Tour de France 2025 route rumours and announcements

[Peyroteo94]

Will they attempt to do a bike change?

 

[pman]

What I find interesting is that every year we seem to hear rumors of an early team time trial and every year it either isn’t there or seems like it morphs into an individual time trial. Are the rumors just wrong or do teams complain and it’s easy to shift from a team to individual time trial? Don’t get me wrong- I strongly dislike team time trials in grand tours, just wondering.

 

[ChiefMasterPro]

Will they attempt to do a bike change?

No, 4 km on the TT bike are not worth the bike switch.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I know we’re not supposed to like any route but I like this one enough. Is it perfect? Of course not, I’d like some cobbles and longer individual time trials. I know some people would like tougher mountain stages. Everyone has their wants but this route is pretty good given the fact they had to go back north at don’t point.

Tell me you work weekends without telling me you work weekends

 

[fbjim]

Fairly standard ASO fare of the last few years tbh. The flat to rolling stages are pretty decent for what they are, the mountain stages are lazy and uninspiring, with the whole thing seemingly tailored for Youtube Cycling, so you can catch more or less everything you need to see in the last 45m of any given stage. There is, however, not a great deal to be genuinely angry at, the only complete abortion is the pacing leading to abysmal weekend stages, where the best and most decisive weekend stage looks likely to be the one to Boulogne-sur-Mer, but there's no stage that really captures the imagination and fills you with any level of anticipation for any reason other than the prestige inherent from being the Tour de France.

Out of all the complaints about modern cycling, the one that confuses me the most is "youtube cycling" "TikTok cycling" or whatever accusation you want that this is due to short attention spans.

Like you guys realize that we broadcast every KM of every stage now right, and that broadcasts in the 80s might *literally* just consist of the last 45 minutes

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Out of all the complaints about modern cycling, the one that confuses me the most is "youtube cycling" "TikTok cycling" or whatever accusation you want that this is due to short attention spans.

Like you guys realize that we broadcast every KM of every stage now right, and that broadcasts in the 80s might *literally* just consist of the last 45 minutes

Sure.

But when you only broadcast the last 45 minutes, it's more forgivable to pack all the action into the last 45 minutes. When you're broadcasting, with magazine segments and post-stage presentations and interviews, 4-5 hours of every stage, it seems counterproductive to then produce a route that ensures 3-4 hours of that will see nothing of value or interest happen. When you broadcast every minute of every stage, the concern that you need to backload the stage lest the broadcast miss something of importance, like Contador on Hoz, goes out the window.

 

[E_F_]

12 km flat before La Plagne 15 km flat before Col de la Loze

 

[mattias.vestad]

12 km flat before La Plagne 15 km flat before Col de la Loze

And 2 km between Glandon and Madeleine I think this is a good route

 

[scribers]

Im so mad at this route I’m going stop posting right now and not come back until August!

 

[hayneplane]

12 km flat before La Plagne 15 km flat before Col de la Loze

Given that long valley sections are the geographical feature of the French mountain ranges that diminish action from 2-3 mountains out from the finish the parcours this year does seem better in that regard as less risk of the GC group swelling enormously with domestiques getting back in.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Rest day on a Tuesday because of some ciciban French holiday?

Someone is about to stuff up their re-fuelling strategy, expect to see a proper contender losing half an hour on stage 11.

 

[E_F_]

less risk of the GC group swelling enormously with domestiques getting back in.

UAE will really miss the rouleur who paced Glandon when they get to Madeleine...

 

[E_F_]

And 2 km between Glandon and Madeleine I think this is a good route

Yeah great combo! Doesn't matter because of the rest of the stage, but sure.

 

[pman]

One of my favorite parts to these Tour reveal days is watching fans that think there should be insane mountain stages complain while those of us who love time trialing are supposed to be happy with anything over 30 k of total time trialing. It’s like, come on, I am sorry you only get 6 or 7 mountain top finishes and you’re upset that there aren’t tougher mountain combos on stages meanwhile the 60 k individual time trial is a thing of the distant past.

 

[E_F_]

One of my favorite parts to these Tour reveal days is watching fans that think there should be insane mountain stages complain while those of us who love time trialing are supposed to be happy with anything over 30 k of total time trialing. It’s like, come on, I am sorry you only get 6 or 7 mountain top finishes and you’re upset that there aren’t tougher mountain combos on stages meanwhile the 60 k individual time trial is a thing of the distant past.

I don't want 21 MTFs. I'd like 0, really.

 

[zlev11]

One of my favorite parts to these Tour reveal days is watching fans that think there should be insane mountain stages complain while those of us who love time trialing are supposed to be happy with anything over 30 k of total time trialing. It’s like, come on, I am sorry you only get 6 or 7 mountain top finishes and you’re upset that there aren’t tougher mountain combos on stages meanwhile the 60 k individual time trial is a thing of the distant past.

i want to see both 60k ITT and 200+km mountain stages

 

[ashhutch1997]

This route honestly isn't as bad as first feared, my big issue is the weekend stages. I know it's easy for me to say as I'm not designing the route, but 5 of the weekend stages will potentially be bunch sprints. Given these are the most viewed stages, they should always try and make them as interesting as posible.

 

[pman]

This route honestly isn't as bad as first feared, my big issue is the weekend stages. I know it's easy for me to say as I'm not designing the route, but 5 of the weekend stages will are potentially bunch sprints, which just isn't good enough. Most of us who have full time jobs only really have the weekend to really sit down for a few hours and watch. The weekend stages are always the most viewed, and over the last few years ASO have been pretty good with placing interesting stages on weekends.

I get the weekend point but don’t the French take a good portion of the month off? I am not sure they’re as concerned about that aspect as the rest of us. But I totally get and agree with that point. Midweek mountain stages are tough- I was exhausted watching the Vuelta this year.

 

[ashhutch1997]

I get the weekend point but don’t the French take a good portion of the month off? I am not sure they’re as concerned about that aspect as the rest of us. But I totally get and agree with that point. Midweek mountain stages are tough- I was exhausted watching the Vuelta this year.

Probably true, but for a business point of view, you want your more interesting stages to be the most viewed, to show off the product, and get more interest in the sport.

 

[houtdffan]

seeing the final stage route, why could that not be a long ITT?

Why do we have to have a pointless procession but instead could have had a real ITT to settle the TDF

 

[Rob5091]

I see Prudhomme has said that he expects it to be close until the last two Alp stages. There you go, designed for no GC action until late on.
https://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur...ance-2025-on-a-traque-la-moindre-cote/1517012

english version at https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...es-for-a-far-more-open-tour-de-france-in-2025

 

[Sandisfan]

I see Prudhomme has said that he expects it to be close until the last two Alp stages. There you go, designed for no GC action until late on.
https://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur...ance-2025-on-a-traque-la-moindre-cote/1517012

english version at https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...es-for-a-far-more-open-tour-de-france-in-2025

Could just as well just have a two or three/four (for the usual processional Champs stage at the end and maybe precede with a short ITT for 1st stage) because that will be the extent of the competition they want for the whole GT. Designing a route that they want to only be fought over for essentially Two Stages is an affront to the long history of the Race... IMO and you can take my opinion here in California and plus 5 dollars and buy a gallon of gas approximately. That Blatant idiocy of making the race based on two stages makes me very unhappy.

 

[houtdffan]

glossed over this at first

But the peloton is climbing the friggen Peyresourde twice!

 

[Coffeeplanter]

I haven't seen the parcours, but I'm giving it a 4 out of 10.

 

[gregrowlerson]

I haven't seen the parcours, but I'm giving it a 4 out of 10.

I'm waiting for Tonkin's 8.