Guide to the Tour de France 2025 route and detailed stage descriptions

Share and Follow

Cycling’s most prestigious race is back for its 112th edition and likely to be as hot, brutal, long and challenging a contest as ever, with riders tackling 3,339 kilometres on roads across France over three weeks.

The Tour de France begins on 5 July, with 184 riders representing 23 teams taking part.

This year the race will be held entirely in France, the first time it hasn’t held stages in other countries since 2020.

It will culminate in a spectacular finish along Paris’ Champs-Élysées, marking 50 years of the iconic finish line in the city’s heart.

Breaking down the Tour de France route

This year’s race is made up of seven flat stages, six mountain stages, six hilly stages, two time trials, and two rest days.

A large pack of cyclists descends a hill.

The pack speeds downhill in last year’s Tour de France. This year, riders will cover 3,339 kilometres in 21 days. Source: AP / Daniel Cole

The route includes:

52,500m of total ascent.
2,304m — biggest climb, Col de la Loze.
Eight towns that haven’t had the tour visit before.

What are the important jerseys for the Tour de France?

The yellow jersey, or maillot jaune, is one of the most iconic pieces of apparel in global sport and is worn by the race’s overall leader, changing depending on who that is.

Four men in different-coloured cycling kits, including a white jersey, polka-dot jersey, green jersey, and yellow jersey, stand on a podium, raising trophies, with a man in a suit standing next to them and clapping.

Belgian Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step, Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost, Eritrean Biniam Girmay Hailu of Intermarche-Wanty and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates pictured on the podium after the 2024 Tour de France cycling race. Source: AAP / Belga/David Pintens/Sipa USA

Here’s a breakdown of the important jerseys:

Yellow: Race leader. The rider with the lowest accumulated time since the tour’s beginning.
Green: Leader of the points. Usually, a sprinter who has collected points for finishing stages first.
Polka Dot: ‘King of the Mountain’. The rider with the most points from winning designated climbs.
White: Best young rider (under 26) with the lowest overall time.

The tour’s overall winner is the competitor with the lowest combined time across all 21 stages. Usually, they are an all-rounder — good at sprinting, climbing and time trials.

Who are the favourites

While some teams acknowledge they cannot win the overall title and will instead aim to win specific stages, elite teams are chasing the general classification (GC) win, which means achieving the shortest overall time.

A man in a blue cycling jersey and cap speaks to a man in a yellow cycling jersey and cap.

Tour de France winner Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey (right), and second place Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard talk after last year’s tour. Source: AP / Jerome Delay

Top GC rider Jonas Vingegaard will be determined to reclaim his overall title against rival Tadej Pogacar, and last year’s best young rider Remco Evenepoel is also considered a threat, as are Primoz Roglic, Felix Gall and Carlos Rodriguez.

After three weeks of incredible performances, Pogacar won the final stage time trial in Nice and won the race by a hefty margin of six minutes and 17 seconds last year and taking six stage wins.

Cadel Evans became the first and only Australian to win the race in 2011, converting a new wave of Tour fans.

This year, 10 Australians will be in the peloton, including Luke Durbridge, Ben O’Connor and Luke Plapp of Team Jayco AlUla.

What do riders eat?

Cyclists expend between 17,000 and 29,000 kilojoules (KJ) per stage of the race, up to 3.5 times the average recommended male adult intake of 8,700 kJ on hard days.

An estimated 37,000 water bottles will be consumed, filled with water and/or highly sugary carbohydrate mixes to maintain riders’ glycogen levels.

Three men are riding bicycles on a steep mountain.

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, wearing the best young rider’s white jersey, Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, climb during the twentieth stage of the Tour de France in last year’s competition. The three are among the race favourites. Source: AP / Daniel Cole

They’ll also eat gels, energy bars and rice cakes while in the saddle, usually passed to each other by a ‘domestique’ rider during the race, and consume high-protein meals shortly after the race finishes and then again for breakfast and dinner.

How can Australians watch the 2025 Tour de France?

All 21 stages of the 2025 Tour de France will be live-streamed in full on SBS On Demand, with live television coverage beginning on SBS at a slightly later time on most nights.

With catch-up replays as well as extended highlights and analysis available throughout the three weeks, SBS and SBS On Demand are the places to keep up to date.

A man in a green jersey leads a large pack of cyclists.

Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay, wearing the best sprinter’s green jersey, celebrated as he crossed the finish line first in stage 12 of last year’s Tour de France. Source: AP / Jerome Delay

Fans will also have access to a new mobile-optimised Race Centre on the SBS Sport website.

The Race Centre will provide key statistical features, including live tracking of riders to help follow the race.