Stages of the Tour de France 2025 that you can't miss

Of the 21 stages that will make up the 2025 Tour de France starting next Saturday, July 5, there are some that you should mark on your calendar as the show will be guaranteed and they will likely be the ones that ultimately decide the final classification of the race. These are the stages you must watch.

These are the queen stages of the 2025 Tour de France

Three-week races like the 2025 Tour de France are, above all, races of regularity in which all terrains are included, with the key days focusing on where the favorites cannot hide in a few days that ultimately decide the outcome.

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The 2025 Tour de France, in this edition, has taken up many of its classic identity signs such as a first week with a predominance of flat stages, although in this case deceptively as the rugged terrain of Northern France and Brittany hide traps at every meter. In any case, days of survival for the general classification favorites who will be more focused on getting through the days and avoiding falls that could make them lose their chances right from the start.

The attention in the first week will be focused on the early time trial of the 5th stage, to be held on Wednesday, July 9. 33 kilometers that will be the great opportunity for a cyclist like Remco Evenepoel who, after his demonstrated weakness against his rivals in the mountains during the Critérium du Dauphiné, will have to give his all on that day to achieve an advantage that he can manage when the big climbs arrive.

It will not be until the 10th stage, on Monday, July 14, when the peloton faces the first real contact with the mountains with a stage through the tough terrain of the Massif Central in a stage full of climbs that ends in Mont Dore. These are the days where it is often said that the Tour de France is not won but that always leaves a supposedly favorite rider discarded for the victory.

A day that marks the end of a particularly long first week as the rest day is moved to Tuesday falling on July 14, Bastille Day, on Monday, the date on which this mentioned stage is held, which always turns out to be a special day for the Tour de France. From there, the remaining two weeks are extremely intense starting with the trio of stages in the Pyrenees with a first stage, which will be stage 12 and will take place on Thursday, July 17, which will finish at the mythical Hautacam, the summit where Jonas Vingegaard defeated Tadej Pogacar for the last time to seal the 2023 Tour.

It will be followed by a time trial, stage 13 on Friday, July 18, of just 11 kilometers to Peyragudes that presumably should not create big differences although, with monsters like Pogacar, who knows what could happen. Even more important will be the third day in the Pyrenees, on Saturday, July 19, which recovers another mythical finish from the 80s like the tough ascent to Superbagneres preceded by a classic chain like Tourmalet, Aspin, and Peyresourde, undoubtedly a day to make differences.

After this, we will have to look ahead to the third and final week that begins with a single mountain stage in stage 16 to be held on Tuesday, July 22. But if that single mountain is called Mont Ventoux, things change considerably as it is a climb that, by itself, is enough to make differences, especially if the wind makes an appearance as it can affect not only the toughness of the final part of the climb but also the very long flat stretch that precedes its ascent.

The icing on the cake of the race will be experienced in two consecutive days in the Alps with a truly inhuman first day in stage 18, to be held on Thursday, July 24, undoubtedly the queen stage of this 2025 Tour, which will lead the Tour de France caravan to the top of the Col de la Loze, an arrival that has added a plus to a usual finish in the French round like Courchevel and is on its way to becoming a classic finish that becomes even tougher by being preceded by the ascents to two Alpine monsters like Glandon and Madeleine.

The next day, another stage, stage 19, no less tough than the one they have just overcome, will be the last opportunity for anyone who wants to win the Tour de France with the arrival at another mythical finish like La Plagne and which, like the previous day, has a prior chain of truly inhuman climbs.

By the way, although it probably does not have relevance for the general classification, this year we should not skip the final day in Paris to enjoy the spectacle that the Olympic circuit with the climbs to Montmartre can offer as a nice finishing touch to the race.