The China Mail - Pogacar must 'battle' for Tour de France title says director

The 21-day race starts Saturday in Lille with the first week across the north and west of the nation laced with a varied series of challenges.

"In the old days we would want to get the first week out of the way. This time it's the opposite," Prudhomme told AFP in Lille.

"Anyone thinking it's flat or easy is mistaken, and the Mur de Bretagne (stage 7) is built like an all-in one-day race."

Prudhomme congratulated the course designer, former rider Thierry Gouvenou.

"He's magnified everything and he's laced the route with ever-changing challenges from the narrow, winding roads to places likely to be windy," he said.

Defending champion 26-year-old Slovenian Pogacar won six stages on the 2024 edition and ran away with the overall victory.

There are strong arguments to say the Team UAE rider is even stronger in 2025.

"That's why the first week is perhaps be the most important first week in years. It's an opportunity for Pogacar's rivals to put him on the back foot," Prudhomme said.

The race is a massive broadcasting success each July with fans tuning in around the world, and the race would be less fun with a runaway leader the organisers explained.

"We'd like someone to give him a run for his money, Jonas Vingegaard or Remco Evenepoel or anybody else in fact," said Prudhomme.

"We are hoping for suspense and we'd be delighted with an all out scrap."

- 'Starts in second week' -

After starts in Florence, Bilbao and Copenhagen, cycling's most prestigious race returns to its roots with an old school itinerary starting in northern French city Lille and favouring climbers.

The first week is set up nicely for any number of aggressive, hotly contested battles for the overall leader's yellow jersey, to be played out in front of roadside crowds expected to tip into the hundreds of thousands.

Belgian star Evenepoel will be well supported as the first week takes in the north coast at Dunkirk and a time-trial at Caen, scenes of heavy fighting in the Second World War which ended 80 years ago.

Evenepoel said the first week would be rough-and-ready but the race would only get really serious on the climbs.

"It's important to stay out of trouble in the first 10 days," said Evenepoel on the risk of chaos in the scramble for early honours.

"We'll see what we can do if an opportunity comes up for a win. On those kind of stages you need a plan B and a plan C.

"But everybody knows it starts in the second week, when we get to the Pyrenees," added the 25-year-old Belgian.

The volcanoes of the Puy de Dome present the first mountains as late as stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps.

S.Davis--ThChM