The fact that the first 70 kilometres are virtually flat only adds to the brutality of the stage. After all, that leaves nearly 5,000 metres of elevation gain crammed into just 113 kilometres.
The GC contenders will have no choice but to go all in, and the battle is likely to be for the stage win as well. With such a tame opening, there’s every chance the early break will mostly consist of riders who’ll struggle as soon as the road tilts skyward.
The climbing kicks off with the Col du Tourmalet (19 kilometres at 7.4%), followed by the Col d’Aspin (5 kilometres at 7.6%) and the Col de Peyresourde (7.1 kilometres at 7.8%). From the top of that last climb, there are still 32.5 kilometres to race.
The first 13 of those are a headlong descent, the rest a relentless push uphill to the finish. So, there’s no valley section to regroup; it’s straight down and then straight back up. That could make things interesting if someone dares to attack on the Peyresourde.
The final climb up to the Superbagnères ski resort officially measures 12.4 kilometres at an average gradient of 7.3%, though in truth, the climbing begins well before that. The eighth kilometre is the steepest, pitching up to 10.2%, while the final 1.4 kilometres before the summit ramp up again to a punishing 10%.
As mentioned, it’s possible that the day’s first break won’t be the one that matters. Possibly, a decisive move will be launched once the mountains arrive. If so, expect some strong climbers to try and bridge across — and they could well end up contesting the stage win.
How the race unfolds depends on the GC standings, so we’ll be updating this preview as the Tour progresses.
Favourites 14th stage 2025 Tour de France
*** Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar
** Mattias Skjelmose, Thymen Arensman, Felix Gall
* Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss, Adam Yates
Another interesting read: route 14th stage 2025 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2025, stage 14: routes & profiles
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