The Tour de France will roll out of Lille on Saturday morning as 176 riders set out on the 3,320-kilometre road to Paris.
Here the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the 112th edition.
Familiar fight for yellow?
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar is the overwhelming favourite to wear yellow in Paris and move level with Chris Froome on four career titles. And why not? The 26-year-old was outstanding last season, completing the Triple Crown of the Giro, Tour and world title, and has continued to pile up the wins this term. But two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard is ready to resume his now familiar rivalry with the Slovenian confident he is much closer to the form that saw him win in 2022 and 2023 than he was last year, when a devastating crash at the Tour of the Basque Country almost ruled him out of the Tour entirely. With Remco Evenepoel continuing to step forward and Primoz Roglic also racing after the early end of his Giro hopes, there are others who cannot be ignored.
An open sprint field
The Philipsen-van der Poel train is back on the #TDF2025 💚
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 1, 2025
Le train @JasperPhilipsen-@mathieuvdpoel est de retour sur le #TDF2025 🚄 https://t.co/sbfYNT6yHq
Predicting the sprint stages looks a difficult task this year. Tim Merlier arrives with the most wins, 10, of any of the quick men, but only one Tour victory to his name in his only previous appearance back in 2021. Difficult terrain means there are few pure sprints, something that might seem to favour Jasper Philipsen, who won three stages last year to take his Tour career tally to nine, but his Soudal Quick-Step team have split priorities as Evenepoel eyes yellow. Tour debutant Jonathan Milan could profit from the more difficult finishes, but the parcours also suits Biniam Girmay, winner of three stages last year.
Farewell Geraint
Geraint Thomas will start cycling’s biggest race for the 14th and final time before retirement. His overall victory in 2018 was arguably the finest moment of a career that began with Olympic glory on the track, but his relationship with the Tour is a deeper story. Many fans fondly remember how he rode 20 stages of the 2013 race with a broken pelvis, determined to help Froome to victory at great personal cost. After the retirement of Mark Cavendish last year, the fact Froome has likely ridden his last Tour and the impending retirements of both Thomas and Lizzie Deignan, it feels like the end of an era for British cycling.
Paris awaits
After last year’s Olympics forced the Tour to swerve the French capital for the first time in race history, the now traditional finish on the Champs-Elysees will return in 2025. Before then a race that takes place entirely within the borders of France will challenge the riders with more than 50,000m of elevation, but also an unusually tricky opening week in the north of the country before the Pyrenees and Alps serve up their usual punishment.
Brits in the race
Tour de France- here we come 😁 pic.twitter.com/4M0wtZAVv8
— Lewis Askey (@LewisAskey) June 30, 2025
Eleven Brits are due to start the race, including freshly-minted Giro champion Simon Yates, riding in support in Vingegaard, and twin brother Adam, supporting Pogacar. While Thomas waves goodbye, younger riders like Fred Wright, Oscar Onley and Lewis Askey will seek their breakaway opportunities. Jake Stewart lines up for his second Tour, while Sean Flynn and Joe Blackmore make their debuts. Connor Swift and new British champion Sam Watson, another debutant, join Thomas in the Ineos Grenadiers squad.
