Tour de France 2025 - 19th stage: Albertville - La Plagne | 93.1 kilometres
Anyone who can climb reasonably well but has not yet won anything in this Tour will already be thinking about how to get into the breakaway group of the day while warming up on the rollers before the 19th stage. In practice, you will probably have to ignore what the day has in store on the first climb and simply ride at full throttle until there is a group or you run out of energy.
If you want to make up ground in the standings, you basically have to do the same. Because today is the last day to at least theoretically make up a few minutes in the overall standings. And that won't happen at the last minute. If you want to make up a lot of time, you have to take risks. So it's clear what will happen today: A brutal elimination race among all those who still have the strength for it.
Elimination driving
If things go as outlined, the entire racer is required. Uphill and downhill, it is always important to be attentive and to carry the pace over the course. On a stage like this, the leaders can be isolated early on if an elimination race starts early on. Breakdowns, slip-ups, attacks of weakness - anything is possible. It is also possible that the classification will be turned upside down again.
What does this mean for bike technology? Speed and safety are required. Aero bikes have dominated the Tour up to this point. That won't change today, because an isolated captain is more likely to make up any lost ground than with a slightly easier mountain bike.
Tadej Pogačar was already travelling on the unpainted Y1RS to save 100 g of paint. We can expect the same today. When it comes to tyres, you have to weigh up safety against rolling resistance. Time trial tyres roll a little easier, but have poorer puncture protection. Are they worth the risk? From our point of view, a superior rider like Tadej Pogačar should play on safety rather than mini weight advantages. That would speak in favour of the normal Conti 5000 instead of the TT version, as the latter is more prone to punctures. On the other hand, we are seeing few punctures this year. Tubeless has visibly reduced the risk of punctures.
The Col du Pré has the steepest sections. A major attack on yellow could start there. If a team manages to send a speedy adjutant ahead, he could set the pace for the leader on the descent from the Col de Pré and the subsequent short flat section. If he were to master the climb to the Cormet de Roselend with the captain, he could also provide assistance on the final descent.
However, as Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard are in their own league, it is more likely that sooner or later they will be travelling together without team-mates and the rest will be following behind.
In our simulation, we look at the final climb. What riding times can we expect, which bikes have the potential to best support the rider?
The number of the day: 46 seconds
Jonas Vingegaard will presumably ride the faster bike again today. His Cervélo S5 leads the rankings. The penalty for being one kilogram overweight can also be seen: around 30 seconds behind on the final climb. The slowest bike in the field loses 46 seconds to the fastest - so it is clear that the bikes also play their part in improving the times. The modern bikes make the riders faster in all situations. However, the aero advantage is more noticeable at higher speeds than on the climbs.
The (almost) complete field at a glance*
The simulated riding times on the final climb don't reveal anything new: bikes that are close to the minimum weight and are still aerodynamic are the first choice on the final mountain stage.
*) The calculations are based on the bikes tested by TOUR in the laboratory and wind tunnel. The bikes at the Tour de France may differ in some details. Of course, we have also not yet been able to analyse last-minute prototypes. Background to the simulation.
Our expert
Robert Kühnen studied mechanical engineering, writes about technical and training topics for TOUR and develops test methods. Robert has been refining the simulation calculations for years and they are also used by professional teams.
