𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Tour loves an anniversary and you may notice tributes to Bernard Hinault sprinkled through the route, 40 years after his fifth and final yellow jersey in 1985, a nice touch even if it serves to underline the long, long French wait for another home winner. You can bet Hinault would not have predicted Slovenia would be the dominant nation in the Alps and Pyrenees 40 years on, not least because it didn’t yet exist.

Tadej Pogacar and his fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic make up two of the “big four”, along with Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel and the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, who all start the Tour de France for the second year in a row. Last year’s mouthwatering four-way contest was scuppered by a crash in the opening week, which killed off Roglic’s challenge and harmed Evenepoel’s, and much of the talk among them this week has been simply of survival.

This year’s Tour de France is a real ‘Tour of France’, taking place entirely within French borders for the first time since 2020.

It’s also one of the most brutal routes in recent history, featuring a real ‘Who’s Who’ of the Tour’s most fearsome, infamous climbs: Mont Ventoux, Hautacam, Superbagneres, and one stage features the trifecta of hors-categorie ascents the Col de la Madeleine, Col du Glandon, and Col de la Loze, the highest point of this year’s race (Souvenir Henri Desgrange, named after the Tour’s intrepid founder).

There are pitfalls throughout the route for any yellow jersey hopefuls to avoid, with crosswinds threatening to wreak havoc in a tricky, punchy opening week in the north of France, before the real mountains begin almost halfway through the race.

The 2025 Tour de France is nearly upon us, and history is on the line as Tadej Pogacar bids to become only the sixth rider ever to win four yellow jerseys.

This year’s race is the 112th edition of the Tour. It begins with the Grand Depart in Lille, Normandy before finishing in Paris on 27 July with a twist: a hilly circuit around Montmartre. To get there, riders will take on 21 stages all within France including two time-trials and five summit finishes, with a testing route through the Pyrenees before a brutal finale in the Alps featuring Mont Ventoux and the Col de la Loze, the highest point in the race.

Lawrence Ostlere has put together a handy guide of every stage in this year’s race:

The 2025 Tour de France will be the 112th edition of the race, as Tadej Pogacar aims to defend the yellow jersey and win the fourth Tour of his career.

The route begins in Lille, Normandy before making a clockwise route around France, via the Pyrenees and then the Alps, before the finale in Paris. The race will return to its roots with all 21 stages taking place in its homeland, the first exclusively French Tour for five years.

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the Tour de France 2025 Grand Depart!

Stage 1 is a battle for the sprinters in Lille with not just a stage win up for grabs but the chance to sport the yellow jersey, the first time the fast men will contest the win since 2020.