A quartet of Team GB Olympians will line up in Lille for the 2025 Tour de France which has a very Olympic feel to it.
When the Games went to Paris last summer, the road race culminated in a succession of climbs of Montmartre before the finish in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Taking inspiration from that route, this year’s edition has eschewed the typical flat finale and will imitate those gruelling climbs towards the Sacré-Cœur before finishing as ever on the Champs-Elysées.
Prior to that, the riders will have to conquer some of La Grande Boucle’s most famous climbs including the Mont Ventoux, the Tourmalet and the Peyresourde.
Defending champion and three-time winner Tadej Pogacar will enter the race as the favourite, but there is no shortage of British involvement, including a previous winner of the race in Geraint Thomas.
At 39, Thomas is the oldest competitor in the race, appearing for the 14th and final time having made his debut back in 2007.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider claimed the yellow jersey back in 2018, and has two Olympic gold medals to his name, part of the victorious team pursuit squads at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
A challenge in the general classification is no longer the order of the day, but Thomas would love to sign off with another stage victory.
“I'd love to just be competitive and go for a stage, I think a stage win would be amazing,” said Thomas. "But you've still got to be in super great condition for that.”
The other Team GB alumni who will be joining Thomas are the Yates brothers and Fred Wright, who made his Olympic bow last summer in Paris.
A one-day specialist, Wright has multiple top 10 finishes to his name in monuments, and finished 43rd in Paris in support of Tom Pidcock.
Adam Yates will be tasked with supporting Pogacar for UAE Team Emirates, having previously made it onto the podium at the Tour.
He has competed at two Olympics in the road race, finishing 15th in Rio before managing ninth five years later in Tokyo.
In those Games, he competed alongside twin brother Simon, who was the only other finisher for Team GB, crossing the line in 17th.
Simon Yates, a two-time Grand Tour winner, fresh from his recent victory at the 2025 Giro d'Italia, will be riding for Team Visma Lease a Bike, supporting Jonas Vingegaard, while looking to add to the two stages he won in 2019.
Sportsbeat 2025