Tour de France 2025 route rumours and announcements

[YavorD]

Both Contador and Froome tried it. Both were the dominant GT riders in the peloton at the time. But the other thing we are forgetting is the gap between Pogacar and the rest of the peloton. Think about the manner of his wins after the Tour and the fact he had been winning since March (Strade Bianche) with an 81km breakaway. Neither Contador nor Froome did anything remotely close.

Froome was past his peak though and crashed heavily in a hard Giro. Contador was in his peak in 2011, but that Giro was probably the hardest ever and was hampered by crashes in the Tour while having very weak team in both races.
I have very little doubt that peak Froome could do it if the competition in the Giro was so weak and Quintana was injured.
I'm sure Contador could do it as well in the conditions Pogacar had.

They certainly wouldn't dominate both GT's the way Pogacar did though.

 

[houtdffan]

Froome was past his peak though and crashed heavily in a hard Giro. Contador was in his peak in 2011, but that Giro was probably the hardest ever and was hampered by crashes in the Tour while having very weak team in both races.
I have very little doubt that peak Froome could do it if the competition in the Giro was so weak and Quintana was injured.
I'm sure Contador could do it as well in the conditions Pogacar had.

They certainly wouldn't dominate both GT's the way Pogacar did though.

Contador probably should have won in 2015, except for Valderde showing he is the biggest loser idiot ever created.

He was in a breakaway with Contador and Rogers on the Pra Loup Stage. He had 3 teammates up the road and Contador had Maijka and Sagan up the road.

Valderde refused to ride at all, despite Froome being totally isolated well behind. Instead, he killed the tour winning break

 

[Rockestar_33]

First time poster here. Joined because I was trying to google how many riders had won all 7 major stage races and stumbled across a thread here.

I like the route for the most part. I think it's the best Prodhomme has produced for a few years. It's a good 8/10 for me, my main bugs are the fact that stage 5 is an ITT instead of a TTT and I'd honestly prefer another hilly/medium mountain stage over another flat stage.

I think the parcourse suits Vingegaard more than Pogi and I think it's not too bad for Roglic, but it'll be very tough for Remco outside the flat ITT.

 

[houtdffan]

First time poster here. Joined because I was trying to google how many riders had won all 7 major stage races and stumbled across a thread here.

I like the route for the most part. I think it's the best Prodhomme has produced for a few years. It's a good 8/10 for me, my main bugs are the fact that stage 5 is an ITT instead of a TTT and I'd honestly prefer another hilly/medium mountain stage over another flat stage.

I think the parcourse suits Vingegaard more than Pogi and I think it's not too bad for Roglic, but it'll be very tough for Remco outside the flat ITT.

Prudhomme has very little to do with any route. He is the general director of cycling for ASO

The routes are determined by the dumb dweeb, Gouvenou

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Contador probably should have won in 2015, except for Valderde showing he is the biggest loser idiot ever created.

He was in a breakaway with Contador and Rogers on the Pra Loup Stage. He had 3 teammates up the road and Contador had Maijka and Sagan up the road.

Valderde refused to ride at all, despite Froome being totally isolated well behind. Instead, he killed the tour winning break

Maybe my memory is playin with me, but it doesn’t feel like Contador would win that tour anyway. He was over 4 minutes behind before that stage, and Contador shipped a lot of time on Toussiere and Alpe d’Huez in the last two mountain stages. If that break would’ve led to another winner than Froome it would’ve been Valverde himself as he was ahead of Contador in the GC before that Pra Loup stage and he did better than Contador in the last few stages. So Valverde mainly ruined everything for himself, he didn’t rob Contador for the Double.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Prudhomme has very little to do with any route. He is the general director of cycling for ASO

The routes are determined by the dumb dweeb, Gouvenou

Well, that's one way of welcoming new users...

 

[houtdffan]

Maybe my memory is playin with me, but it doesn’t feel like Contador would win that tour anyway. He was over 4 minutes behind before that stage, and Contador shipped a lot of time on Toussiere and Alpe d’Huez in the last two mountain stages. If that break would’ve led to another winner than Froome it would’ve been Valverde himself as he was ahead of Contador in the GC before that Pra Loup stage and he did better than Contador in the last few stages. So Valverde mainly ruined everything for himself, he didn’t rob Contador for the Double.

still, contador would have finished no worse than second.

but WTF was Valverde smoking that day? He had a guaranteed first or second had he just rode

 

[fbjim]

Apparently, they don't want to use Puy de Dome because they can't have spectators...

I don't quite get why they can't have people stand on the railroad tracks. Are they that worried about people encroaching on the road, or is it more that the actual mountain is national parkland and they don't want people camping there and trashing it?

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I don't quite get why they can't have people stand on the railroad tracks.

Hmmm, that is not normally a brilliant idea.

 

[Gratemans]

I don't quite get why they can't have people stand on the railroad tracks. Are they that worried about people encroaching on the road, or is it more that the actual mountain is national parkland and they don't want people camping there and trashing it?

The latter: it's a unesco world heritage site. Prudhomme had to lobby for years to get permission for the Tour to go up it back in 2023 in the first place.

 

[Rockestar_33]

Prudhomme has very little to do with any route. He is the general director of cycling for ASO

The routes are determined by the dumb dweeb, Gouvenou

I'd be surprised if he has very little to do with the route's. He would be doing a fair bit of work on them. It's the biggest race in the world, the director would be very involved with planning.

Well, that's one way of welcoming new users...

Eh don't stress, I can handle it.

 

[E_F_]

I'd be surprised if he has very little to do with the route's. He would be doing a fair bit of work on them. It's the biggest race in the world, the director would be very involved with planning.

Eh don't stress, I can handle it.

He's general director of the Tour specifically, so I'm sure Gou-gou takes his clues from him.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hmmm, that is not normally a brilliant idea.

I don't think the train that goes up those tracks is a regular one.
Just be sure there's no train coming...

 

[Ulle97]

It's amazing to think that Puyde Dome was used in the Tour last year and it was barely even recognised.

The mythical climb with vicious gradients was basically forgotten about despite the clamour from the public that ASO would never return. It seems no matter what the organisers do, that it's never enough.

I'd argue that in the last 15 years that the Tour has tried to be more creative with their routes than in any period in history, with new summit finishes being recruited, different pacing in the early stages, more use of the Vosges, Jura, Massif Central.

Chapeau ASO. We love you!!

 

[Netserk]

How do you compare the creativity today with the creativity in the 50's?

 

[rallybanana]

Apparently, they don't want to use Puy de Dome because they can't have spectators...

They could use cardboard spectators like many sports clubs were doing during the pandemic.

 

[fbjim]

It's amazing to think that Puyde Dome was used in the Tour last year and it was barely even recognised.

The mythical climb with vicious gradients was basically forgotten about despite the clamour from the public that ASO would never return. It seems no matter what the organisers do, that it's never enough.

I'd argue that in the last 15 years that the Tour has tried to be more creative with their routes than in any period in history, with new summit finishes being recruited, different pacing in the early stages, more use of the Vosges, Jura, Massif Central.

Chapeau ASO. We love you!!

not really sure how it was "forgotten". i remember about a thousand replays of the anquetil vs poulidor footage and it was a pretty memorable stage with Jorgenson nearly pulling off a long attack to win it

 

[fbjim]

Puy de Dome was mythical steepness back when dinosaurs and Pokémon roamed the earth.

as opposed to what. it ends with like 5KM at 11.5-12%. it's comparable to the end of Fedaia, absolutely nobody watched that climb and went "this is easy"

 

[fbjim]

How do you compare the creativity today with the creativity in the 50's?

imagining how mad people would get if these stages were in next year's route

 

[Keldergoat]

I actually liked the fact that Puy de Dome didn't have any spectators. Made the race way more thrilling, seeing Mohoric suffering and in the meantime Woods coming back from the background. I don't know nor care how Puy de Dome rates in terms of easiness, but it's one epic climb for sure.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Puy de Dome was mythical steepness back when dinosaurs and Pokémon roamed the earth.

Look at the bike weight and gearing that they had back in the day, that explains a lot.

 

[fbjim]

also a "mythic climb" is different than being "mythically steep"

Puy de Dome is unique (you don't see many climbs that corkscrew around a peak like that), has been home to one of the tour's most iconic moments, wasn't used in decades, and is hard.

Portet is probably harder that 95% of the HC climbs in tour history but I'd not really call it a "mythic" climb.

 

[E_F_]

imagining how mad people would get if these stages were in next year's route

Luchon stage looks like it would be all on Peyresourde, but I like that it's a descent finish - that might even open it up for earlier attacks.

Love Izoard descent into finish on a kicker.

Certainly nothing special, but both stages would be nice in a modern Tour - especially if they didn't come with a bunch of MTFs, of course.

 

[Rockestar_33]

As an aside Peyresourde is still one of the best names for a mountain in the world. Really really cool

 

[YavorD]

As an aside Peyresourde is still one of the best names for a mountain in the world. Really really cool

Why do you like it?
Personally Mortirolo is the best name for me. It even sounds scary.
I remember myself seeing the name on PCM 15 years ago without knowing the climb thinking "well, that's some name".