Which sprinter will fulfill his yellow dream?

After three Grand Départs abroad (Florence in 2024, Bilbao in 2023, and Copenhagen in 2022), the Tour returns to France in 2025. It's the first time in five years that sprinters have a chance at the yellow jersey. In 2020, Alexander Kristoff achieved this in Nice after a rain-soaked stage. A year earlier, Mike Teunissen secured the first yellow jersey after a chaotic sprint in Brussels, in which team leader Dylan Groenewegen crashed.

Lille, the starting and finishing city of this stage, is a city with a rich history in France, partly due to its proximity to Belgium. With 250,000 inhabitants, the city has both strong French and Flemish influences and is an important hub in northern France. The historic Grand Place and the iconic Palais des Beaux-Arts are two of the main attractions in the city, which is also known for its football club Lille LOSC, multiple champions of France.

The 185-kilometer opening stage of 2025 isn't completely flat. After the start, west of Lille, mountain points can quickly be earned on the Côte de Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. This climb is 1.1 kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.8%. Shortly afterward follows a second short climb with a less steep gradient.

The riders then continue northward. Not far from the Belgian border lies the Kasselberg, a hill of 2.3 kilometers with a gradient of 3.7%. In the next 25 kilometers, the route continues eastward, with Mont Noir as the next and final climb of the day. This 1.3-kilometer climb with a gradient of 5.8% is also known as the Zwarteberg and has been included in Ghent-Wevelgem multiple times in the past - just like the Kasselberg.

After the Zwarteberg, there are still 45 kilometers over flat roads to the finish on Boulevard Vauban in Lille. The last kilometer of the stage is straight as an arrow: perfect for a mass sprint.

Date	05 July 2025
Start	Lille
Finish	Lille
Distance	184.9 km
Elevation gain	1150 m
Type	Individual Road Race
Average Speed	47.58 km/h
Overall Profile	Flat
Finish Profile	Flat

Tour de France

Men Elite - 2.UWT