The Tour de France will once again be dressed in full French attire next year. For the first time since the pandemic edition in 2020, the entire classic cycling race – the men's competition has existed since 1903 – will be decided on French soil.
We decided to bring the tour home, it was high time for it after all the starts on foreign soil, said competition director Christian Prudhomme during Tuesday's presentation.
The last three years, the competition has started abroad, in Copenhagen, Bilbao, and Florence. Now, the start will instead take place in Lille, with a finish on the Champs-Élysées cobblestones in Paris.
The women's Tour de France will also be decided entirely within France's borders. The 2025 edition, the fourth in order, starts in Vannes on the Atlantic coast and then cuts straight through the country to finish in the ski resort of Châtel, near the Swiss border.
