Today's 12th stage of the 2025 Tour de France is the first of three big days in the Pyrenees.
With the exception of stage 10, it has taken more than half of this year's Tour for the riders to reach the mountains, so the climbers will be keen to make their mark.
This looks like a classic GC day, when Pogačar or Vingegaard might want to stamp their authority on the race. Or will they want to keep their powder dry for tomorrow's uphill time trial?
- Tadej Pogačar vs Jonas Vingegaard: can Pogačar be stopped as the 2025 Tour de France gets under way?
Stage 12: Auch > Hautacam
- Date: 17 July
- Distance: 180.6km
- Elevation gain: 3,850m
- Stage type: Mountain
Route profile
Route map
This opening day in the Pyrenees is one to savour, but how will three back-to-back mountain stages influence proceedings?
History would suggest a conservative approach by the general classification pack, yet with this being the first major summit finish of the race, those leading contenders may yet to have coalesced into a defined group.
With the always aggressive Tadej Pogačar in the race, expect a climactic finish on the Hautacam.
This bruising Pyrenean climb (13.6km at 7.8%) is a narrow, one-way road with some double-digit gradients in its second half, and features as a finish for the seventh time since its debut in 1994.
Shortly before the Hautacam finish is the substantial climb of the Col du Soulor, a steep, irregular ascent over 11.9km. It’s a stage backloaded with difficult climbs.
“Any day the Tour tackles the Pyrenees is always going to be significant,” says race director Christian Prudhomme.
“The battle between the favourites for the overall title will have greater magnitude today, particularly over the final 45 kilometres when the peloton initially tackles the Col du Soulor via Ferrières (11.9km at 7.3%), before advancing to the Col de Bordères.
“Then comes a real moment of truth, in the shape of the 13.6km climb to Hautacam, where the gradient averages 7.8%.”
What's on the stage route?
The riders have two big climbs to tackle today, plus the subsidiary 3.1km climb of the Col de Bordères. While Hautacam has featured as a stage finish on six previous occasions, starting in 1994, the Col du Soulor has been crossed numerous times in the past, beginning in 1910, often as a warm-up for the more famous Col d'Aubisque.
Hautacam's profile as a road-cycling climb has eclipsed its original raison d'être as a minor winter ski resort with 15 pistes and a further 15km of cross-country ski trails.
One to watch: Jonas Vingegaard
The last time the Tour visited Hautacam, in 2022, Vingegaard dropped Tadej Pogačar, who lost over a minute to the Dane. Coming on stage 18 of the 2022 Tour, the win set Vingegaard up for the overall victory three days later.
