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Riders who complete the entire 2025 Tour De France will have to race over 3,338.8 kilometers (2,075 miles) across 21 stages. While there are some rest days included, that type of distance riding takes an insane toll on your body, even for the world’s greatest athletes.
Don’t believe us? Just take a look at the picture 24-year-old Frenchman Axel Laurance posted on his Instagram account during Monday’s third and final rest day.
Ineos rider Axel Laurance posted how his legs look like after riding the Tour de France 2 weeks 😮 #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/NlMqN6kV0L
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) July 22, 2025
Laurance, who rides for the INEOS team, took fifth place in Sunday’s 169.3-kilometer (105.2 miles) 15th stage. Despite the incredible performance, he finished the stage absolutely drained of all physical and emotional energy.
The 2025 Tour De France Has Taken Everything From INEOS Rider Axel Laurance
“This race is the only one who can give you emotions like this,” Laurance wrote on Instagram. “Today I had the legs, but the luck was not on my side. Big thanks to my teammates to try to put me back in the front of the race, but unfortunately, I never saw it.”
Laurance finished in 1:36 behind stage winner Tim Wellens of Belgium, who is a teammate of the race’s overall leading, Tadej Pogacar.
Pogacar, the poster boy for UAE Team Emirates, has come under fire for his remarkable showing in this year’s Tour, which has drawn unwelcome comparisons to those of Lance Armstrong in the early 2000s.
Pogacar leads the race by over four minutes on second-place Jonas Vingegaard, who won both the 2022 and 2023 Tour de France. While Vingegaard could certainly make up that time with an incredible third and final week, the more likely outcome is that Pogacar extends his lead en route to his fourth victory at the legendary race, following wins in 2020, 2021, and 2024.