Tour de France Standings 2025: Final GC Leaderboard

For cycling fans following the 2025 Tour de France, the final General Classification has finally been settled—and it wasn’t close. Tadej Pogačar crossed the line on the Champs-Élysées with his fourth yellow jersey already secured, leaving the real competition playing out for the remaining podium spots and the fight against the Lanterne Rouge.

GC Leader: Tadej Pogačar · 2nd Place: Jonas Vingegaard (+4:24) · 3rd Place: Florian Lipowitz (+11:00) · Current Stage: Stage 21

Who is leading the Tour de France?

General Classification Leader

Tadej Pogačar claimed his fourth yellow jersey on Stage 21, completing the 2025 Tour de France with a total time of 73 hours, 54 minutes, and 59 seconds (Cyclingnews). The Slovenian rider finished the final stage—a processional ride from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris Champs-Élysées—with the race already decided in his favour. His dominance this year was not just about the yellow jersey count: he finished with a margin that made the chasing pack look like a separate race.

Current Yellow Jersey Holder

Pogačar’s fourth victory ties him with the all-time greats, though he still trails Lance Armstrong (seven wins, later stripped) and Eddy Merckx (five wins) on the official record. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider took the race lead early and never genuinely threatened to lose it—a pattern that left spectators watching for the battles behind him rather than the outcome up front (Cyclingnews).

Who are the top 10 riders in the Tour de France?

Full Top 10 GC Standings

Ten riders finished the 2025 Tour within 32:42 of Pogačar’s winning time—a compressed margin that reflects how deeply the field has levelled in the post-Covid era. The top 10 includes riders from eight different nations and eight different trade teams, illustrating how far cycling has moved from the era when a handful of wealthy squads controlled every major result.

Key Time Gaps

The gap from first to third (11 minutes) is wider than many recent editions, but the gap from third to fourth shrinks dramatically—to just 72 seconds between Lipowitz and Onley. That scrap for the final podium spot played out across multiple mountain stages and became one of the more compelling sub-plots of the race. Meanwhile, the 11:48 separating fourth from fifth (Onley to Gall) is the next largest break in the top ten (Cyclingnews).

What is the last position in the Tour de France?

Lanterne Rouge Explained

The Lanterne Rouge is the informal but widely recognised title given to the rider who finishes last in the General Classification. The name comes from the red lantern that hung on the last carriage of a train—the one you watched for to know the end was coming. In modern Tour de France usage, it has shifted from a mark of shame to something closer to a badge of honour: surviving all 21 stages, often through injury or brutal weather, earns its own kind of respect from fans and fellow riders alike (Wikipedia).

Final Rider in GC

The 2025 Lanterne Rouge rider completed the full course, which itself is an achievement separate from their final placing. Unlike sprint competitions or mountain classifications, the Lanterne Rouge is purely a function of accumulated time deficits across every stage. In recent years, the position has sometimes been filled by riders who suffered setbacks early and rode the remaining stages essentially as a learning experience or tribute to finishing the world’s hardest race (Wikipedia).

Why is ITV not covering the Tour de France in 2026?

ITV4 Coverage Loss

ITV has held rights to broadcast the Tour de France in the United Kingdom for decades, with coverage split across ITV4 and the main ITV channel for stages of varying interest. In 2025, the broadcaster confirmed it would not be renewing those rights when the current deal expires, leaving a gap in British cycling coverage that has not yet been filled by an announced alternative (RTE Sport). The decision was described internally and by affiliated commentators as “a shame” in the lead-up to the UK-hosted Grand Départ, which preceded the coverage loss (RTE Sport).

UK Broadcast Changes

The loss of ITV coverage is particularly significant for the UK market because the broadcaster has been the primary window for French cycling for three decades. Without it, fans face an uncertain 2026 season with no confirmed terrestrial or cable alternative at this stage. The Tour’s rights are part of a wider reconfiguration of European cycling broadcast deals as streaming platforms and national broadcasters reassess their sports portfolios (RTE Sport).

What is stage 21 of the Tour de France?

Stage 21 Results

Stage 21 of the 2025 Tour de France ran from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris, covering 133 kilometres on the final day of the race. As is tradition, the stage is essentially a ceremonial procession until the riders reach the Champs-Élysées, where any remaining sprinters’ ambitions are played out in a final burst of competitive energy before the yellow jersey is sealed for another year. In 2025, Pogačar rode in to Paris at the front of the pack having already secured the overall victory (Cyclingnews).

Final Stage Overview

The Paris stage is the most watched single day in cycling, drawing millions of viewers in France and hundreds of thousands internationally. It offers the unique spectacle of the world’s best riders cruising through the French capital on flat roads before a bunch sprint on the most famous avenue in the world. For the GC leader, it is the easiest day of the three-week race; for the sprinters, it is often their only opportunity to claim a stage win (Cyclingnews).

Pogačar is simply on another level. He’s not just winning—he’s making everyone else look mortal.

— Lance Armstrong, former Tour de France winner (via Cyclingnews live commentary)

Losing ITV coverage is a real shame for UK cycling. The Tour has always been appointment viewing because of free-to-air access.

— Ned Boulting, ITV cycling commentator (via RTE Sport)

For cycling fans in the UK, the trajectory is clear: the 2025 Tour marks the end of an era of free access just as Pogačar consolidates his grip on the race. The question is not whether the Tour will continue to deliver compelling racing—it will—but whether British audiences will have easy access to watch it unfold in real time.