Tour de France Rate the 2025 Tour de France

[Netserk]

What the hell are you talking about? Pogacar lost 30 seconds in that crash, he would lose 1 minute at most if they cooperated and would still be in front of Vingegaard.

Vingegaard distanced Pogi multiple times that day, and had the group kept the tempo high when Healy and Vingegaard made it across such that Pogi wouldn't have bridged (and Evenepoel waited until Pogi was spent), then he could have gained significant time that day.

 

[scribers]

compelling stage profiles.

The challenging stages designed to potentially break pog broke everyone including pog. This tour managed to dominate the vuelta too at the same time

 

[Peyroteo94]

Vingegaard distanced Pogi multiple times that day, and had the group kept the tempo high when Healy and Vingegaard made it across such that Pogi wouldn't have bridged (and Evenepoel waited until Pogi was spent), then he could have gained significant time that day.

And how would they keep the tempo high, when only a Visma rider was there with Vingegaard?
So your theory is: if the all peloton raced against Pogacar, we might have a thirlling TdF. Don't live in a bubble, teams have their own goals. But you can't see that since Vingegaard is dane and you are upset he lost the Tour quite easily.

 

[Netserk]

And how would they keep the tempo high, when only a Visma rider was there with Vingegaard?
So your theory is: if the all peloton raced against Pogacar, we might have a thirlling TdF. Don't live in a bubble, teams have their own goals. But you can't see that since Vingegaard is dane and you are upset he lost the Tour quite easily.

Why wouldn't Healy and Van der Poel pull in that group?
Why should Evenepoel be the first to pull in the peloton after Wellens, when he already knew then that he had a broken rib and a bad prep for the Tour? Why not wait for Pogi to be done pulling, and then possibly counter that?

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I don‘t know what Netserk is on about with Stage 11, they had a gap to Pogačar which he closed before they could get organised or to the front. I don‘t know what they‘re expected to do, ride so fast that Pogačar can‘t close a two second gap? Impossible

 

[Netserk]

I don‘t know what Netserk is on about with Stage 11, they had a gap to Pogačar which he closed before they could get organised or to the front. I don‘t know what they‘re expected to do, ride so fast that Pogačar can‘t close a two second gap? Impossible

Van Aert knew Healy and Vingegaard were coming across immediately, so it would have been possible for him to accelerate as soon as Vingegaard said so over the radio. And again, this is without the pull of Evenepoel after Wellens.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

No I find the Roglic lost his mind take lukewarm considering Lipowitz lost his mind much more and Roglic' motivation and Red Bull's policy of "let them do their own race" actually align. It just ends up looking stupid.

I follow your thoughts.
However, to me it was a nice sight to witness him displaying some courage and take the chance, seen in the light of previous editions' monster mountain stages, decided only in the dying meters by a Roglstomp
My take while watching live, was that RB could use the situation of playing 2 GC cards, thereby putting Visma and UAE under pressure, or at least a knuckle on the shoulders. At the early stages of his attack I had thoughts that maybe he was having one of those days, and that way it could have developed into a nice spice of a final

 

[Tonton]

My immediate thought are a 5.5/10

Underwhelming GC battle, the crucial mountain stages and the tiny chance of an exiting duel here were completely punctured by a superior Pogi and the rest by Visma-logics, besides two stages with an under-performing wing shot Vingo

No contest for green jersey with Philipsen crash.

Same with missing MvDP for the second part of the tour, that otherwise could've spiced things op, just as a fit and un-injured Remco most possible could've delivered.

However heroic efforts by riders in second row as Arensman, O'Connor, Healey and more.

BUT, just like I gave the Giro 25 edition an 8/10 still missing to watch apparently "horrible snooze party stages", and stated I would come up with a more in-depth as-per-stage analysis score weighted with the batte for the jerseys, I on the contrary miss to watch what apparently was good stages in this Tour

So maybe later this year I'll come up with more in-depth leveled scores with maybe Giro 25 = 7/10 and Tour 25 = 6/10, but really can't tell at time being.

Couldn't agree with you more: like the '25 Giro, it's an 8...

 

[dobrien]

As a good friend told me, being safe edgy is a rhetorical condom and it feels better au naturel.

Oh, this is pure genius. Keeping this in my pocket... I feel certain there is a dinner party in my future where I can, <ahem> whip this one out!

 

[Lorzenz08]

I give it a 6

Mainly because as a Pogi fan that Hautacam stage was really thrilling. Seeing him crush that mountain starting 12km from the finish line after an epic lead out that felt like I was watching Pogi take off on Cipressa.

Honestly if the TdF finished at the end of the 2nd week I would have given it a solid 7.

But that 3rd week was really annoying, that 3rd week is barely a 2 or a 3/10.

Overall 6.

 

[Andy262]

I’m a Pog fan but this was just a 4, over by the end of the first week, predictable stage winners, nearly all from the big teams. Little strength in depth in the peloton., just within a couple of teams.

Last couple of days dragged it up from a 3 but overall this wasn’t great at all.

 

[Vinther1991]

Positives:
-The Mont Ventoux stage had a fantastic breakaway battle, decent GC action. Pretty good stage.
-Paris stage delivered with a solid comeback from Wout!
-Healy was incredible to watch.
-MvdP delivered exciting racing until he abandoned.
-Overall decent set of stages until the mountain TT. Though none were great per say.
-Roglic didn't crash out.

Negatives:
-No interesting battle for GC win. Vingegaard wasn't strong enough to drop Pogacar in week 3.
-After stage 13, Pogacar didn't give a **** about this Tour, I have never seen a Tour winner so bored and unexcited to race or win. I used to be a big fan, but not so much after this Tour.
-Didn't like the course, too back-loaded, you keep GC artificially close by avoiding stages in the first half where you can make a big difference.
-No interesting battle for KOM, Pogacar won it without going for it. Prudhomme is a disgrace for having ruined this competition.
-No interesting battle for Green jersey. 2 of the top 3 contenders abandoned. Prudhomme almost ruined this competition too, as Pogacar could have almost won it as well.
-No amazing stages for the ages, such as Granon in 2022, stage 11 last year, cobble stones in 2014. Or even the quite fantastic, but maybe less remembered Galibier stage last year or Tourmalet 2023.
-Too many riders who could have made the race more exciting ended up abandoning.
-The alps were just all around awful, as was the Luchon-Superbagnères stage.

So yeah, overall a very weak Tour de France. At least the worst since 2014. Which was the last time where I barely felt any excitement in turning on the TV. At least that one had one really memorable stage. 2012 was another terrible edition, with only one decent mountain stage (La Planche des Belles Filles), and no real GC battle. The most memorable about the 2012 Tour, was the Wiggins-Froome conflict. Those are the 3 worst Tour de France editions since the Armstrong years at least, 2009 was maybe also not the best, but still had some redeeming stages.

So overall I give it a 4/10 (closer to a 3 than a 5), and probably the third worst in the modern (2010-now) era.

 

[Miss Violet Smith]

A joyless affair.

Pogačar seemed exhausted and miserable. Defensive riding may have been strategically sound and delivered his fourth TdF win; it still does not suit him. Stage 21 probably the one I liked best, and he lost.

Yay for Arensman, Onley and Lipowitz. Congrats to Philipsen, Healy and MVDP for yellow jersey. Good showing from Vauquelin, too.

 

[Carols]

5 but only for the exploits of Healy and MVDP and the final stage. I Loved the new route for the final stage and Pogi being too tired to win it, He showed he was human in the final week but Vingo was just as tired.

 

[red_flanders]

A joyless affair.

Pogačar seemed exhausted and miserable. Defensive riding may have been strategically sound and delivered his fourth TdF win; it still does not suit him. Stage 21 probably the one I liked best, and he lost.

Yay for Arensman, Onley and Lipowitz. Congrats to Philipsen, Healy and MVDP for yellow jersey. Good showing from Vauquelin, too.

Wow! Pogi won 4 stages, the Maillot Juane and the Maillot Pois. Animated the last stage with zero need. Thought he was pretty aggressive!

Heavy, heavy course. Folks get tired...

 

[Miss Violet Smith]

Wow! Pogi won 4 stages, the Maillot Juane and the Maillot Pois. Animated the last stage with zero need. Thought he was pretty aggressive!

Heavy, heavy course. Folks get tired...

I recognize the accomplishment and I think Pogačar is magical. Just didn't enjoy the 2025 TdF very much.

Could not agree more about the parcours.

 

[fenns]

First week or so was good but then Pog killed it on Hautacam and the ITT. After that his usual joie de vivre vanished and only returned for Paris.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Long story short, I rate every Giro and Tour stage from 1 to 10 based on entertainment value. This year’s Tour de France has received the lowest average rating (5.24) of any Tour since 2018. The median and mode tell a similar story. However, because many flat sprint stages tend to score around 3/10, they pull all the averages closer together across different editions. For context, my lowest-rated Giro (2023) had a mean of 4.38, while the best Tour (also in 2023) scored 5.67.

So, looking only at the average, median, or mode doesn't fully capture how a Grand Tour feels. To get a better picture, I also categorize stages by profile: flat, hilly, mountain, ITT, TTT, gravel/cobbles.

This year's Tour is unusual in several ways:

• Flat stages: Scored better than in any other Grand Tour I've rated — an average of 4.43, compared to for example 3.50 in the 2023' Tour and 3.14 in 2024.
• Mountain stages: Very poor. Averaging just 5.60, far below for example 7.0 in 2023 and 6.40 in 2024.
• Hilly stages: Roughly in line with past editions.

Conclusion: The 2025 Tour was dragged down by weak mountain stages, which usually provide the most entertainment, while flat stages were unusually entertaining (cross-winds and good final stage). This may help explain why the race felt underwhelming overall, and I agree with that perception.

One last note: I’ve never seen so much toxic discourse surrounding a Tour. The endless doping accusations and bad-faith arguments on Twitter, forums, and elsewhere really sapped my enjoyment. I don't see myself as a cynic, but this year had a dark cloud hanging over it despite the fact that what we saw wasn’t very different from the last five years: two riders operating on a completely different level than the rest and their domestiques being unbelievably good some days.

 

[Netserk]

One last note: I’ve never seen so much toxic discourse surrounding a Tour. The endless doping accusations and bad-faith arguments on Twitter, forums, and elsewhere really sapped my enjoyment.

I believe you, but you joined less than a year ago.

2012/2013 was way, way worse.

 

[Pozzovivo]

The problem is of course that this is not what I'm watching GTs for and a gc battle that only starts on stage 12 and is over after stage 12 just cannot be rated very highly. Ventoux was alright but in general I found it disappointing that Vingegaard never really exposed himself trying to drop Pogacar after they seemed evenly matched there. Yeah he attacked on the Madeleine but he didn't dare to attack again before the top with no helper in front of him. Then he didn't try early on Courchevel and on stage 19 he had already given up entirely. That sounds more like what I expect from Nairo Quintana than from Jonas Vingegaard. It's a race that reminds me a lot of 2014 and 2021, where you have a dominant rider who makes the battle for victory very boring but at least the racing in general was not as stale as during the Sky train days.

Strong post!

I do think Vingegaard rode very aggressively in general this tour, and he's not given enough credit for that imo. As for "risking it all to win" he didn't deliver on that promise. You have to go earlier on Col de la Loze and do a nuclear leadout and attack on Col du Pre for that. The fact that stage 19 was shortened is no excuse although of course it makes it more difficult.

 

[Pozzovivo]

I believe you, but you joined less than a year ago.

2012/2013 was way, way worse.

Sure, on the forum you're probably right, but in the twittersphere I felt the environment was worse this year than in 2012/13.

 

[Pozzovivo]

No real charismatic figures making a mark on the tour. Alaphilippe tried a bit

No good echelons, no superstar sprint battles, no cobbles or gravel. Same teams always controlling.

Not an interesting route

Healy made a good mark on the Tour, so did Vauquelin I thought.

First stage was a great echelon stage with key GC riders and key sprinters missing it. Milan vs Merlier is the biggest sprint battle in my opinion. Too bad with JP crashing out.

Route was good I thought. Finally a series of hilly stages for the puncheurs - they have been sold the last few years. But it really missed a gravel/cobble stage.

 

[Gigs_98]

Sure, on the forum you're probably right, but in the twittersphere I felt the environment was worse this year than in 2012/13.

I think that is probably much more due to the twittersphere today being way more toxic than in 2012/13 in general. Back when nutcases were seen as nutcases and not as messiahs, both in and outside of the cycling fandom.

 

[Red Rick]

Sure, on the forum you're probably right, but in the twittersphere I felt the environment was worse this year than in 2012/13.

Twitter in general is way worse now than 12/13 years ago.

Edit - Giggles was ahead of me.