LIVE | Tour de France 2025: The first breakaway of the 112th edition has formed
The peloton kicks off the 112th edition of the Tour de France on Saturday with a stage starting and finishing in Lille and crisscrossing the north of France. Who will take the first yellow jersey of the Tour?
Live hosted by Valentin Moinard and Clément Martel
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This morning, before the big start, it wasn't easy to navigate the team buses. In fact, the riders themselves weren't at ease—some were pouting in front of so many people. Security sometimes seemed overwhelmed.
More relaxed, Marc Madiot, manager of Groupama-FDJ, gave a speech to his teammates, inside a security cordon. There were also numerous Flemish, Breton, and Eritrean flags.
The runners' passage through the streets of Lille, during the fictitious start, was accompanied by cheers from the public.
A victory for... And no, we're keeping the suspense of this post (no cheating, we're not going to read the end right away)! As with every stage, the delivery drivers will try their hand at the difficult exercise of predicting stage by stage during the #CQTP (What's your prediction?) And for this first day, no big risks, we're putting all our chips on the sprinters. Clément is betting on Jonathan Milan while Valentin sees Jasper Philipsen winning instead. Given the usual flair we're showing, it's therefore a given that victory will go to Biniam Girmay.
None! Much to the misfortune of Mathieu van der Poel, three-time winner of Paris-Roubaix and who usually flies on the cobblestones!
All the sleep information is here! Enjoy your slumber!
Did you like Oscar Korbosli's writing? You'll love Denis Ménétrier's! Our two special correspondents (really veryy ...
Denis Ménétrier takes us by the hand as we travel the world, and join the foreign teams to see why our French teams never finish on the top step of the podium on the final Sunday of the race. Enjoy!
Nothing illicit, no. We have a batch of pastries to feed the entire Chaudron troupe all day, and we're banking on a collective organization on par with team sports like basketball or handball, with numerous changes to ensure everyone finishes the day in good shape. For the three live performances of the day, two pairs will therefore take turns, in joy and good humor.
Jonas Rutsch, Mathis Le Berre, Bruno Armirail, Benjamin Thomas, and Matteo Vercher are riding fast, and the peloton doesn't seem to have been warned that the stage has begun. Behind them, it's a parade.
Unlike athletics, for example, cycling races don't start from a standing start. Riders set off from the starting line (logical), ride for a few kilometers (usually around ten) behind the organizers' car, and are then "released" by Christian Prudhomme – the director of the Tour de France – who waves a flag to indicate the actual start of the stage!
Among them, Bruno Armirail and Mattéo Vercher! Already 30 seconds ahead for the fugitives!
After a few kilometers of walking, it's time to get down to business and the actual start of the stage. Enjoy the Tour de France everyone!
We know a lot of people at Le Monde . And so we are able to give you an EXCLUSIVE glimpse into the secret discussions between the two race organizers – Roger Tour and Marcel de France – as they planned the first stage of the race.
- Roger Tour: Hello my good Marcel!
- Marcel of France: Roger! How nice to see you, how are you?
- RT: Very well! But enough of this socializing, let's get to work right away, we have a step to take!
- MF: You're right, you're right! Besides, I already had an idea: what if we started with a little tour of Lille?
- RT: An island? Don't tell me you want to go to Sardinia this time? We said we'd have a 100% French Tour de France!
- MF: No, you idiot! In Lille, in the North of France, they're more immersed in beer than in the Mediterranean.
- RT: Ah, I understand better! This story is making me hungry. Let's go for a little walk to the restaurant after this wonderful work session.
*A delicious Welsh later
- MF: That was all well and good, but let's get down to business now! We'll start and finish in Lille, but what do we put in the middle?
- RT: We're not going to give the stage away too easily to the riders. It seems perfectly normal to me to include three fourth-category passes in the route: the Côte de Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (1 kilometer at 7.6%), Mont Cassel (1.9 kilometers at 3.5%) and Mont Noir (1.3 kilometers at 6.4%).
- MF: That seems perfectly appropriate to me! And let's just say the stage will be 184.9 km long, and will be calibrated for sprinters, it's been a long time.
- RT: Sold! And let them enjoy it, I have lots of ideas for the rest of the week, they shouldn't like it much...
France 2, Eurosport 1, or the two channels' digital platforms. But hurry, we're getting closer to the big departure.
Just ask. Hello to you, and have a good trip along the edges of the lap, behind the sedans of the peloton.
What better way to kick off the Tour de France than with a delicious dessert, a comfy couch, and a delicious Oscar Korbosli article before snuggling up to sleep? After hours of brainstorming by the entire editorial team, our conclusion is simple: nothing seems to come close to this combo. So let's get started with this very interesting topic about the Tour de France, which has been looking for a French winner for 40 years... but ultimately doesn't need one!
Yes, a touch of Slovenian to kick off this 2025 edition of the Tour de France, with honor where honor is due. With his rainbow jersey firmly zipped around his shoulders, Tadej Pogacar arrives in Lille at the start of the 112th edition of the Tour de France, intent on adding a fourth Tour to his list of achievements. For three weeks (and 21 stages), the riders will crisscross France to determine, on the Champs-Élysées, who will wear the yellow jersey on the final podium.
The stage begins at 1:10 p.m. sharp, and we'll be on air a little later at the Kop d'Austerlitz. But until then, don't hesitate to tell us what the Tour de France means to you, and to enlighten us, as you do so well, with your flights of fancy, kind words, and other messages. Have a great start to the day, and a great start to the Tour!
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