The Tour de France guide with all the stage profiles on one page along with a summary of each stageat inrng.com/tour and from here to July available via the menu at the top of the page.
Once the race rulebook is published there will be details on the points and mountains competitions, time cuts and more for easy reference during July.
Route Summary
54,450m of vertical gain in total, the third most mountainous route in the last 20 years (average is 50,400m) but a lot of this climbing is away from the set-piece mountain stages and reserved for battles stages in the mid-mountains. There are seven summit finishes but some are mild like Les Angles and Gavarnie. One solo time trial with 26km makes it the third lightest for TT distance in the last 20 years (average 50km). The sprinters get five clear chances, the same as last year but those with range have a shot at more wins.
The start in Barcelona obliges an early visit to the Pyrenees and so these are more hors-d’œuvre than main course. Indeed the route seems designed to leave the reveal of the winner for as late as possible with mid-mountain stages that look promising for frantic breakaway days, although even better if the big names want to try too.
There’s no realistic course that could trouble Pogačar – a blend of 21 sprints and time trials could thwart him but it’s not a realistic prospect – and so even if we think we know the winner already, plenty of stages along the way offer amusement before the Alpe d’Huez finale.
Stage 1 – Saturday 4 July
A team time trial in Barcelona. Held in the evening, the time of each team is taken on their first rider across the line and all riders get credited with the time it takes them to complete the course. It’s on big boulevards at first where strong riders can propel their teams before two climbs in Montjuïc where team leaders will make their bids for the first yellow jersey.
Stage 2 – Sunday 5 July
A spin up the Mediterranean coast then turning inland to add some climbing in the hills before a finishing circuit in Barcelona with the finish again in Montjuïc. The finish line is in the same place as the first stage but the preceding climb is different, it’s steeper and was used when the Vuelta a España finished here in 2023. If it helps imagine the Volta a Catalunya finish, just harder.
Stage 3 – Monday 6 July
A mountain stage? It goes into the Pyrenees, there are 3,850m of vertical gain and the finish is just short of 1,800m above sea level so yes. The finish isn’t savage but has some hairpins and should give us a glimpse of form.
Stage 4 – Tuesday 7 July
2,700m of vertical gain and this looks like an ideal mid-mountain stage for the breakaway, especially if the yellow jersey after Barcelona and Les Angles wants to give it away to better reclaim it later. It’s all on scenic roads of the Aude and Ariège.
Stage 5 – Wednesday 8 July
The stage goes to Pau for the 77th time. It’s not totally flat but this is a day for the sprinters.
Stage 6 – Thursday 9 July
The Tourmalet awaits after the classic route out of Pau via Lourdes to the Col d’Aspin. So far, so déjà vu but the finish is novel with the climb to the village of Gavarnie. It’s a spectacular location inside a national park which explains why the race hasn’t been here before and if it works it opens up more routes that’s exciting as same road goes on to the Col de Tentes at over 2,200m but next time as that would be too much for the first Thursday.
Stage 7 – Friday 10 July
A sprint finish in Bordeaux. We’ll see if anyone attacks at all given the move is certain to be reeled in.
Stage 8 – Saturday 11 July
A sprint stage, this time arguably more scenic as it follows the Dordogne valley to Bergerac.
Stage 9 – Sunday 12 July
A day for the breakaway on hilly terrain with sapping rural roads that offer little rest. It’s likely more teams have spent more time analysing this stage than the Alpe d’Huez days as so many will want to go for the win on a day with plenty of uncategorised climbs. Expect a raucous first hour and more.
Stage 10 – Tuesday 14 July
Bastille day and it’s back to Le Lioran for the third time this decade after 2020 and 2024. Visitors to the ski station could be forgiven for thinking there’s only one road there as the same roads are used again: the steep Pas de Peyrol and the Col de Pertus leading to the Font de Cère. It’s no bad thing, a photofinish was needed to separate Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard last time.
Stage 11 – Wednesday 15 July
A flat stage to Nevers. When Paris-Nice came here in 2024 the team time trial found a steep hill to spice up the finish but this time it’s a day pledged to the sprinters.
Stage 12 – Thursday 16 July
Hillier than the previous stage, the sprinters will be desperate to take this as afterwards their opportunities vanish.
Stage 13 – Friday 17 July
The first two editions of the Tour de France did cross some small mountain passes and hills but in 1905 the Ballon d’Alsace was the first big mountain tackled by the race. Today it takes 150km to reach it which is a problem for the eventual stage winner as they’ll have to cope with pushing a big gear for hours before finding their climbing legs to make their winning move. Will the GC riders attack? Don’t bet on it given the next stage.
Stage 14 – Saturday 18 July
Only 155km and 3,800m of vertical gain but this is a crucial stage. The race has crossed the Col du Haag many times but in passing along the ridge of the Grand Ballon. Now it takes a new route up, a forest track that’s been paved to use as a cycle path and it’s steep and cycle-path wide in places, think an Alsatian version of the Col de Loze.
Stage 15 – Sunday 19 July
With luck we could have two races for the price of one as the breakaway goes clear to contest the stage win and the GC contenders battle it out. The stage opens in the Jura mountains and some gentle but persistent climbs. The “new” climb is Mont Salève, climbed via the direct route on the north-west flank and while the profile says it’s 4.7km at 11%, it climbs to the start making it 9km at 9% and the upper half has sustained sections at 15% so plenty will be dropped here. There’s still about a third of the stage left before the final climb to the Plateau de Solaison, 11km at 9% where Isaac del Toro just wrapped up the Aura Tour.
Stage 16 – Tuesday 21 July
A time trial on the shores of Lake Geneva. The hilly climb out of Evian is gradual, it climbs at 3% most of the time on a regular road before a trickier descent. What looks flat for the final 8km is twisty in Thonon.
Stage 17 – Wednesday 22 July
Plenty of jagged peaks and cliffs on the horizon but the route avoids the mountain roads. It still crosses the Massif des Bauges and climbs to the Col du Frêne before dropping back to skirt the start town of Chambéry and then take the Col de Couz before the route reaches the plains for Voiron which hosted the Vuelta’s French arrival last year. Sold as a sprint stage when presented last autumn, many will be tired now and this is a great day for a breakaway battle.
Stage 18 – Thursday 23 July
A ski station summit finish that avoids the high passes, the Col de la Festinière comes after Monteynard and no surprises before the finish in Orcière-Merlette, 7km at 6.5%. It featured in the 2020 Tour’s first week and the low gradient saw teams ride up in train formation and anyone who struck out was mown down. Coming in the third week means it should be different and a breakaway should be clear for the stage win.
Stage 19 – Friday 24 July
Just 130km. The Bayard and then Noyer climbs will sting early on as a move tries to go clear for the day. The Col d’Ornon is a gentle climb before a spectacular descent to Le Bourg d’Oisans. Then come the 21 hairpins – 23 if you actually count them – to the finish line in Alpe d’Huez, back after a four year hiatus. It’s famous for being famous but with 13km at over 8% it’s a decisive climb.
Stage 20 – Saturday 26 July
After the peloton’s had a rough night’s sleep at 1900m in Alpe d’Huez here comes the Queen Stage with 5,600m of vertical gain. The Croix de Fer is a big start and then comes the mighty Galibier, the high point of the Tour. The plot twist is rather than the descent all the way to Le Bourg d’Oisans at the foot of Alpe d’Huez, a right turn instead to tackle the Col de Sarenne which leads onto Alpe d’Huez via a backroad. The Sarenne has been used before but as a descent and the climb is tougher than the stats suggest.
Stage 21 – Sunday 26 July
It’s back to Paris with the Rue Le Pic and Montmartre making an encore after the thrills they supplied the last time. The Paris match will be slightly different this time with a longer passage along the Champs-Elysées in between to lengthen the laps and give some riders more chance to chase in between the ascents of Montmartre.
The Unmissable Stages
Do you really want to miss anything? Every stage is live from start to finish and with most of the best riders present and in peak form there’s an intensity and pressure only felt at the Tour.
The easy advice is to say watch almost everything but on the sprint stages tune in for the finish; but if you did that last year you’d have missed Jonas Rickaert and Mathieu van der Poel’s thrilling move.
- Stage 1 should look the part amid the landmarks of Barcelona and the team time trial is now a televisual event thanks to the rule timing riders individually
- Stage 2 should offer lively sport in the finish
- Stage 6 for the Tourmalet and Gavarnie finish
- Stage 9 for the breakaway battle, the first hour could be more thrilling than the last
- Stage 14 for the Vosges mountains and the Haag summit finish
- Stage 15 for the Plateau de Solaison finish
- Stage 19 for the Alpe d’Huez summit finish
- Stage 20 and the Alpe d’Huez encore, hopefully there’s some suspense left
- Stage 21 for the Paris match in Montmartre