3,302km in 76 hours: how fast is the Tour de France?

In 1903, Maurice Garin won the first ever Tour de France in 94.5 hours, riding the 2,428km course at an average 25.7km/h on a steel bike with one speed and no freewheel.

Since then, things have got a lot faster. Tadej Pogačar won the 2025 race, covering the 3,301.9 km at an average speed of 42.85km/h, the fastest ever winning time.

Average speeds in the Tour de France have been increasing steadily, with averages across the entire race of around 40km/h being typical around 10 years ago. There was an upward bump in 2005, when Lance Armstrong recorded the then-fastest winning speed of 41.7km/h – but we all now know why that was. 

After Armstrong, average speeds decreased again, with motorbike riders supporting the Tour remarking that speeds through the valleys on the approach to big climbs were noticeably slower than in the Armstrong era.

Average speeds such as those are underpinned by super-fast ascents of cycling’s iconic climbs and breakneck descents that motorbikes following the race often have difficulty matching.

One of the most notable recent downhill runs was Tom Pidcock’s 2022 descent of the Col du Galibier, when his maximum speed exceeded 100km/h on his way to winning Stage 12 atop Alpe d’Huez. 

Pidcock was leaving other pros in the dust on the way down, although it’s not unusual for descending speeds to exceed 80km/h. Sprint finishes typically top 50km/h on the flat and, despite their reputation for being left behind once the road turns uphill, sprinters are among the fastest descenders too, to ensure they arrive at the finish within the stage time limit on mountain stages. 

General classification riders go uphill fast as well as descending at speed. Winning speeds on the 13.8km climb of Alpe d’Huez, with its famous 21 hairpins, average over 20km/h, despite the huge crowds spilling onto the road and 1,120m of elevation gain.