Montmartre Madness: A Spicy, Slippery Finale for the Tour de France 2025
🏁 Not Your Usual Tour de France Finale
After 3,320 km of pain, panache, and peloton politics, the Tour de France 2025 finale serves up a surprising plot twist: three slippery, cobbled ascents of Montmartre — with barely a sprint in sight.
Forget the textbook bunch gallop down the Champs-Élysées. This year, it’s all about power, precision, and Parisian punch.
What’s Different About Stage 21 in 2025?
Feature | Traditional Finale | 2025 Finale |
|---|---|---|
Location | Champs-Élysées | Champs-Élysées (but… with Montmartre!) |
Key Feature | Mass sprint | Triple climb of Montmartre |
Final Press Conference | Pre-stage | Post-stage |
Sprinter Chances | Very High | Drastically Reduced |
Olympic Inspiration | ❌ | ✅ Paris 2024 Road Race |
🚴♂️ What Riders and DSs Are Saying
The mood in the peloton? Curious, cautious, and occasionally cranky.
“These are decisions the organisation takes… if you don’t like it, don’t come,”
— Joxean Matxin, UAE Emirates-XRG DS
“It’s a shame for Merlier. The Champs is a reward for sprinters. Now? Not so much.”
— Tom Steels, Soudal–QuickStep DS
“My personal opinion? I’m disappointed. I wanted the sprint,”
— Mark Renshaw, former lead-out legend
“I’ll just enjoy it and see how my legs feel,”
— Kaden Groves, Stage 20 winner
💔 Goodbye Mass Sprint?
The last time the Champs-Élysées stage didn’t end in a sprint? 2005 — when Vinokourov shocked the bunch in a breakaway. Since 1975, it’s only happened four times.
This year might be the fifth.
Why?
- The Montmartre climb: 1.1km at 5.9% — not brutal, but disruptive
- Slippery cobbles and rain forecast
- Final climb just 7km before the line
- Technical corners and tight roads
- The famed “Virage Beaux-Parleurs” — tight, sharp, and drama-prone
A Parisian Spectacle: Moulin Rouge, French Cancan, and Crowds Galore
Tour organizers are turning up the showbiz. Riders pass the Moulin Rouge, ascend Rue Lepic, and snake past throngs of fans beneath the Sacré-Cœur. Dancers in tricolor costumes bring flair before riders even hit the final 7km.
Crowds? Massive. Some 500,000 lined Montmartre during the Paris 2024 Olympics, and this Tour looks to replicate that buzz.
🟩 Green Jersey Jonathan Milan: “It’ll Be Chaotic”
Jonathan Milan will wear green in Paris, but he won’t win it the way past sprinters did.
“I never raced Champs before… but it’ll be chaotic,” he said.
“We’ll fight to take that climb in front. That’s all we can do.”
Tactical Chess, Not Raw Power
Teams are adapting. No sprinter train. No late-lead-out drama.
Expect breakaways. Punchy climbers. Rogue attacks. And GC riders trying not to crash before the line.
Even UAE hinted at surprises:
“It’s not part of the plan… but with Tadej, you never know,” said Andrej Hauptmann.
Will Pogačar make a statement on the final day? Or will Narváez deliver a stealthy win for UAE?
🌧️ Rain, Risks, and Real Worries
The final Paris loop might look glamorous — but rain could turn it into a slip-n-slide chessboard.
“It’s a city race. Slippery. GC guys don’t want to crash. Sprinters won’t survive. Weird finale incoming.”
— Tom Steels
Montmartre is the Moment
Whether you love tradition or chase change, this year’s finale delivers spectacle.
Sprinters may mourn. Fans will cheer. And Montmartre — with all its history, cobbles, and chaos — will decide the last act of the 2025 Tour de France.
🧷 TL;DR
- Tour ends with a triple Montmartre climb
- Sprinters likely out of contention
- GC contenders will play it safe
- Crowd + spectacle = guaranteed drama
- Rain = even spicier twist
