The 2025 Tour de France heads into Brittany to pay a visit to the scene of a memorable win from four years ago, as the Mur de Bretagne returns to La Grande Boucle.
Starting in stunning Saint-Malo, the peloton will travel 194km inland along yet more bumpy terrain – the hallmark of this opening week – to finish in Guerledan.
Bernard Hinault’s home of Yffiniac features on the parcours too as the riders travel south and west towards the infamous Mur de Bretagne climb, and a finishing circuit that was the backdrop to a memorable Mathieu van der Poel victory in 2021.
The Dutchman attacked the first time the riders went up the ‘wall’, before doing so again to take the stage win and yellow on the second ascent. Two ascents are once more on the menu today, the first 20km from the line, the second forming another uphill finish.
There’s also a cat-four climb, the Cote du village de Mur-de-Bretagne, a 1.6km hors-d’oeuvre at an average of 4.1%, just before the first climb of the wall proper: 2km at an average of 6.9%, a real climb for the puncheurs – and, very possibly, Tadej Pogacar, hunting another stage win. But he’ll have to get past Van der Poel, who is back in yellow and no doubt would like to repeat his feat here…
Route map and profile
Start time
Another earlier start today: 12.10pm local time, 11.10am BST, with an earlier finish, so don’t get caught out: around 4.40pm local time (3.40pm BST).
Prediction
Mathieu van der Poel has won on this exact finishing circuit previously, and his victory on stage two indicated he’s back in form after suffering a broken wrist during his mountain-biking campaign earlier this year. He was in yesterday’s breakaway and did look to suffer, though, failing to match Ben Healy’s winning move and ultimately finishing nearly four minutes down, so might not have enough left in the tank – but the Dutchman is one of the peloton’s biggest engines and on paper is the one to beat today.
Anywhere there’s Van der Poel there’s Tadej Pogacar too, his erstwhile Classics rival, so we could see a repeat of stage four’s uphill sprint finish. And anywhere there’s Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard will be not too far behind, so what in theory is a great day out for the puncheurs or an enterprising breakaway might be derailed into a GC day.