The 2025 Tour de France Reveal: An Excruciating Vertical Monster

The 2025 Tour de France will include iconic and historic climbs including Mont Ventoux and a torturous Queen Stage.

Mont Ventoux / Tim de Waele - Getty Images

The 2025 Tour de France course, unveiled this week at the Palais des Congrès, will feature iconic Mont Ventoux, a mountain time-trial, and the Col de la Loze. The peloton will roll from the northern city of Lille for Stage 1 on July 5, and remain in France throughout the historic race. Unlike the 2024 edition, the race will conclude with the traditional final stage, the Tour d’Honneur, on the Champs-Élysées – the famous avenue in Paris that connects the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. Sprinters beware, the next Tour de  France will see just seven flat stages and only 33 flat time-trial kilometers (21-miles).

The course includes many painful stages in the Pyrénées and the Alps. In all, the 21 stages will cover 3,320 kilometers (2,063-miles) and gain an aggregate of 51,000 meters (167,323 feet). Much like last year’s Tour, elite cyclists Tajez Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remcco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic should once again vie for the Yellow Jersey throughout the storied race. Defending Champion, Pogačar, and archrival Vingegarrd will likely exchange blows on their way to the summits of the Loze, Hautacam and Ventoux, which could decide the Maillot Jaune.

Jim Cotton described the stages in an Article for Velo, powered by Outside, for the 2025 Tour de France. Stage 1 finishes with a long flat section, which should result in one of the sprinters capturing the Yellow Jersey. Yellow has eluded the sprinters since Alexander Kristoff wore the maillot  Juane following the first stage in 2020. Stage 2 , the longest stage of the Tour at 212 km (132-miles) will push the peloton north to the coast over two short hilly sections. Stage 3 provides the sprinters an opportunity along the coast to Dunkirk. Stage 4 features hilly and rugged terrain that will provide the first true test for General Category competitors. The sprinters will enjoy a flat and fast 33 km (21-mile) time-trial in Stage 5, which should start to shape the race’s pecking order.

The next two stages will take the race to Brittany. These stages will hit the mountains with a 10% grade on Vire Normandy in Stage 6, and 15% inclines on the Mûr de Bretagne during Stage 7.  Stage 8 and Stage 9 set up well for the sprinters before the race moves to central France. Stage 10, which marks the halfway point of the race, features seven categorized climbs over 163 km (101-miles) through the torturous Massif Central. In all, these 7 climbs account for 4,400 meters (14,436 feet) of vertical. Fortunately for the Peloton, the race’s first rest day follows this arduous stage on July 15. Stage 11 will spotlight the sprinters on a race to Touulouse.

2024 Tour de France Champion Tadej Pogacar / AP Photo - Daniel Cole

Stage 12 features a 14 km (8.7-miles) climb with an 8% incline up Hautacam on a high mountain finish. The mountain time-trial takes place in Stage 13 from the Loudenvielle up to the Peyragudes altiport. This stage could separate the contenders from the pretenders and effect the race’s outcome. Stage 14, the ‘Queen Stage’ presents a rigorous stage in the Pyrénées, which includes the Tourmalet, Aspin, and Peyresourde.  After a mountaintop finish to Superbagnères the racers will have climbed 5,000m (16,404 feet) of exhausting terrain. Fortunately, Stage 15 returns to sprinting on a relatively flat course to Carcassonne, followed by a rest day in Montpellier.

July 22nd marks Stage 16 featuring the venerable and iconic Mont Ventoux. This year’s rendition of the Tour will climb Mont Ventoux’s steepest face, which covers 16km (10-miles) with a 9% grade. A small group should emerge as worthy of the Yellow Jersey following the death march up Ventoux – the ‘Beast of Provence’. Stage 17 provides some relief from the mountains with the last true sprint before the race returns to Paris.

The Tour de France / Gruber Images - Velo

A horrendous Alpine ‘Queen Stage’ awaits the cyclists in Stage 18, which includes climbs that eclipse the challenges in the Pyrénées. The three-climb gauntlet begins with the classic Col du Glandon, then the classic Col de la Madeleine, and concludes with the true test of the 2025 Tour - the Col de la Loze. The extremely steep slope, first featured in 2020, rises 2,300m (7,546 feet). The entire Stage rises 5,500m (18,045 feet) in aggregate vertical – a Tour de France record. Stage 19 , just 130km (81-miles) long, includes four categorized climbs before a summit finish on the 19km (11.8-miles) La Plagne. These two stages should determine the winner of the 2025 Tour.

A relaxing Stage 20 on rolling roads to Pontarlier precedes a long transfer back to Paris for the ceremonial final Stage 21 – a fast stroll along the cherished Champs-Élysées with champagne flowing to toast a new champion. Much more route information will unfold in the coming months, which will add detail to this newly-released schedule. The 2025 Tour de France already feels like a classic in the making – stay tuned. (Related Article - Tour de France Femmes)