Breaking down the Tour de France route

This year’s race is made up of seven flat stages, six mountain stages, six hilly stages, two time trials, and two rest days.

The pack speeds downhill in last year’s Tour de France. This year, riders will cover 3,339 kilometres in 21 days. Source: AP / Daniel Cole

The route includes:

• A total of 52,500 meters in elevation gain.
• The highest climb is Col de la Loze, reaching 2,304 meters.
• Includes eight towns that are hosting the race for the first time.

What are the important jerseys for the Tour de France?

The yellow jersey, known as the maillot jaune, is among the most recognized attire in global athletics, donned by the race’s current leader, and changing hands as the lead does.

Belgian Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step, Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost, Eritrean Biniam Girmay Hailu of Intermarche-Wanty and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates pictured on the podium after the 2024 Tour de France cycling race. Source: AAP / Belga/David Pintens/Sipa USA

Here’s a breakdown of the important jerseys:

• Yellow: Race leader. The rider with the lowest accumulated time since the tour’s beginning.
• Green: Leader of the points. Usually, a sprinter who has collected points for finishing stages first.
• Polka Dot: ‘King of the Mountain’. The rider with the most points from winning designated climbs.
• White: Best young rider (under 26) with the lowest overall time.

The tour’s overall winner is the competitor with the lowest combined time across all 21 stages. Usually, they are an all-rounder — good at sprinting, climbing and time trials.

Who are the favourites

While some teams acknowledge they cannot win the overall title and will instead aim to win specific stages, elite teams are chasing the general classification (GC) win, which means achieving the shortest overall time.

Tour de France winner Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey (right), and second place Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard talk after last year’s tour. Source: AP / Jerome Delay

Top GC rider Jonas Vingegaard will be determined to reclaim his overall title against rival Tadej Pogacar, and last year’s best young rider Remco Evenepoel is also considered a threat, as are Primoz Roglic, Felix Gall and Carlos Rodriguez.

This year, 10 Australians will be in the peloton, including Luke Durbridge, Ben O’Connor and Luke Plapp of Team Jayco AlUla.

What do riders eat?

An estimated 37,000 water bottles will be consumed, filled with water and/or highly sugary carbohydrate mixes to maintain riders’ glycogen levels.

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, wearing the best young rider’s white jersey, Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, climb during the twentieth stage of the Tour de France in last year’s competition. The three are among the race favourites. Source: AP / Daniel Cole

They’ll also eat gels, energy bars and rice cakes while in the saddle, usually passed to each other by a ‘domestique’ rider during the race, and consume high-protein meals shortly after the race finishes and then again for breakfast and dinner.

How can Australians watch the 2025 Tour de France?

Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay, wearing the best sprinter’s green jersey, celebrated as he crossed the finish line first in stage 12 of last year’s Tour de France. Source: AP / Jerome Delay

Fans will also have access to a new mobile-optimised Race Centre on the SBS Sport website.