The Tour de France's decision to add three cobblestone climbs in the Montmartre district to the final stage of the race has drawn criticism from cyclists. While the final stage has usually been mostly a smooth ride, with the final kilometres being a sprinter's cup of tea, this time the finish on the Champs-Elysées promises to be more of a surprise.
The pack of cards can be mixed up by a cobblestone climb on the 132.3km stage. The riders arrive in Paris on the final stage after a 51.7km ride, before completing four laps of the traditional Champs-Elysées circuit, with an intermediate finish at the finish line. They then head for a separate loop that leads north up the Côte de la Butte Montmartre, a category 4 climb that is 1.1km long and has an average gradient of 5.9%.
The final part of the stage will be a three-lap extended 16.7km Champs-Elysées/Montmartre circuit, with the Montmartre climb likely to be decisive in determining the winner of the final stage. The climb was also featured in last year's 272km group stage at the Paris Olympics, where riders raced past the famous Sacré-Cœur Basilica to the top of the climb. The same church will once again be a prominent landmark in this year's Tour.
The change means the final stage of the Tour may not be just a sprinter's affair. Many riders were upset because the cobblestone sections increase the number of unexpected incidents, which in turn increases the stress levels of the riders. Two-time Tour overall winner Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) was also critical.
"Montmartre was fun to ride at the Olympics. It felt good, there were a lot of people and a really good atmosphere. But at the Olympics, when they got to Montmartre, there were only 50 riders left. But now, when we ride the Tour, there are 150 guys fighting for position on a very narrow climb. It's going to be very interesting. I think it might end up being more stressful than we really wanted. But it seemed that way," said the 28-year-old Dane.
Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), winner of the final stage of the 2021 Tour: "I'm not really a big fan of it. I think it's going to be a dangerous stage. The course is obviously one that suits me, especially with the last climb only 6km before the finish. It opens up opportunities for classics specialists like me. But that ignores the fact that at the Olympics we got there with a 50-man group, but now it's a whole Tour peloton, with a lot of the general classification guys still defending something. I expect chaos and unfortunately it seems to me that we are deliberately looking for it."
You loved Montmartre during the Paris 2024 @Olympics , see you on July 27 for the last stage of the #TDF2025 in Paris💛
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) May 21, 2025
Vous avez adore Montmartre pendant les @jeuxolympiques de Paris 2024, rendez-vous le 27 juillet pour le final du #TDF2025 à Paris 🙌 pic.twitter.com/jVRsQUb5Nb
🎆 1975 - 2025 🎆
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) May 21, 2025
💛 50 years of celebration since the Tour's first arrival on the Champs-Elysées, and a history that will continue to be written on July 27!
💛 50 ans de fête depuis la première arrivie du Tour sur les Champs-Elysées et une histoire qui continuera de s'écrire… pic.twitter.com/P3dWSNSnlD
🤩 Here it is, the official route of the #TDF2025 !
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 29, 2024
🤩 Here is the officiel course of #TDF2025 ! pic.twitter.com/HvNLVJSwuI
