Key events
Bill has emailed in with his thoughts on today’s stage:
Given the profile of the parcours, I can’t see any breakaway thrilling heroics ending well, as the day sets in for the bunch sprint.
I’m genuinely pleased that Healy is in yellow, he got a proper stomp on on Monday, and seems to be in a position to keep hold of the jersey today. If he keeps his wits about him, it’s only his Toulouse.
Great pun. Bravo.
Today’s rollout has begun
Stage 11 of the Tour de France 2025 is under way. The peloton have rolled out from Toulouse. There’s a 16.5km neutralised section before the racing begins at approx. 1.45pm CEST/12.45pm BST.
Matt Stephens on TNT Sports spoke to Ben Healy (EF Education-EasySport) before today’s stage. Healy said he reckons it’s a day for the break, “hopefully” he added with a conspiritorial grin. He described the final climb before the finish as a “real kicker”.
There’s also an official stage 11 briefing by Continental and French former professional cyclist, Jean-Marc Marino. He said:
Stage 11, Toulouse to Toulouse, 156.8km – this is a special stage because it comes right after the first rest day, and it’s a tough one with five categorised climbs, but also a good amount of flat terrain overall.
We call this the Lauragais hills, with beautiful views of the Pyrenees, and especially the final climb: 900m at 12.4%, with the first 200m reaching 20%, and the summit is 8km from the finish.
The stage ends in Compans-Caffarelli, right in the centre of Toulouse – this could be a day for the breakaway. It could suit someone like Van der Poel, Alaphilippe or Van Aert attacking late in the stage. Or maybe even Pogačar. A solo rider, a small group – anything could happen. It’s a wildcard stage. Maybe 40 riders will contest a sprint, maybe two, maybe one, or two, or three, or twenty.
In case you wondered how the Tour riders spent a long awaited rest day, here’s what yellow jersey leader Ben Healy got up to:
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This is what general director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, has to say about stage 11:
The teams banking on a bunch sprint won’t be hampered by any hilly terrain as they focus on their mission for the day. Vigilance will be required at the end of the stage due to the changes in direction that could be exploited if there’s a strong wind blowing. However, ‘Avenue Cavendish’ is one of those finish straights that’s ideally suited to a contest between the peloton’s most renowned thoroughbreds.
Here is the route profile of stage 11:
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Stage 11: Toulouse to Toulouse, 156km
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Wednesday 16 July: Toulouse to Toulouse, 156.8km, with William Fotheringham’s preview:
This could go either of three ways: full bunch sprint, reduced bunch sprint, or break. The finale with its series of little hills might burn off a fast man or two, and will certainly make a coordinated chase difficult. This could be the last full bunch sprint of the Tour, so let’s plump for Philipsen; if the break goes and the sprinters’ teams tire in the finale the wily Dane Magnus Cort is a good bet.
The preview was written before the Tour, so Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won’t be in the mix today after having to withdaw from the race on stage three.
Preamble
After a rest day on Tuesday, the Tour riders are back for stage 11: a 156.8km loop, starting and ending in Toulouse. It’s classified as a flat stage with 1,750m of elevation gain, but there are a few bumps for the peloton to navigate: four category four climbs and a category three climb at the end.
Sprinters such as, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick-Step) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) will be eyeing up this stage, which could very well end in a bunch sprint. However, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has speed and strength that could come in handy for a flat stage with some lumps. It’ll also be interesting to see what Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) does, wearing the yellow jersey that he grabbed off Tadej Pogačar’s (UAE Team Emirates XRG) shoulders on stage 10. As always, I’d love to get your thoughts, so please email via the link above.
Before the action starts at 1.15pm CEST (12.15pm BST), here’s a reminder of how stage 10 played out:
