Tour de France 2025: Route, stages and TV

The 2026 men’s Tour de France is just a few weeks away, and in this comprehensive guide, we’ll highlight the major storylines, provide a stage-by-stage race guide, and explain how to watch and follow the race in your region.

The race itself is destined to be decided by a blockbuster showdown in the Alps, with two back-to-back stages that finish on the legendary climb of Alpe d’Huez. Before that, the race will navigate from Barcelona through France, take in several mountain ranges, include a decisive individual time trial, and end with a customary stage in the French capital, Paris.

Coming a month after the Giro d’Italia, and with the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift hot on the heels of the men’s race, this summer is shaping up to be one for the ages and a great chance to see our Canyon riders in action.

• ~3,300 km: total race distance  
• 113th edition of the race  
• 2 countries - The race starts in Spain before heading into France 
• 23 teams set to compete  
• 8 mountain stages   
• 6 sprint finishes   
• 2 time trials (one team and one individual)

The Tour begins Saturday, July 4, in Barcelona, Spain, and ends three weeks later in Paris on Sunday, July 26. 

In 2025, the Tour de France headed to Lille for the Grand Départ, and we saw Jasper Philipsen burst through on his Canyon Aeroad CFR to win stage 1 and pull on the yellow jersey. A day later, his teammate Mathieu van der Poel took the stage and moved into the yellow jersey.

This year the race is heading to Spain with what’s sure to be a magical start in Barcelona. The first three stages all start in Spain and will see the peloton take on some of the most stunning terrain the country has to offer.

Of course, the biggest battle at the Tour de France will center on the yellow jersey, with two former champions, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, vying to win the race. They won’t be the only contenders, and the route should have enough twists and turns to provide the odd shock and surprise, with the GC standings opening up in the mountains.

In the battle for the coveted Green jersey, Jasper Philipsen will aim to win back the crown he claimed in 2024. With teammate Mathieu van der Poel also set to contest the race, Alpecin-Premier Tech have two of the most devastating and successful sprint combinations in the peloton.

On the flat stages, Philipsen will be the main favorite, while van der Poel can win from a break or a reduced bunch sprint. There’s also fellow Alpecin-Premier Tech rider Kaden Groves to watch out for. The Australian is one of the best leadout riders in the world but can also sprint and win from a break, as he showed in last year’s Tour, when he took a stage in the final week. All three riders will be putting their Canyon Aeroad CFR bikes through their paces on their way to glory.

When it comes to the King of the Mountains jersey, one possible contender could be Cian Uijtdebroeks, who is set to race the Tour de France for the first time in his career as part of Movistar Team. The Belgian has the capacity to win a stage, race for the top-ten and climb with the best in the mountains.

The 113th edition of the Tour de France serves up a brutal yet beautiful route, kicking off with an electric Grand Départ in Barcelona. From punishing, wind-swept coastal flats to the legendary mountain peaks that will decide the yellow jersey, this year's course offers nowhere to hide.

Here is the official stage-by-stage breakdown of the 2026 route."

The 2026 Tour de France starts with a team time trial for the first time since 1971, with teams set to race a 19km course. The city-center route is flat for the most part, but there’s a sting in the tail with a demanding climb to the finish. Unlike most team time trials, where the clock stops after the fourth or fifth rider, this test against the climb records individual times at the finish. This should lead to an electric ending, with GC riders effectively slingshotted by their teammates as the final climb ramps up. Although it’s the first day of the race, the time gaps could be relatively significant, and we’ll likely see one of the overall contenders pull on the first yellow jersey of the race.  

Stage 2 of the Tour de France sees the race remain in Spain, with four categorized climbs and 182km of challenging racing. So much for allowing the riders to try and ease themselves into the race. This is a day that will be tough to control, and although there will almost surely be an early break, the GC teams will want to keep the stage under control and probably set up a showdown on the final climb that comes just before the finish. This isn’t a day for the pure sprinters, and we’ll likely see a select group contest the finish after a long day of racing alongside the coastline.  

With 3,906m of vertical climb, stage 3 from Granollers to Les Angles isn’t for the fainthearted, with the Tour de France already dipping into the Pyrenees. The stage only has four categorized climbs within it, but the Col de Toses, which peaks out at around 127km into the stage, will see the vast majority of sprinters dropped. The climbing doesn’t stop there, with rolling terrain all the way until the peloton hits the final 1.7km climb to Les Angles. Although it’s another tough day in the saddle, and the sprinters will be on their knees come the finish, at least the race will have hit French soil for the first time since the race began in Barcelona.  

Carcassonne and Foix are typical transitional stages in the Tour de France, meaning they usually come in the second or third week and allow the GC riders to sit back as a large breakaway contests the win. It’s rare to see these two locations decide a stage so early in the race, but that shouldn’t detract from what will still likely be a breakaway day. A clutch of riders will have already lost time over the first three days, so the overall contenders might appreciate a quiet day as riders who are no threat for the yellow are allowed up the road. There’s still around 3,500m of climbing on offer, but that’s perfect terrain for a strong break to go up the road and contest the win in Foix.  

After four days that center around the fight for the yellow jersey and then a stage for the break, the sprinters finally have their chance on stage 5 with a 158km test from Lannemezan to Pau. The profile isn’t entirely flat, with a handful of short climbs, but none of them will take more than a few minutes to climb, and they all come far enough from the finish for the sprinters’ teams to be able to control proceedings and set up the first mass sprint of this year’s race.  

The following day, the race dives into the Pyrenees, featuring one of this year’s most critical stages as riders tackle 4,150m of climbing, with the iconic ascents of the Col d’Aspin and Tourmalet leading them toward the summit finish at Gavarnie-Gèdre. There are two shorter climbs before we even hit the Aspin, but it’s this 12km at 6 percent that will put the peloton under pressure. The 17.3km Tourmalet could see some early GC action from the climbers before the long 18.3km climb to the finish. The ascent to Gavarnie-Gèdre is long, but the average gradient is less than 4 percent. After such a massive day in the saddle, there will be major gaps between the yellow jersey hopefuls.  

Stage 7 is all about the sprinters. There’s just one climb along the 175km route, a 1.6km effort that comes well before the finish in Bordeaux - the most visited location in Tour de France history after Paris. The race has started or finished in Bordeaux over 80 times, and this time we’ll see the fast finishes strut their stuff and decide the outcome of the stage. Alpecin-Premier Tech rider Jasper Philipsen won here in 2023 and will start as a natural favorite once again.  

Stage 8 of the Tour de France is also a mirror image of stage 7, with the sprinters once again set to come out and play to decide the outcome. The majority of the stage between Périgueux and Bergerac is flat, with only a short unclassified climb near the start and a small categorized climb well before the finish. This is a chance for those who missed out on stage 7 to bounce back before their chances truly run out.  

With several categorized climbs and around 2,400m of climbing, stage 9 from Malemort to Ussel looks destined to be decided by a breakaway or, at the very least, a reduced bunch sprint. There are around 2,400m of climbing on the menu, and with the race’s first rest day on the horizon, there will be plenty of tired legs out there. The fight for the breakaway will be intense, and with an intermediate sprint early on at Beynat, we could be waiting well over an hour before a move is finally established. Mont Besseu is the last categorized climb of the stage, but there are a few more short ascents before the finish line, giving the eventual break plenty of chances to launch a winning move.  

Following the first rest day of the Tour de France, the race heads into the Massif Central for what should be another pulsating day of climbing. Stage 10 is split into two distinct portions, with a gentle, rolling first 60 km before the hills come thick and fast over the final 100 km or so. There’s little respite for the peloton, and although the climbs never stretch above 7.8 km in length, there’s barely a flat section of road as the stage moves deeper into the mountains. The route includes the Pas de Peyrol and the Col de Pertus before the final ascent toward the ski station, but race organizers have opted to add a short descent before the finish, giving those dropped a chance to claw their way back before the line. As ever, one of the GC contenders will struggle after the rest day, but this is one of those must-watch stages in this year’s race. 

The sprinters’ teams will control this entire stage, especially with an intermediate sprint at the 27.8km mark. From there, we might see a small breakaway establish a manageable lead of a couple of minutes, but there’s little chance those riders will enjoy more than a few minutes on TV, with another expected bunch sprint in Nevers. There are two fourth-category climbs along the route, but they won’t trouble any of the remaining sprinters in the race. If this doesn’t come down to a mass bunch sprint, something has gone horribly wrong.  

It’s rare in this year’s Tour de France for the sprinters to have their say two days in a row, but that’s the likely outcome on stage 12, Chalon-sur-Saône. There’s a bit more climbing than the previous day, but nothing too demanding. Once again, there’s an intermediate sprint, but this time it comes at around the 45km mark, and at this point the sprinters’ teams might allow a small early break to contest the points as they try to conserve energy for later in the stage.  

The only stage in this year’s race longer than 200km is stage 13, with the peloton heading from Dole to Belfort. It’s a tough day to predict, with a predominantly flat 150km followed by a short cat 3 climb and then the first cat Ballon d’Alsace, which is 8.9km long and averages just under 7 percent throughout. This climb will keep the sprinters from controlling the stage, so a breakaway has a strong chance of deciding the outcome. If there’s a collection of decent sprinters who believe they can make it over the climbs, we could be set for a tough day in the saddle. The GC riders are unlikely to spring into action on the Ballon d’Alsace, as there’s still around 25km to go between the summit of the ascent and the finish in Belfort, but we could see a few surprise attacks.  

We head deeper into the Vosges for stage 14 of the race, which is easily one of the toughest days of the entire Tour. We start with the Grand Ballon, a 21.5km climb, and there’s little let-up from that point on, with the Col du Page and yesterday’s Ballon d’Alsace in quick succession. The 11.2km Col du Haag is the final ascent of the stage, and while there’s a plateau after the finish, the time gaps could be huge among the GC contenders.  

The first 170km of the stage will see a breakaway establish a healthy lead on the early climbs, but the summit finish at Plateau de Solaison will blow the race to pieces. It’s 11.3km long and features pitches, especially on the lower slopes of the climb, that reach double-digit gradients. This is the landscape on which the Tour de France can be won or lost. We’ve never had this climb in the Tour de France, so either way, history will be made.  

The individual time trial on stage 16 will see the TT purist attempt to put the climbers to the sword, but with a 9.7km climb at 4.3 percent in the middle of the stage, even some of the featherweight climbers will have a solid chance of limiting their losses. It’s a demanding and technical course, but after the second and final rest day, expect the GC contenders to go full throttle against the clock.  

Although there are four short climbs clustered within the opening 80km, stage 17 looks set for a bunch sprint in Voiron. The sprinters will have enjoyed the rest day and then had a gentle spin in the time trial, so they should be relatively fresh, even though it’s the third week of a Grand Tour. There’s a short rise within the final 5km, but it shouldn’t be a hurdle, so expect a fast finish and the best sprinters left in the race to decide the outcome.  

We’re now heading into the final and most demanding phase of the race, with three back-to-back mountain stages that will decide the final outcome of this year’s Tour de France. Stage 18 is the first of our mountain trilogy, a 185km test from Voiron to Orcières Merlette. On paper, this is the easiest of the three days in the Alps, but it’s up and down all day, with four categorized climbs before we reach the summit finish at Orcières Merlette, which was last used in 2020. The final climb is 7.1km long, with an average gradient over 6 percent. Although the next two days are harder on paper, this stage will show who is still in contention for a podium place and who could be dropping down the rankings before we reach Paris. 

Stage 19 of the Tour starts with a rude awakening, as the Col Bayard and the Col du Noyer come within the first 25km of action. There’s 75km of relatively flat road after that, so even the dropped riders will come back before the race climbs the short Col d’Ornon and then hits the summit finish at Alpe d’Huez. The most legendary Alpine climb is 13.8km at 8.1 percent, and the crowds on the 21 switchbacks will be huge. The riders won’t have much time to appreciate the support, however, as this summit finish will turn them inside out.  

It’s the Queen stage of the Tour de France, and ASO have served up something special with a second consecutive finish atop Alpe d’Huez. The profile heading to the final summit of this year’s race is far steeper than on stage 19, with Col de la Croix de Fer, the Télégraphe, and the Galibier along the route. This stage will be a true battle of attrition as the GC contenders lock horns for the final time before the stage in Paris. There are 5,600m of climbing, so this could be one of the hardest days at the Tour in living memory. It’s going to be epic.  

ASO has kept the Montmartre climb, which debuted at the race last year and was part of the road races at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. The profile of the final stage has been slightly modified compared with last year, which should lend itself to a bunch or reduced-bunch sprint.  

Movistar Team and Alpecin-Premier Tech will send stacked teams to the Tour de France as they target stage wins, jerseys, and top-10 overall finishes. 

The biggest stars will undoubtedly be Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen, who both won stages and wore the yellow jersey a year ago. Van der Poel will target reduced bunch sprints and breakaways, while Philipsen will be primed for pure bunch kicks and a tilt at winning another Green jersey, having claimed that title in 2024. Kaden Groves was forced to withdraw from the Giro d’Italia due to injury, but if he makes it to the Tour de France, he’ll dovetail his leadout duties with an attempt to win a stage for the second consecutive year. 

As for the Movistar team, they’ll be all in on Cian Uijtdebroeks. The Belgian joined the Spanish team in a surprise move last autumn but has settled into his new surroundings and is set to make his Tour debut. The rest of the team, including Pablo Castrillo, Iván Romeo, and Einer Rubio, will be targeting breakaways throughout the race.

The best way to experience the Tour de France 2026 is at the actual race. But if you don’t have enough frequent flier miles, then watching it on television is the next best thing. The following broadcasters will be showing the road cycling spectacle from start to finish. 

• TNT Sports, HBO MAX, discovery+ (UK)
• Eurosport, discovery+ (Europe)
• Peacock / NBC (USA)
• FloBikes (Canada)
• A full list of broadcasters can be found here.

Cheer for Canyon’s athletes as they chase glory at the 2026 Tour de France - and let’s look forward to a race full of passion, grit, and unforgettable moments.