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Tour de France 2025 route rumours and announcements

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OlavEH

Oct 19, 2011
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If there is one thing I hope for next year, it is that the custom design some stages more suitable for breakways. This year it has been pretty crappy. That is also due to the lack of will to attack by some teams, and to many teams aiming for the sprints, but more hilly routes and especially in the first half of the stage would make it more likely with some proper breakaway groups.
 
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Ulle97

Ulle97

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OlavEH said:
If there is one thing I hope for next year, it is that the custom design some stages more suitable for breakways. This year it has been pretty crappy. That is also due to the lack of will to attack by some teams, and to many teams aiming for the sprints, but more hilly routes and especially in the first half of the stage would make it more likely with some proper breakaway groups.
Click to expand...
Breakaways are boring....... riders getting handy wins.

Can't beat the GC men battling it out.
 
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xuziqiangnuctech@outlook.

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Fyr3 said:
Interested to see the Finestre rumours resurface with this info from RAI. I heard previously rumours of Crans-Montana and Varese on the Tour de France, to be seen if these also resurface but, after all the foreign excursions in recent years, I don't really believe in it all that much. There is also the question of Alps or Pyrenees as the final major massif; if we end in the Alps in 2025 that will make it already 3 years in a row without a finish in the Pyrenees which is already quite rare and, additionally, the 2026 Grand Depart is from Barcelona. Since people on Le Gruppetto seem to be fairly confident in a week 2 visit to the Pyrenees and week 3 to the Alps in 2024 I suspect this means the 2026 route will see a format similar to 2024 with a small passage by the Pyrenees in the first week, the Alps in the middle of the race and then a return to the Pyrenees for the final mountain stages.

If we want to combine all the big rumours over the past few years that never transpired or remain to be seen then, along with some personal touches, I would predict a route something like this.

Week 1: East to West nothing surprising here I think this has been suspected for a while. One interesting detail, will ASO venture to try out the Ribinou after the success of the Troyes stage this year?

Week 2 and 3: Le Gruppetto seems to think a day of rest in Toulouse and Pyrenees immediately after the rest day, I see it being a compact 5 day week of racing as in 2014 and 2019. Super Bagnères is an obvious potential finish that has been rumoured for a long time, why not after Port de Balès which would make for a great sequence. After that you most likely head eastwards with the usual suspects like Saint-Girons, Foix etc. Maybe even Andorra though I see that more for 2026. Heck I would like to see a return to the Port de Pailhères / Ax 3 Domaines sequence. At any rate, probably a couple of stages in the Pyrenees then the usual transfer stages towards the alps, maybe a time trial thrown in somewhere depending on what the first week looks like. Ventoux is always an option. Since I have seen rumours that the penultimate stage will be in the Vosges again its very possible the race already reaches somewhere like Gap the day before rest, maybe even an arrival on Granon already before the rest day so we can separate the Granon and Finestre stages? After that transition to the north with a passage via Switzerland if you want to satisfy the Varese / Crans-Montana rumours. I could see this:
11.) Toulouse area > Super Bagnères
12.) Toulouse area > Foix
13.) massif central transfer stage, Rodez seems ideal
14.) massif central transfer stage ending in a sprint in the Rhône Valley, Valence would seem ideal since it has hosted arrivals in 2015, 2018 and 2021. Additional bonus of the crosswind potential to catch out gc guys.
15.) Arrival at Granon lets just say from Grenoble, you can do it unipuerto style via just Lautaret or go all in for a queen stage taking Croix-de-Fer and Galibier north for close to 6000m of elevation gain. Normally wouldn't see ASO doing something like that but if they go light elsewhere in the mountains it is not implausible. Of course Serre chevalier could also just sponsor a finish like in 2017 which would still be an alright stage coming before a rest day.

Week 3: Alps split up by a flat stage through italy and then a finale in the vosges. Something like this:

16.) I would see a Briançon to Sestriere stage whose difficulty depends on the Granon stage. If the Granon is fairly light you could do Galibier north > Maurienne valley > Mont Cenis > Finestre > Sestriere. Otherwise start out of Briançon and immediately climb to Montgenèvre > Susa > Finestre > Sestriere for one of these ultra short (100km) mountain stages ASO likes to try out then and again. You can always go south to find the Izoard and then loop back around if you want to make it longer and harder.
17.) sprint stage probably a start in Turin and arrival in Varese?
18.) start from somewhere in the Lake Maggiore region and cross the Simplon pass before an arrival in Crans-Montana.
19.) depart from Aigle or similar, arrive in Besançon can be done within 170km or there abouts without too much climbing.
20.) Vosges stage featuring the Col du Haag which has been rumoured a lot in recent years.
21.) Paris.
All in all assuming nothing crazy in between it would make for:
3 foreign arrivals (Sestriere/Varese/Crans-Montana) and departures
6 high mountain stages of which at least 4 summit arrivals (Super Bagnères, Foix, Granon, Sestriere, Crans-Montana, Vosges)
Probably something in the order of 6-8 potential HC climbs (Balès/Super Bagnères/Croix de Fer/Granon/Galibier/Izoard/Finestre/Simplon*/Crans-Montana*/Col du Haag*) where * is borderline.
It is pretty backloaded but that isn't necessarily a problem with the depart from Barcelona the next year to balance things out and at least we finally get a full week in the north again for what the first time since 2018?
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The rumor before is Finestre would be used as a summit finish for the second time after Tour de Avenir this year, isn't it?
 
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OlavEH

Oct 19, 2011
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Fyr3 said:
Super Bagnères is an obvious potential finish that has been rumoured for a long time, why not after Port de Balès which would make for a great sequence.
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This would certainly be interesting. Since Pla d'Adet is used this year, I guess Col de Portet is not an option. And neither a big Ariege stage since we also had Plateau de Belle this year. Thin a finish near Luchon and one further west (Luz Ardiden/Hautacam/Gourette) seems like the most viable options. If that and Granon stage are the queen stages next year, I would be pretty satisfied.
 
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perico

perico

Mar 11, 2009
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Superbagneres- there have been rumors of its return for the last 15 years. At this point it’s like the Puy de Dome. More myth than realistic.

I’d like to see a return of Mont du Chat. However I don’t mind most mtn finishes besides Peyregudes and Planche des Belle Filles. I could care less if I ever see those two again.
 
Gigs_98

Gigs_98

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perico said:
Superbagneres- there have been rumors of its return for the last 15 years. At this point it’s like the Puy de Dome. More myth than realistic.

I’d like to see a return of Mont du Chat. However I don’t mind most mtn finishes besides Peyregudes and Planche des Belle Filles. I could care less if I ever see those two again.
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I genuinely like the old PdBF finish that was last used in a non TT in 2017. I wouldn't mind seeing that again. But since they ruines the climb by putting a gravel ramp at the finish I absolutely cannot stand it.
 
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perico

perico

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OlavEH said:
This I certainly agree on. I'm a bit tired of Alpe d'Huez also, but given the current riders in the GC, I'm pretty sure that would also be a good stage. But Peyragudes and PdBF, I really, really hope the avoid.
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The problem with Planche des Belle Filles is that it’s more suited for the Vuelta or Itzula. Everything around it is short and steep, but it doesn’t follow any epic climbs.

The Peyresourde is fine in the middle of a stage, but as an MTF, it’s a waste when you have so many tougher MTFs in the Pyrenees. It’s the climb I most associate with the 2012 TdF, when Prudhomme wanted Wiggins to get a Tour win in an Olympic year. I get that a lot of it has to do with money and towns not wanting the headache of hosting the TDF, but the Prudhomme era has neglected the great Pyrenean climbs for the most part. No Superbagneres, Port de Larrau, Luz Ardiden once a decade and so many more.

I have no problem with the Alpe. It’s the first MTF in Tour history, and growing up in the 1980s, it was always the place where the TDF was won or lost. The climb isn’t extraordinary, but the stage is always so damn hard. I would love to see it used more creatively like they have done in the Dauphiné.

The Ventoux bugs me more than the alpe because you have to do a double ascent to make it a worthwhile stage.
 
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houtdffan

Jul 20, 2019
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perico said:
The problem with Planche des Belle Filles is that it’s more suited for the Vuelta or Itzula. Everything around it is short and steep, but it doesn’t follow any epic climbs.

The Peyresourde is fine in the middle of a stage, but as an MTF, it’s a waste when you have so many tougher MTFs in the Pyrenees. It’s the climb I most associate with the 2012 TdF, when Prudhomme wanted Wiggins to get a Tour win in an Olympic year. I get that a lot of it has to do with money and towns not wanting the headache of hosting the TDF, but the Prudhomme era has neglected the great Pyrenean climbs for the most part. No Superbagneres, Port de Larrau, Luz Ardiden once a decade and so many more.

I have no problem with the Alpe. It’s the first MTF in Tour history, and growing up in the 1980s, it was always the place where the TDF was won or lost. The climb isn’t extraordinary, but the stage is always so damn hard. I would love to see it used more creatively like they have done in the Dauphiné.

The Ventoux bugs me more than the alpe because you have to do a double ascent to make it a worthwhile stage.
Click to expand...

how much say does Prudhomme even have over the tour and vuelta routes? He seems fine letting Gouvenou and Guillen ruin both races
 
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Fyr3

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Red Rick said:
If Crans Montana is the day after Sestriere - couldn't they just start somewhere in Italy and then copy paste the botched Giro stage with Grande San Benardo and Croix de Coeur?
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Yes but it's a pretty big transfer from Finestre / Sestriere to the area around Ivrea, at least 2 hours or so. Additionally I am not so sure the Tour would want to take that croix de Coeur descent after the safety concerns of recent years.
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

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Fyr3 said:
Yes but it's a pretty big transfer from Finestre / Sestriere to the area around Ivrea, at least 2 hours or so. Additionally I am not so sure the Tour would want to take that croix de Coeur descent after the safety concerns of recent years.
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It's technical - therefore it's safe.

Much safer than the Bonette descent where they should hit 100kph + on a narrow twisty road next to a steep cliff
 
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Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

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OlavEH said:
If there is one thing I hope for next year, it is that the custom design some stages more suitable for breakways. This year it has been pretty crappy. That is also due to the lack of will to attack by some teams, and to many teams aiming for the sprints, but more hilly routes and especially in the first half of the stage would make it more likely with some proper breakaway groups.
Click to expand...
This is kind of the problem of the successful locking of the top level, though. Now there are no teams who are just happy to get the TV time, because they don't have to worry about making sure they're visible to earn invites (they get them automatically), and days in the classification jerseys are less important than coming 8th in a bunch sprint for the UCI points that help you stay at the level you're at; meanwhile the gap between the very top and the next best has become so high that lesser teams don't even feel like they have a chance to get those secondary classifications and don't even try.

20 out of 22 invites are guaranteed, and the other 2 are handed to teams who are pushing for promotion. The top 2-3 teams bogart all the prize money and the rest fight over scraps - of which sitting back and battling for placements is the easiest way to do so - to protect their spot. It is just like soccer - the top leagues are great and make tons of money for the top few clubs, everybody else in the top level is just there to avoid relegation and be thankful that they can continue to suck up the TV money, a litany of the same teams rotate promotion and relegation most seasons with the occasional bit of variation, and anybody beyond that level may as well not exist for all the visibility they have or chances they have of.

For several years, the fact that there was no artificial break-of-the-day action in women's cycling was a stick used to beat it with, neglecting that there's no point in doing the TV breakaway if your race isn't on TV. There has to be an incentive for that kind of action, and usually the TV time has sufficed. Now, there's no reason for it because every team knows it is more or less safe, and if they are in danger, the solution is not to go on meaningless breakaways in the big races, it's to send your sprinter to some nothingburger one day races in France and Belgium that pay a huge amount of points relative to their importance.

Jonathan Vaughters always said his franchise idea with the guaranteed ten year invites was going to be a great thing for the sport, but what we've learned in the last couple of years is that if you remove jeopardy from the sport, you also remove a great deal of the need for action, because a lot of the time those teams like Agritubel, Saur-Sojasun and Brétagne-Seché were going on the break of the day escapades because a) it was their best chance of winning, hoping that the big teams let the break go or miscalculated; and b) because it was their best hope of guaranteeing their sponsor enough coverage to make it worth their continued investment. So, instead, we get 22 teams all waiting on somebody else to provide the artificial break of the day action, because they need to save their legs to set up their sprinter to crash in the run-in because the stage wasn't selective enough and somebody divebombed a dangerous corner at 1500m from the line come 9th in the bunch sprint for the UCI points.
 
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