The route unveiling of the 2025 Tour de France lies fewer than two weeks away on October 29. The Grand Départ of next July's race has already been revealed, with the northern city of Lille and the Nord department hosting the opening three stages.
Now, rumours suggest that returns to Mont Ventoux, the Col de la Loze and La Plagne are on the cards in the final week of the race.
The early part of the 2025 Tour de France route is likely to take in a first week time trial and a visit to Brittany ahead of a Tuesday rest day to avoid a clash with Bastille Day. The Pyrenean stages, according to several reports, appear to include visits to Hautacam, Superbagnères, and a mountain time trial at Peyregudes.
Now, the rest of the Tour route is taking shape ahead of the big reveal at the end of the month.
A report from Le Dauphiné Libéré suggests that the race will head to the northern Alps for its final major tests ahead of the final stage in Paris.
The Newspaper reports that the Tour will return to Mont Ventoux for the first time in four years on July 22, the day after the race's second rest day in Montpellier. The lengthy stage would conclude with a summit finish at the top of the famous mountain for the first time since 2013 when Chris Froome beat Nairo Quintana en route to his first Tour victory.
Following on from stage 16, the next day would be run as a transition stage towards the Alps ahead of the final major tests of the race.
However, instead of a return to L'Alpe d'Huez, the Tour is set to stage its final summit tests at the Col de la Loze and La Plagne. Stage 17 would set off from Vif in the outskirts of Grenoble, taking the peloton over the Col du Glandon before finishing atop the Col de la Loze (18.6km at 7.7%).
The stage, then, would likely be a near-copy of the 170km stage 17 from the 2020 race, where Miguel Angel López broke away to victory as Primož Roglič extended his yellow jersey lead over Tadej Pogačar. The 2023 edition was the most recent to feature the Loze, albeit not as a summit finish, with a descent into Courchevel taking in the end of the stage when Pogačar famously said "I'm gone, I'm dead" and lost 5:45 to Jonas Vingegaard.
Details of stage 18 are less clear, with several routes possible from the likely start town of Albertville and the finish at La Plagne (17.1km at 7.6%). The inclusion of the mountain seems sure, though, with the summit finish set to feature for the first time since Michael Boogerd took victory with a 90km breakaway on stage 16 of the 2002 race.
The Critérium du Dauphiné was the most recent race to feature a finish at La Plagne, with Mark Padun soloing to victory on the mountain at the 2021 edition of the June race.
