Tour de France 2025 - 20th stage: Nantua - Pontarlier | 184.2 kilometres | 2900 vertical metres
The 20th stage goes through the Jura and is neither fish nor fowl: 2900 metres in altitude are not a small amount, but measured against the difficulties that the riders have already had to master, the climbing is not very frightening. Therefore, little is likely to happen in the overall classification. Due to the profile, we expect a breakaway group to successfully break away from the field and pull out a decent lead.
Despite the numerous small climbs, the fastest average speed on the march table is 47 kilometres per hour. This would once again put the riding time at just under four hours, the new benchmark for the fast stages of the modern Tour de France. The approach to Pontarlier is flat and not very selective towards the end. It is rather unlikely that a rider from the escape group will be able to break away here.
The last kilometre before the Teufelslappen is slightly uphill, with around 20 metres of elevation gain to overcome, a final opportunity for a non-sprinter to break away from his fellow escapees. The approach to the finish on the N57 has a few twists and turns, with two roundabouts to pass over the last thousand metres. Only 150 metres before the finish line, after passing through the last roundabout, is the view of the finish clear.
In our simulation, we assume a tactical skirmish among the breakaway riders. Who has the best cards with a late attack 150 metres from the finish?
The number of the day: 18 centimetres
The fastest in our short sprint is the Cervélo S5. The top aerodynamics save one hundredth of a second compared to the runner-up, the Tarmac SL8 - that's an advantage of 18 centimetres.
The (almost) complete field at a glance*
In the short sprint, the aero bolides, which are also light, are ahead.
*) 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 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.
