Tour de France unveils 2025 route that includes a climb up the 'evil' Mont Ventoux

The Tour de France will have a more traditional look next year.

After a rare finish outside Paris this past July, cycling's biggest race is getting back to basics for the 2025 route that was unveiled Tuesday. A mostly flat first week is followed by a lot of climbing in the last 10 stages that will pave the way for another duel between defending champion Tadej Pogacar and his best rival Jonas Vingegaard.

“Jonas Vingegaard couldn’t be here today, but I imagine he’ll be pleased with the route,” said Grischa Niermann, the head of racing for Vingegaard's Team Visma-Lease a Bike. “But the same likely goes for riders like Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, and Remco Evenepoel."

Following three consecutive starts from abroad, the 2025 Tour will be 100% French as riders won't make any excursions beyond France’s borders.

The race starts from the city of Lille on July 5 and stays in cycling-mad northern France for three stages. The peloton will then head south, via Brittany and the Massif Central.

Riders will tackle a second individual time trial in the Pyrenees mountains, and the final week of the race will feature three mountain-top finishes at the Mont Ventoux, the Col de la Loze — the highest point of the race at 2,304 meters — and the ski resort of La Plagne in the Alps.

Last year's final stage was held outside Paris for the first time since 1905 because of a clash with the Olympics, moving instead to Nice.

Because of security and logistical reasons, the French capital did not have its traditional Tour finish on the Champs-Elysees. The world famous avenue is back on the program and will host the final stage for the 50th time at the conclusion of the 3,320-kilometer (2,063-mile) odyssey.

Organizers said the “the milestone of turning 50 serves as a central theme," as the 2025 edition also marks the 50th anniversary of the polka-dot jersey for best climber and the best young rider classification.

The women's race will start on July 26 from the Brittany town of Vannes. Featuring nine stages for a total of 1,165 kilometers (724 miles), the fourth edition of the race will go through the Massif Central and finishes in the Alps as the peloton will climb blockbuster mountains such as the Col de Joux-Plane and the Col de la Madeleine.

Among the highlights of the men's route are a trio of Pyrenean stages including the race against the clock to Peyragudes on Stage 13 and a return to Luchon-Superbagnères.

The climbing of the Mont Ventoux, the punishing ascent on which British rider Tom Simpson died in 1967, promises to test tired legs during Stage 16. Ventoux is a huge moonscape of rock in Provence with little shade or grass. French philosopher Roland Barthes called it “a god of evil.”

The Alps will then likely decide the winner.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Women's Tour de France director Marion Rousse speaks during the 2025 Tour de France cycling race roadmap unveiling, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

This photo provided by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) shows the 2025 Women's Tour de France cycling race roadmap unveiled Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Paris. (ASO via AP)

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme speaks during the 2025 Tour de France cycling race roadmap unveiling, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme unveils the 2025 Tour de France cycling race roadmap, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)