The 2025 Tour de France: A Historic Return to Tradition

The 2025 Tour de France will take place exclusively in France for the first time in five years marking the 112th edition of the Grand Tour. The race will kick off in Lille on July 5 and conclude in Paris on July 27 featuring a total of 21 stages. In previous years, the Tour included foreign starts with locations like Andorra in 2021, Copenhagen in 2022, Bilbao in 2023 and Florence in 2024. Therefore, this year’s edition represents a significant return to tradition. A notable highlight of the 2025 race is the return of the iconic Champs-Elysees finale.

This year’s finish coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Tour’s first finish at this historic location. Additionally, the Tour experienced a significant change this year, finishing outside Paris for the first time due to the Olympic Games. Race director Christian Prudhomme expressed excitement about bringing the Tour back to its French roots after several foreign starts, stating, “We decided to bring the Tour home; it was high time after all the foreign starts.”

The course will span 3,320 kilometers (2,063 miles) and include two time trials and six mountain-top finishes, with the initial stages primarily taking place on the plains. Furthermore, Prudhomme indicated that the route will challenge riders with fewer sprint stages and increased obstacles, saying, “I don’t think Thierry Gouvenou, who mapped out the route, left a single climb untouched between Lille and Brittany.”

The 2025 Tour de France will see defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who claimed his third title this year face off against two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard for the yellow jersey. Additionally, the women’s Tour de France will expand, featuring a ninth stage that runs from July 26 to August 3. This year, Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma triumphed in the third edition of the Tour de France Femmes.