Date: Sunday April 6, 2025
Start: Bruges
Finish: Oudenaarde
Total distance: 168.8km (women) and 268.9km (men)
Defending champion: Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
The Tour of Flanders began in 1913, marking this year as the race's 109th edition as there was no race from 1915 to 1918. A race defined by its tortuous twists, turns and narrow cobbled climbs, the Tour of Flanders, or Ronde van Vlaanderen, is arguably the finest of the Classics. The route may change slightly each year, but the hellingen that pack the region and define the race are a given, guaranteed to produce worthy winners of a true Monument. In the Ronde, only the strong survive.
Founded by a young sports journalist named Karel Van Wijnendaele and founding member of the newspaper Sportwereld, Leon den Haute, they wanted to create something which was more than just a bike race.
While there are four other Monument races on the men’s calendar – Milan-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia – which hold such prestige and history in the WorldTour calendar, there is no other race which defines a nation quite like the Tour of Flanders. Unsurprisingly, the most victories come from Belgian riders, with a total of 69 wins out of the 107 editions. The winner of the inaugural edition was Belgian rider Paul Denman who rode for Automoto-Continental. Many years later, 104 to be exact, Philippe Gilbert became the most recent home winner of De Ronde, riding solo to the finish resplendent in the Belgian national champion's jersey.
In its long history, only a handful of riders have taken the title on multiple occasions. Riders including Achiel Buysse, Fiorenzo Magni, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw, Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara and current star Mathieu van der Poel have crossed the finish line first on three occasions. Kings of the cobbles, Boonen and Cancellara are the only riders to have achieved the cobbled Classics double (Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix), twice, making them legendary in both these races.
Last year’s winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will be back to defend his title in 2025. He is also vying to be the first rider to win the race four times. However, he is set to face a formidable challenge from 2023 winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). The pair battled out for the win in two memorable editions of De Ronde in 2022 and 2023, winning one a piece. Looking to beat them both will be Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) to name a few.
The Tour of Flanders held its first women's edition in 2004. The route was just 94km long – making it the shortest route in the race's history. It was only in 2016 that the women's race was awarded UCI WorldTour status and has since become one of the most anticipated races in the women's calendar. Its legendary status in Belgium and notoriously tricky parcours make it a spectacle year after year.
The women's race is held on the same day as the men's and finishes one hour after the men’s on the run-in to Oudenaarde. The route takes in much of the men's route, but has a different starting point.
Last year, Italian rider Elisa Longo Borghini won for the second time in her career, after beating Kasia Niewiadoma in a sprint after Longo Borghini’s teammate Shirin van Anrooij sacrificed herself for her Lidl-Trek leader.
This win saw Longo Borghini join Lotte Kopecky (winner in 2022 and 2023), Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel, Judith Arndt, and Annemiek van Vleuten, who have all won the race twice during their professional careers. No rider is yet to win the race for a third time, however, Longo Borghini and Kopecky will both be lining up for De Ronde once again and could look to make history by becoming the lone female rider to have won this Monument three times.
Men’s Tour of Flanders 2025 teams:
- Alpecin - Deceuninck
- Arkéa - B&B Hotels
- Bahrain - Victorious
- Cofidis
- Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
- EF Education - EasyPost
- Groupama - FDJ
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarché - Wanty
- Israel - Premier Tech
- Lidl - Trek
- Lotto
- Movistar Team
- Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
- Red Bull - Bora - hansgrohe
- Soudal Quick-Step
- Team Flanders - Baloise
- Team Jayco Alula
- Team Picnic PostNL
- Team Visma | Lease a Bike
- Tudor Pro Cycling Team
- UAE Team Emirates - XRG
- Uno-X Mobility
- Wagner Bazin WB
- XDS Astana Team
Men’s Tour of Flanders 2025 route:
After a last year’s start in Antwerp, in 2025, the start of the Tour of Flanders will return to Bruges. This means that the approach to the Flemish Ardennes will change again after alterations due to safety concerns last year. The doubleheader of the Oude Kwaremont – Paterberg will still mark the key phase of the race and will determine the winner of the race.
The Koppenberg climb, 45km from the finish is also a vital moment in a race which comprises 268.9km of racing and 16, mostly cobbled, climbs.
Starting in Bruges, the first half of the race is fairly undulating but it isn’t until they approach the midway point of the race that it starts to heat up. After 129km of racing, they will approach the iconic Oude Kwaremont for the first time. Standing at 2.2km in length, the Oude Kwaremont is the longest climb in Flanders, and while its gradient is easier on the legs compared to other climbs, there is an 11.6% punch in the middle. After the halfway mark, the route intensifies and every 10km the peloton will face another cobbled challenge, offering little chance in between to recover. The Eikenberg, Wolvenberg, Molenberg, and Valkenberg all come in quick succession and are a chance to thin the main peloton.
With 54km remaining, the riders will take on the iconic duo – Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg – for the first time. The two climbs feature again when the riders have just 20km remaining, so this is where we expect to see some decisive moments be made. Unlike the Oude Kwaremont, the Paterberg is a short but steep climb, with an eye-watering average gradient of 12.9%.
The Tour of Flanders this year finishes with its usual flat run-in to Oudenaarde. If no rider has managed to break away from the main peloton, here is where we see the most dramatic racing as the riders all battle it out to the line for victory.
Women's Tour of Flanders 2025 teams:
- AG Insurance - Soudal Team
- BePink - Imatra - Bongioanni
- Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto
- Ceratizit Pro Cycling Team
- Cofidis Women Team
- Cynisca Cycling
- DD Group Pro Cycling Team
- EF Education-Oatly
- FDJ - Suez
- Fenix-Deceuninck
- Human Powered Health
- Lidl - Trek
- Liv Alula Jayco
- Lotto Ladies
- Movistar Team
- Roland
- St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 WE
- Team Coop - Repsol
- Team Picnic PostNL
- Team SD Worx - Protime
- Team Visma | Lease a Bike
- UAE Team ADQ
- Uno-X Mobility
- VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team
Women's Tour of Flanders 2025 route:
Unlike the men’s route, the women’s race will start and end in Oudenaarde and is 100km shorter at 168.9km. The course still packs a punch however, with 12 climbs and seven cobbled sections included in the race’s parcours.
The first half of the race is fairly undulating and they reach their first cobbled section after 56km of racing. Then the peloton will reach their first climb, the Edelareberg, at 65.9km and then the second half of the race is littered with the punchy climbs that make this race so special. Coming thick and fast, they’ll have to conquer the Molenberg, Berendries, Valkenberg, Eikenberg, Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries, Taaienberg, and Oude Kruisberg, all within 90km of racing.
Then, with less than 20km left to go, the women will take on the race's iconic duo, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. After they are up and over the Paterberg, the remaining 13km is a flat finish back into Oudenaarde.
