Tour de France Stages Breakdown

Tour de France Stages: How the Race Actually Works

Tour de France coverage has gotten complicated with all the tactical analysis and jersey explanations flying around. As someone who watched the Tour every July for years without really understanding what was happening, I learned everything there is to know about why guys attack, peloton catches them, and repeat.

Why does any of it matter? Once I understood the different stage types and how they fit together, the race got infinitely more interesting.

The Basic Setup

Probably should have led with this section, honestly. 21 stages over 23 days (2 rest days). About 3,500 kilometers total. Different stages favor different riders – sprinters, climbers, time trialists. The overall leader (yellow jersey) is whoever has the lowest cumulative time.

But the yellow jersey isn’t the only prize. Green jersey goes to the best sprinter. Polka dot jersey to the best climber. White jersey to the best young rider. Teams target different goals based on their roster.

Flat Stages

These are for sprinters. Usually 150-200km of mostly flat roads ending in a mass sprint finish.

The pattern: A breakaway escapes early. The peloton lets them go. Sprinters’ teams (Quick-Step, Groupama-FDJ, etc.) control the pace to keep the gap manageable. Final 10km, the pace ramps up. Final 500m, pure chaos.

Mark Cavendish holds the record for stage wins largely from flat stages. Watts in the sprint determine the winner – over 1,500 watts for 10-15 seconds.

For overall classification (GC) riders, these stages are about survival. Stay upright, avoid crashes, finish with the main group. Time gaps only matter in crashes or crosswind splits.

Mountain Stages

Where the Tour is really won or lost. Famous climbs like Alpe d’Huez, Mont Ventoux, Col du Tourmalet. Gradients of 7-10% for 10-20km. Altitude plays a factor too.

The GC contenders (Pogacar, Vingegaard types) fight for time here. A strong climber can gain minutes on rivals. Support domestiques pace the leader up early climbs to save energy. Final climb often turns into a battle between the top 5-10 riders.

Breakaways can succeed on mountain stages if the GC riders neutralize each other. Some riders target mountain stages specifically without caring about overall time.

Time Trials

Individual effort against the clock. No drafting, just pure output. Usually 30-50km of flat or rolling terrain, though some TTs include climbing.

Specialized aero equipment – TT bikes, disk wheels, aero helmets. Every watt matters. Position matters. The best time trialists produce high sustained power in an aerodynamic position.

GC can swing dramatically in time trials. A rider who’s two minutes behind can overtake if they’re a better time trialist. This is why pure climbers rarely win the Tour anymore – they lose too much time in the TT.

Hilly Stages

The in-between stages. Not flat, not true mountains. Rolling terrain with smaller climbs.

Punchy riders excel here – strong enough to attack over short climbs but not pure climbers. These stages often favor breakaways because sprinters’ teams can’t control over the terrain and GC teams don’t need to.

Intermediate difficulty but tactically interesting.

Why I Watch Now

That’s what makes understanding the Tour endearing to us cycling fans who’ve figured out the strategy. Understanding the tactics makes every stage interesting. Even “boring” flat stages have dynamics – who’s marking whom, wind direction, teams jockeying for position.

The mountain stages are still the highlights, but now I understand why those 200km flat stages aren’t pointless. Everything connects.