Tour de France 2025 - Stage 11: Voigt's preview: Wild mix after the rest day

Stage 11 | Wednesday, 16 July 2025 | Toulouse - Toulouse | 156.8 kilometres | 1750 vertical metres

Jens Voigt's assessment of the 11th stage

The stage with start and finish in Toulouse is only 156 kilometres long and so hilly that I can definitely see a breakaway group coming through. There are only five small climbs, none longer than about 1.5 kilometres. But I count 13 more hills in the stage profile. And the last two mountain classifications Côte de Vieille-Toulouse (14 kilometres before the finish; 4th category) and Montée de Pech David (8 kilometres before the finish; 3rd category) are both very steep.

For me personally, the route harbours many memories: It leads just a few kilometres past Labarthe-sur-Lèze, my home town during my time in France. I therefore know the second half of the stage very well and know that the last two climbs are perfect for attacking. I can already feel the enormous stress and pressure on the shoulders of all the classification riders. Today will probably be a wild mix of early breakaways with chances of success, attacks by puncheurs in the stage finale and the battle for seconds in the overall classification.

Here in the south of France, the heat often plays a major role. You drink three bidons per hour, which hold around 0.6 litres. There is usually water in one bottle and a carbohydrate/mineral mixture in the other. Now I was only talking about the amount that is drunk. Some bottles of water are simply tipped over the head. As the water fetcher in the team, you can't complain about that!

Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of the 11th stage of the Tour de France 2025

• Neutral start: 13:15, sharp start 13:45
• Estimated arrival time: between 17:05 and 17:24
• TV broadcast: ARD 14:10-17:15, Eurosport 1 13:00-17:15
• Live stream: sportschau.de, Discovery Plus (fee required)
• All stages of the Tour de France 2025 at a glance

Highlights of the 11th stage

• 15:45: Check: At the intermediate sprint after around 97 kilometres in Labastide-Beauvoir, it is foreseeable whether a breakaway group has a chance - and who will fight for points for Green.
• 16:45: Springboard: Attacks and breakaways could begin on the Côte de Vieille-Toulouse with 14 kilometres to go.

TOUR expert Jens Voigt

Nobody in the German-speaking world knows the Tour de France better: Jens Voigt competed in the most important cycling race as a professional a total of 17 times between 1998 and 2014. Only the Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, the current record holder, has managed one more participation. Voigt knows the race from the perspective of the winner and the tireless helper in the team. He won two stages himself and wore the yellow jersey for one day each in 2001 and 2005. In 2010, as a team-mate in Team Saxo Bank, he accompanied Luxembourg's Andy Schleck to his overall victory (after the doping disqualification of Alberto Contador, who initially came first; editor's note). The 53-year-old Berliner currently works as a brand ambassador for the bike manufacturer Trek and as a pundit for the Eurosport channel.

For TOUR readers, the former pro gives his predictions for the course of the 21 stages, points out difficulties and things worth seeing. For each day's stage, he gives a tip on what role the course could play in the final standings in the individual classifications in Paris. If three of the jerseys are coloured, this means that this day could be decisive for this classification - i.e. overall classification (yellow), sprint/points classification (green) and classification of the best climber (red dotted jersey). We also give you the broadcast times of the TV channels in Germany (ARD and Eurosport) and their live streams - plus tips on when it might be particularly worth tuning in.