The epilogue of this Tour de France 2025Already ! A year after the final offset in Nice due to the Paris Olympic Games 2024rEtour to tradition and return to the Champs-Élysées to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first arrival on the legendary avenue. But unlike the parade to which we are used to attending before a royal sprint without any other issue than the stage victory, the 21st and last stage of this 112nd edition will offer us a small revolution which risks seriously spicking the final. Inspired by the popular success of the Olympic Olympic layoutthe organizers saw large by adding three passages by The Butte Montmartre and its famous rue Lepic. With its cobblestones, its tight turns and the popular atmosphere that we already imagine at the top, Montmartre could transform this final usually frozen into a real Parisian classic. What to shake up the hegemony of sprinters, even if they are not completely offside.
VIDEO – Christian Prudhomme told us about this unprecedented 21st stage
Pogacar, Van Aert, Alaphilippe, Madouas … who to impose himself on this unprecedented route?
In detail, the peloton will start with three classic laps on the Champs-Élysées. During the fourth passage, the route will branch out Place de la Concorde to join rue Royale, Madeleine, Boulevard Malesherbes, Les Batignolles, then Clichy, before reaching rue Lepic. The ascent, 1.1 km long at 5.9 %, will be made by a different route from that taken during the Olympic Games, bypassing the foot of the street. After the climb, the runners will descend to the Arc de Triomphe to start a loop of about 17 kilometers, to travel three times, with a point attributed to the mountain classification at each passage. The top of the last ascent will be located six kilometers from the finish line.
If some people dreamed of a legendary battle for the yellow jersey and the general classification during this final day, it will not be. The differences between the members of the top 10 seem too large, even if it will be necessary to remain vigilant and to avoid incidents and falls for Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and others. The main issue will therefore be a prestigious victory, and in the absence of the Olympic champion Remco Evenepoelwho had demonstrated on this route last year, and Mathieu van der Poelwhich would have been a big favorite without its abandonment, the list of suitors is great. If his motivation and his desire are still there, the Slovenian world champion has all the qualities to raise his arms in yellow on the Champs-Élysées, which would constitute a strong and symbolic image.
But Pogacar will have to deal with a horde of sets and hungry teams wishing to conclude these three weeks with a victory that would certainly save anyone's assessment. And there are many lovers of classics on this tower to be able to hope to play the win, like the Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Romain Grégoire, Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotaalEnergies), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-DECEUNINCK), Anthony Turgis (TotaalEnergies), Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale)… among others. Only one thing is certain: the suspense, the show and a fiery cleiance should be there for this last day of the 2025 Tour.
The 21st stage course
– Sunday July 27 – STEP 21 : Mantes-la-Ville-Paris-Champs-Élysées / 132.3 km
