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According to the Tour’s live coverage, the peloton has stopped at Porte de Paris, one of Lille’s city gates, where an orchestra is playing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem.
Today's rollout has begun
And the Tour de France 2025 is off! Well, the controlled, 11km slow rollout before the official race starts is on. There are 184 riders taking part and the TV coverage is showing quite a few smiling faces as they parade around during the neutralised start in Lille.
The rollout should begin in just one minute. The riders, such as three-time Tour de France stage winner Biniam Girmay, can be spotted waiting at the start line:
Earlier I mentioned that all eyes will be on sprinters such as Jasper Philipsen, Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier. Here’s a little bit about each of them:
Jasper Philipsen
Part of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Philipsen has one plan: the green jersey. On the flat stages, team mate Mathieu van der Poel uses his explosive power and superlative bike handling to lead out Philipsen, who has won nine stages in the last three Tours and the green jersey in 2023.
Jonathan Milan
After a prolific spring for Lidl-Trek, July is all about stage wins, with Milan for the flat finishes. The Italian sprinter with four stages in the Giro to his name shines when the roads are the lumpy side of flat.
Tim Merlier
In early June, Soudal-Quick-Step nudged past 1,000 wins since their foundation; they will add to that in the next few weeks, targeting sprint stages with the European champion, Merlier.
Ahead of the stage one rollout, the Tour de France have posted a plea to those coming out to watch the race to respect the riders. “Don’t run alongside them, don’t touch them and don’t throw anything at them.” There’s a video clip showing some previous incidents too.
Here’s the profile of stage one of the Tour de France 2025:
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Here’s an interesting fact for you all: the last time a Tour de France stage finished in Lille was 11 years ago and it was won by Marcel Kittel.
Jeremy Whittle
My colleague Jeremy Whittle has written about Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard’s rivalry – sure to be a key theme again at this year’s TdF:
The pair, whose rivalry is becoming one of the Tour’s most longstanding, will be locked in battle again this month with Pogačar widely expected to hammer home the supremacy of the past 18 months with another win.
The UAE Team Emirates leader says he is “confident and ready”. Certainly his team, memorably bushwhacked by Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Simon Yates on the penultimate stage of this year’s Giro, will want payback.
In a tricky and tortuous opening to the Tour that will test every rider’s mettle, the biggest threat to Pogačar will be crashing. He has already ended up in a ditch this year, during the Italian gravel race Strade Bianche. Even then, he went on to win.
“The first week of the Tour is one of the most intense and nervous weeks,” he said. “You can quite easily lose the race in the first 10 days to the first rest day.
A lot can happen in such a long race, but I’m looking forward to racing against Jonas again. He’s in great shape. It will be a great month for people in front of the TV and beside the road.
Stage one: Lille Métropole to Lille Métropole, 184.9km
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Saturday 5 July: Lille Métropole to Lille Métropole, 184.9km, with William Fotheringham’s preview:
The climbs of Mont Cassel and Le Mont Noir won’t be enough to split the peloton, so this is almost guaranteed to be a bunch sprint, unless it gets windy. A strong westerly would make this a nightmare with more than 140km of crosswinds, but if it stays calm it’s a first big test for Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and the other fast men. For the favourites, a first day of trying to stay upright.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Tour de France 2025, starting with stage one in Lille.
Today, the peloton will roll out from the northern French city at 1.10pm CEST (12.10pm BST) and tackle 184.9km on a flat stage that will loop back into Lille for what will most likely end in a bunch sprint. So, all eyes will be on sprinters such as Jasper Philipsen, Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier. I’d love to hear your predictions though, so please email them over.
While we wait for the live TV coverage to kick off, here’s some reading from our sports team who have been previewing this year’s Tour:
Tadej Pogačar v Jonas Vingegaard – The battle for the yellow jersey
Who’s who?
Your stage-by-stage guide
The Tour de France’s version of VAR?
Fifty years of finishes on Champs-Élysées
