Preview: Tour de France (week 1)

From Flanders to Brittany: Seven Days to the Mûr

The 2025 Tour de France sets off from Lille with a week of racing that winds through the northern heartlands of French cycling. These opening stages promise tension rather than resolution: a string of flat and hilly tests that offer opportunities for sprinters, puncheurs, and early breakaway gamblers—but no mercy for those dreaming of yellow in Nice. From the cobbled aura of Flanders to the windswept coastlines of Normandy and the rugged ridges of Brittany, the first week plays out on roads heavy with memory.

Lille, Dunkerque, Rouen, Caen, Mûr-de-Bretagne—each town has hosted the Tour in years past, and each carries the names of legends who once raised their arms in triumph. These are not stages to win the Tour, but they are stages that can begin to lose it. Echelons, late splits, and one long, flat time trial could all prove decisive before the peloton ever smells the high mountains.

The Tour may only just be beginning—but as always, the fight for control starts early.

© A.S.O.

Stage previews for Stages 1 to 7

Stage 1 – July 5, 2025 | Lille – Lille (184.9 km) | Flat Stage

The Grand Départ returns to Lille for a pan-flat opener designed for speed. With barely a bump on the route, it’s a textbook day for the sprinters to stake their claim to the first yellow jersey. Expect chaos in the final kilometers as teams jostle for position through the city’s wide boulevards and tight turns. The last time Lille hosted an opening stage, Marcel Kittel triumphed in 2014. Long before him, legends like Hinault, Bobet, and Ferdi Kübler thundered through the cobbled heart of Flanders’ French cousin. A bunch sprint is all but guaranteed—unless the wind says otherwise.

Past Stage Winners in Lille:

• 2014 | Marcel Kittel

• 1994 | Chris Boardman (Grand Départ – ITT)

• 1982 | Jan Raas

• 1980 | Bernard Hinault

• 1956 | Alfred De Bruyne

• 1954 | Louison Bobet

• 1953 | Stanislas Bober

• 1950 | Alfredo Pasotti

• 1947 | Ferdi Kübler

• 1938 | François Neuville

• 1937 | Jean Majerus

• 1936 | Paul Egli

• 1935 | Romain Maes

• 1934 | Georges Speicher

• 1933 | Maurice Archambaud

• 1906 | Emile Georget

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Stage 2 – July 6, 2025 | Lauwin-Planque – Boulogne-sur-Mer (209.1 km) | Hilly Stage

A rugged ride from the industrial north to the windswept cliffs of the Opal Coast. This is a day for the opportunists. Narrow roads, rolling hills, and short, punchy climbs will sap the legs—especially in the final 30 km, where the gradients stiffen before a tricky uphill drag into Boulogne-sur-Mer. Peter Sagan burst onto the Tour scene here in 2012 with a swashbuckling win. It’s a day tailor-made for classics riders and strongmen who thrive in the grey zones between sprint and mountain.

Past Stage Winners in Boulogne-sur-Mer:

• 2012 | Peter Sagan

• 2001 | Erik Zabel

• 1994 | Jean-Paul van Poppel

• 1949 | Norbert Callens

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Stage 3 – July 7, 2025 | Valenciennes – Dunkerque (178.3 km) | Flat Stage

Another flat stage—but appearances deceive. The proximity to the North Sea means crosswinds are a constant threat. If the breeze picks up across the Flandrian flats, the peloton could split into echelons and create havoc. The final run into Dunkerque is wide and fast, favoring a mass sprint unless the wind gods intervene. The city has hosted Tour heroes for over a century, from Firmin Lambot in 1919 to Christophe Moreau in 2001.

Past Stage Winners in Dunkerque:

• 2001 | Christophe Moreau (Grand Départ)

• 1995 | Jeroen Blijlevens

• 1966 | Gerben Karstens

• 1958 | Gerrit Voorting

• 1927 | André Leducq

• 1926 | Gustaaf Van Slembrouck

• 1925 | Hector Martin

• 1924 | Romain Bellenger

• 1923 | Felix Goethals

• 1922 | Felix Sellier

• 1921 | Felix Goethals

• 1920 | Felix Goethals

• 1919 | Firmin Lambot

• 1914 | François Faber

• 1913 | Marcel Buysse

• 1912 | Charles Crupelandt

• 1911 | Gustave Garrigou

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Stage 4 – July 8, 2025 | Amiens – Rouen (174.2 km) | Hilly Stage

Another day of rolling terrain through Normandy. Rouen may look sprint-friendly on paper, but the final kilometers feature tricky gradients and technical turns. This is terrain where pure sprinters can suffer, giving puncheurs and crafty all-rounders a shot at glory. Anquetil, Gimondi, and Jan Raas all won here—Rouen rewards class and timing more than raw power.

Past Stage Winners in Rouen:

• 2012 | André Greipel

• 2002 | Jaan Kirsipuu

• 1997 | Chris Boardman (Grand Départ – Prologue)

• 1990 | Gerrit Solleveld

• 1980 | Jan Raas

• 1977 | Fedor den Hertog

• 1970 | Walter Godefroot

• 1968 | Georges Chappe

• 1965 | Felice Gimondi

• 1963 | Frans Melckenbeeck

• 1959 | Dino Bruni

• 1957 | Jacques Anquetil

• 1956 | Arrigo Padovan

• 1954 | Marcel Dussault

• 1952 | Nello Lauredi

• 1950 | Stan Ockers

• 1949 | Lucien Teisseire

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Stage 5 – July 9, 2025 | Caen – Caen (33 km) | Individual Time Trial

A return to tradition with a midweek test against the clock. At 33 kilometers, this ITT in and around Caen is long enough to hurt and technical enough to test a rider’s pacing. With GC implications inevitable, the specialists will be licking their lips. Caen has hosted both solo and team time trials over the decades, including a Raleigh team romp in 1978 and Oscar Freire’s surprising win in 2006. Expect high speeds, narrow margins, and perhaps the first real shake-up among the GC hopefuls.

Past Stage Winners in Caen:

• 2006 | Oscar Freire

• 1978 | Raleigh (TTT)

• 1976 | Giovanni Battaglin

• 1974 | Patrick Sercu

• 1967 | Willy Van Neste

• 1966 | Franco Bitossi

• 1960 | Jean Graczyk

• 1958 | Tino Sabbadini

• 1957 | France (TTT), René Privat

• 1956 | Roger Hassenforder

• 1954 | Wim van Est

• 1953 | Jean Mallejac

• 1951 | Serafino Biagioni

• 1947 | Maurice Diot

• 1939 | Amédée Fournier

• 1938 | Willy Oberbeck

• 1937 | Leo Amberg

• 1936 | Antonin Magne

• 1935 | Ambrogio Morelli

• 1934 | Raymond Louviot

• 1933 | René Le Greves

• 1932 | Jean Aerts

• 1931 | Alfred Hamerlinck

• 1930 | Charles Pelissier

• 1929 | André Leducq

• 1928 | Nicolas Frantz

• 1927 | Hector Martin

• 1910 | Octave Lapize

• 1909 | Paul Duboc

• 1908 | Georges Passerieu

• 1907 | Emile Georget

• 1906 | Georges Passerieu

• 1905 | Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq

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Stage 6 – July 10, 2025 | Bayeux – Vire (201.5 km) | Hilly Stage

A deceptive day through the green hills of Normandy. The profile features rolling terrain with no major climbs but little respite either. Vire’s finish favors the bold, and positioning will be key in the final kilometer. Mario Cipollini sprinted to one of his many Tour wins here in 1997, but the day could just as easily go to a breakaway artist if the big teams miscalculate.

Past Stage Winners in Vire:

• 1997 | Mario Cipollini

• 1939 | Romain Maes

• 1937 | Raymond Passat

• 1935 | René Le Greves

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Stage 7 – July 11, 2025 | Saint-Malo – Mûr-de-Bretagne (196.6 km) | Hilly Stage

The Tour’s first summit finish, albeit a short one. The Mûr-de-Bretagne is short, steep, and legendary—a modern classic. It’s been the site of decisive punches from Cadel Evans to Mathieu van der Poel, and 2025 will be no different. This is the first real chance for GC riders to flex their muscles. Expect fireworks on the 2 km wall that crowns the stage.

Past Stage Winners on the Mûr-de-Bretagne:

• 2021 | Mathieu van der Poel

• 2018 | Daniel Martin

• 2015 | Alexis Vuillermoz

• 2011 | Cadel Evans