The final stage of the 2025 Tour de France in Paris will include a visit to the Montmartre hill and the Sacré-Cœur church, covering the roads that were packed with crowds for the road races during the Paris Olympics.
Tour de France organisers ASO have confirmed the decision in a brief statement, with full details of the stage revealed to be on May 21. The stage is still expected to finish on the Champs-Élysées but the cobbled climb to Montmartre will add an extra twist.
"To mark the 50th anniversary of the first final finish on the Champs-Élysées, and one year after the excitement and cheers of the Paris 2024 Olympic road race, the peloton will return to the capital on a route that passes through the heights of Montmartre," ASO said.
"Riders will climb the Montmartre hill and pass beneath the Sacré-Cœur before battling it out on a stage that may break from the traditions established over the past 50 years in the heart of the capital."
The Tour de France first finished on the Champs-Élysées in 1975, after spells at the Parc des Princes and the Cipale velodrome.
The final stage is often a celebratory parade, before the fast and furious laps of the Champs-Élysées and a sprint finish.
The 2024 Tour de France finished in Nice due to the Paris Olympics but this year's stage will start in Mantes-la-Ville and cover approximately 120km before the finish in the centre of the French capital.
ASO have worked with local authorities to ensure the safety of the race, so that the bigger peloton can race on the narrow cobbled streets of Montmartre.
During the Olympics, an estimated 500,000 packed the roads of Montmartre, sparking safety concerns. These have been resolved, allowing the creation of the new look Paris circuit.
"We saw the power of road cycling. It was wonderfully and tremendously popular. The Olympic Games made it possible to do things that seemed impossible. If it could make it possible to do things with another magnificent, but annual, event, I wouldn't be upset about it," Prudhomme told AFP last October.
