Tour de France 2025 - Stage 15: Voigt's preview: Mass sprint in front of a great backdrop

Stage 15 | Sunday, 20 July 2025 | Muret - Carcassonne | 169.3 kilometres | 2400 vertical metres

Jens Voigt's assessment of the 15th stage

This stage is once again something special for me. My old home town of Labarthe-sur-Lèze is close again - it's only five kilometres from the start. How often have we been to Muret - for shopping in the supermarket, for a coffee or for training ... And I would personally equate the destination of Carcassonne with its mighty castle to the Niagara Falls, the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower.

But to the sport: 2400 metres of climbing - that sounds like a profile for breakaways, but the last of three mountain classifications is at the Pas du Sant (2nd category) around 53 kilometres before the finish. This means that the sprinters and their teams have enough distance to come back if they are left behind. My forecast: Only 30 per cent chance of a stage win from an early breakaway, 70 per cent chance of a sprint finish. After all, none of the six mountain classifications are so difficult that the peloton will "explode". The second rest day in Montpellier follows tomorrow, Monday. Then the pros usually ride at a relaxed pace for around two hours and go to a café on the way. But there are riders who are struggling. Then the team boss says, do what feels good for you, and if you want to lie in bed, then go for it! A classification rider, on the other hand, might want to do a bit of engine training (speed training behind the car or scooter; editor's note) to keep the muscles in the body under tension.

Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of the 15th stage of the Tour de France 2025

• Neutral start: 13:20, sharp start 13:30
• Estimated arrival time: between 17:08 and 17:29
• TV broadcast: ARD 14:00-17:44, 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 15th stage

• 14:45: Battle for the points for the green jersey at the intermediate sprint in Saint-Félix-Lauragais (kilometre 59.8). Now it shows: Who wants green? Who will be at the front?
• 16:15: The ride over the Col de Fontbruno should indicate whether a bunch sprint in Carcassonne is likely after the descent.

TOUR expert Jens Voigt

Nobody in the German-speaking world knows the Tour de France better: Jens Voigt competed as a professional in the most important cycling race 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.