The mighty Mount Ventoux is back for the 2025 Tour de France

The 2025 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes routes were unveiled on Tuesday in Paris, the men's race features Five Summit Finishes and an uphill time trial in the Pyrenees.

Five summit finishes, an uphill time trial in the Pyrenees, the Col de la Loze in reverse, the return of Mont Ventoux and a traditional Paris finale all feature in the route of the 2025 Tour de France. For the first time in five years, the race takes part entirely in France and should play host to a sumptuous showdown between defending champion Tadej Pogacar and his big rival Jonas Vingegaard.

Spanning from 5th - 27th July, the men's Tour consists of 21 stages and stretches across 2,062 miles. The first edition take place entirely within France, following starts in Spain, Italy, and Denmark over the past three years.

The 2025 Tour celebrates two 50th anniversaries: the first Tour's conclusion on the Champs-Élysées and the introduction of the polka-dot and white jerseys, recognizing the best climber and young rider, respectively.

The race begins in Northern France, with an opening summit finish on the tenth day, coinciding with Bastille Day, compensating for the absence of early mountain stages in the 112th edition of the Tour de France. While the first week may lack climbing thrills, it compensates with a series of challenging stages across Northern France. Despite seven stages being earmarked for sprinters throughout the three-week course, none are completely flat.

Competitors will face two individual time trials: a flat 21-mile challenge on stage 5 and a hilly 6.8-mile trial on stage 13, the shortest since the 2012 prologue and the briefest mid-Tour time trial since 1977.

The second week of the race moves into the Pyrenees, featuring the second time trial and summit finishes at Hautacam (13.6km at 7.8%) and Superbagneres (12.4km at 7.5%), which promise to add excitement to the second week and compensate for the lower altitudes in the first nine days of racing.

For those concerned about a dominant performance by Pogacar, Hautacam is notable as the location where Vingegaard decisively strengthened his lead during his first Tour victory over the Slovenian in 2022. Stage 19's ascent to Superbagneres, a climb steeped in history from the Fignon-LeMond showdown of 1989, also traverses the Tourmalet via the less frequented Luz-Saint-Sauveur route and the Col d’Aspin via Payolle.

The start of the third week features a notable ascent of Mont Ventoux during the 16th stage, marking one of three summit finishes during the final week which has seen epic duels including Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong in 2000. The race has finished at the summit of Mont Ventoux ten times. In 2016, the stage to Mont Ventoux saw a motorcycle hit Chris Froome's bike, prompting him to run some 100 metres up the mountain until he was able to get a neutral service bike which did not fit him properly.

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar aims for his fourth Tour title, potentially matching Chris Froome's achievement and trailing only the four legends who have claimed five victories.

The Tour de France Femmes, set for July 26-August 3, expands from eight to nine stages in its fourth year. The 723-mile women's Tour begins in Brittany and culminates with two mountain stages, including a summit finish at the Col de la Madeleine on the second-to-last day.

Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma emerged victorious in the 2024 Tour, succeeding Dutch champions Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering from the inaugural two editions.