2025 Tour de France will start in the north

Northern France will host the opening stages of the 2025 Tour de France, it has been revealed, meaning the race will start on French roads for the first time in four years.

The Hauts-de-France region, Nord department and Metropolis of Lille will host the start of the race, the organisers confirmed today (November 14).

There will be four stages in the north for the 112th edition of the Grande Boucle, similar to the start in Brittany in 2021, reports regional media.

Opening stage locations

Further details about the 2025 Grand Départ will be revealed by race organisers Amaury Sport Organisation on November 30.

Lille is the favourite to organise the start of the first stage of this 112th edition but this has not been confirmed so far.

One thing that is certain is, inevitably, the start of the race will see far fewer mountains than in previous years.

Back on French roads

The 2025 French start will come after three foreign openers to Le Tour in a row – the race started in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2022 and Bilbao, Spain in 2023.

The route of the Tour de France 2024 was unveiled three weeks ago and will see a hilly Grand Départ in Florence, Italy.

There will be three stages in Italy before the race crosses over into France.

Read more: Tour de France 2024 route revealed: Will it pass near you?

The last time riders started a Grande Boucle in the north of France was in 2001, from Dunkirk. French cyclist Christophe Moreau won the prologue and took the yellow jersey.

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