The event’s organizer, ASO, has confirmed that the Grand Départ will occur in Lille, with further details to be disclosed at a press event scheduled for November 30 in the city.
ASO’s announcement highlighted that the 2025 race will kick off in the Hauts-de-France Region, specifically in the Nord Department and Lille European Metropolis, celebrating the 112th edition of the Tour de France.
The Tour previously had its start in the Nord de France in 2001, a race where Christophe Moreau triumphed in the prologue time trial and claimed the initial yellow jersey.
This 2025 Lille-Nord de France start is notable as it’s the first Grand Départ in France since the 2021 race began in Brest and Brittany. The 2022 edition started in Copenhagen, 2023 in Bilbao in the Basque Country, and 2024 is set to begin in Florence, Italy.
Reports from local media suggest that the 2025 race will initiate in Lille, then trace the northern coastline towards Normandy and Brittany, both significant areas in French cycling.
The route’s closeness to Paris-Roubaix may lead to the early inclusion of cobbled sections in the 2025 course. In the 2022 Tour, Wout Van Aert won a stage in Calais following the Denmark leg, with the fifth stage featuring Paris-Roubaix cobbles and concluding in Arenberg.
In 2025, Caen will be celebrating its 1000th anniversary, with other potential stage endpoints including Bayeux, Lisieux, Bernhard Hinault’s hometown Yffiniac, and the Mûr-de-Bretagne summit.
The 2024 Tour is scheduled to end in Nice with a mountainous individual time trial, due to the Paris 2024 Olympics precluding the usual Champs-Elysées finale. It is anticipated that the Tour de France will return to Paris for its conclusion in 2025.
