that is indecent or that endangers others (between riders)
• 8.2.2  - Assault, intimidation, insults, threats, improper conduct (including pulling the jersey or saddle of another rider, blow with the helmet, knee, elbow, shoulder, foot or hand, etc.), or behaviour that is indecent or that endangers others (directed at any other person, including spectators).
• 8.3   - Rider or team staff disposing of waste or other objects outside of litter zones. (adapted also to one-day events since April 1
  
  

Thus, in this year's Tour de France, 'infractions' have been :
Stage 1 :

Elmar Reinders (Jayco-AlUla) – 200CHF fine – sticky bottle

Stage 3 :

• Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) – yellow card, 500CHF fine, -13 green jersey points – irregular sprint at intermediate sprint
• Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) – yellow card, 500CHF fine, -13 green jersey points deduction – irregular sprint at intermediate sprint
• Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) – yellow card, 500CHF fine, -13 green jersey points - irregular sprint at finish
• Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) – yellow card, 500CHF fine, -13 green jersey points, relegation to 36th – irregular sprint at finish
• Luca Mezgec (Jayco-AlUla) – 500CHF fine, -25 green jersey points – careless disposal of waste

Stage 4 :

• Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) – 500CHF fine, -25 UCI points – Rider disposing of waste without precaution

mountain stages, uphill and summit finishes

Stage 10: Ennezat – Mont-Dore
Tues.14 July 165.3 km  km / 102.7  mi]
mountain finish 1324 m (3.3 km at 8%)

stage 10 profile

Stage 12: Auch – Hautacam
Fri. 17 July [180.6  km / 112.2  mi]
mountain finish 1520 m (13.5 km at 7.8%)

stage 12 profile

Stage 13: Loudenvielle –Peyragudes

Sat. 18 July [10.9 km / 6.8 mi]
Mountain time trial
945 m – 1580 m (5 km at 7.9%)

stage 13 profile

Stage 14: Pau –Superbagnères

Sun. 19 July [182.6 km / 113.5  mi]
mountain finish 1804 m (12.4 km at 7.3%)

stage 14 profile

Stage 16: Montpellier – Mont Ventoux

Tue. 22 July [171.5  km / 106.6 mi]
mountain finish 1910 m (15.7 km at 8.8%)

Profile of stage 16

Stage 18: Vif – Courchevel (Col de la Loze)

Thurs. 24 July [171.5 km / 106.6 mi]

Profile of stage 18

Stage 19: Albertville – La Plagne

Fri. 25 July [129.9 km / 80.7 mi]
summit finish : 2025 m (19.1 km at 7.2%)

Profile of stage 19

team jerseys/colours

2025 TDF team jerseys

this year’s top ten riders according to betting odds

We may (!) provide this information when it is available, closer to the race start

watching the race on tv

The Tour de France is being televised throughout the world. The following table lists the broadcasters by country including those providing live broadcasts.

Note, Eurosport broadcasts in Britain on Sky channels 410 - 413, as well as in mainland Europe .
Frances broadxasts on France 2 or France 3.

For more details, see the TDF Broadcasters page.

Official TDF broadcasters, 2022

There is no immediate indication whether or not broadcasts are free to view, however most expect a subscription. Of course, this may be part of your television provider's charges.

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