LIVE stage 20 Tour de France 2025 | The Jura will not be a walk in the park

There are no more flat stages in the Tour de France. After the Alps, there is no time to rest, because in addition to the ride to Paris—where the climb to Montmartre could disrupt the sprinters' party—the 20th stage is really tough. From Nantua, the riders begin a challenging hill climb alongside a beautiful lake.

The climbing starts almost immediately. From Saint-Germain-de-Joux, the Col de la Croix de la Serra begins. It is long but not steep (12.1 kilometers at 4.1%). After the descent, it immediately goes uphill again: the Côte de Valfin is slightly less difficult, but the road continues to climb for quite some time after the top. The first 50 kilometers could therefore be a significant battle for the day's breakaway.

We continue north: on the plateau after the second climb, there is an intermediate sprint in La Chaux-du-Dombier. The battle for the green jersey seems to be decided, so we don't expect a fierce sprint there. Then it's a long, winding road downhill to Salins-des-Bains. However, the most challenging climb of the day lies ahead.

It's not long, but at 4.5 kilometers and an average gradient of 9%, the Côte de Thésy is a tough climb. The top of this climb is more than 60 kilometers from the finish line: don't expect a solo breakaway from this point, but the race could well explode here.

By now, the route has turned eastward, approaching Pontarlier. It is never flat: the road continues to go up and down. The Côte de Longeville is the last categorized climb (2.6 kilometers at 6%), but there are still some difficult sections after that. Once in the finish town, the riders will have almost 3,000 meters of elevation gain in their legs. It will be a grueling day, where the breakaway riders will have to give their all to get a chance to succeed.

Times.

No dry start in Nantua. It won't be too hot in the foothills of the Alps, and there will also be some rain. As the day progresses and the race moves north, thunderstorms are also expected to develop. The precipitation will increase, and in Pontarlier, it will not be 17 degrees with heavy rain. We do not expect any echelons: the gentle wind will mainly be noticeable when it blows directly into your face.

We do not expect a battle for the GC, and the sprinters will have a tough time. It will be the attackers, the men with the big engines, who we will see at the front in the penultimate stage. It seems tailor-made for Wout van Aert. The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike, perhaps with teammates Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenaerts, could help his team to a second stage win in the Tour, after Simon Yates' success on Mont Dore.

But the competition is intense. Among the Belgians, we have to keep an eye on Thibau Nys: the Lidl-Trek rider was not at his best in the first week of the Tour, but on the way to Carcassonne, he suddenly showed his true potential. The winner last time was Tim Wellens, but riders such as Jasper Stuyven and Gianni Vermeersch also have a chance in a stage like this.

Are there other (Dutch) riders we should write down? Honestly, apart from Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step), Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers), and Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL), we don't see anyone who could shine today. With powerhouses like Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Iván Romeo (Movistar), Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), and Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers), the rest of the pack seems to be lacking the necessary power.

The French will be eagerly anticipating the route. What can we expect from Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)? This pair is made for unpredictable stages like this. Riders such as Valentin Madouas, Aurelièn Paret-Peintre, and Louis Barré also have a chance of winning. Alaphilippe can also count on Marc Hirschi at his side.

But the team with the most strength across the board is perhaps EF Education-EasyPost. Normally, we would pick Ben Healy, but after his ambitions in the GC, we are also considering guys like Vincenzo Albanese, Kasper Asgreen, Alex Baudin, Neilson Powless, and Harry Sweeny. What a luxury... Bahrain Victorious can also count on several key riders, including Matej Mohoric and Fred Wright.

We mustn't forget Quinn Simmons either. Teammates Nys and Stuyven have already been mentioned, but the American champion, like Latvian champion Toms Skujins, is very comfortable on this terrain. Captain America will be up for it, you can write that down! Other contenders: Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana), Joe Blackmore (Israel - Premier Tech), and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates - XRG).

Or will Tadej Pogacar try something? It is possible that several riders in the top ten will attack each other and that it will be a very fierce day in the Jura, as we have seen in the past in the penultimate stages of the Vuelta a España. It is possible that riders such as Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) may also still have ambitions.

Top favorites: Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Outsiders: Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Emirates-XRG), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor)
Long-shots: Ben Healy, Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost), Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL), Tim Wellens, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek), Thymen Arensman and Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers)