Tour de France 2025 Favourites stage 10: Breakaway on Bastille Day

foto: Cor VosThings can always turn out differently, but on paper, the 10th stage is made for the breakaway. The riders face 4,450 metres of elevation gain on a route that goes up and down all day, though none of the climbs are especially long. Attrition, that's the name of the game. (Slideshow route/profile)

Obviously, we’re not suggesting that the GC contenders won’t make a move in the finale, but the course looks too demanding for any team to keep a group of strong climbers in check once they’ve broken free. So there’s a good chance the attackers will be given enough leeway to build a lead big enough to fight it out for the stage win. With a bit of luck, we might get two races in one: first, the battle for the stage, and then, several minutes later, the GC favourites sizing each other up in the closing kilometres.

With a long list of climbs and kickers, this is a route worthy of framing. The longest is the Côte de la Charade: 5.1 kilometres at 6.8%, while the steepest doubles as the climb to the line — the Puy de Sancy: 3.3 kilometres at 8%.

The scriptwriter has done a fine job. Now it’s up to the actors to turn it into a blockbuster.

Favourites 10th stage 2025 Tour de France

*** Ben Healy, Quinn Simmons, Luke Plapp, Mauro Schmid
** Marc Hirschi, Neilson Powless, Pablo Castrillo, Romain Grégoire
* Andreas Leknessund, Julian Alaphilippe, Frank van den Broek, Bruno Armirail

Another interesting read: route 10th stage 2025 Tour de France.