A winning formula is not changed. The Tour of the Alps - for several years now - has been recognized for clear characteristics and precise ideas. Short stages, brief transfers, never trivial altimetry, no parade stages, no sprints, no time trials, attacks and uncertainty every day. By doing so, it becomes difficult to analyze the route, there's no true queen stage because the general classification can be decided on the first or last day, depending on how the riders choose to interpret the various stages. The 2025 edition, scheduled from April 21 to 25, is obviously no exception.

It will start with a stage entirely in Trentino that will have both start and finish in San Lorenzo Dorsino, for a tough and tricky 148.5 km loop. After the initial flying sprint in Andalo, the first climb that the group will encounter, though not categorized as a GPM, is the one leading to Sporminore (4.1 km at 7.7%), followed by a new flying sprint in Cles, and then the now-classic Campo Carlo Magno (1st cat., 14.5 km at 6.3%), to be crested 50 km from the finish. However, the Passo del Durone (2nd cat., 6.3 km at 8%) could prove decisive, as it will certainly cause significant selection just 20 km from the target. But beware of underestimating the constantly ascending finish towards San Lorenzo Dorsino, because in the last 10 km there's first a 3 km stretch with an average gradient over 6% and then the final kilometer in the town center rises again to 7%.

The second stage will take the group from Trentino to Alto Adige, from Mezzolombardo to Vipiteno Racines for 178 km. The first 90 km are truly intense, as riders will face in quick succession Monte San Pietro (1st cat., 19.1 km at 6.1%), and then two non-GPM but quite steep climbs leading to San Valentino di Sopra (6.9 km at 7.7%) and Fiè allo Sciliar (7.4 km at 7.1%). At that point, the stage will "calm down" until the final Vipiteno circuit, 16 km long and to be repeated twice, with the Telves di Sopra climb (4.2 km at 7%) as a crucial junction. At the end of the second ascent, only 10 km will remain to the finish.

The Tour of the Alps continues with another stage to be lived and experienced entirely in Alto Adige, the Vipiteno Racines - San Candido of 145.5 km. The first difficulties this time arrive after 55 km, with a climb with three "peaks" starting from Longega (4.7 km at 8.8%) and leading to Antermoia (1.5 km at 7.5%), before tackling the Furcia Pass (1st cat., 7.7 km at 7.3%). Before the finish, there's one last important difficulty, the Monte Versciaco (2nd cat., 5.9 km at 7.1%), which will be crested 11 km from the finish and followed by a very technical descent leading directly to San Candido.

For the fourth stage, the Sillan - Obertilliach of 162.7 km, the race moves to the Tyrolean region, although for a few kilometers in the initial phases, the race will also enter Veneto in the areas of Lake Misurina and Auronzo di Cadore. The first real climb comes after 60 km with Passo di Sant'Antonio (7.8 km at 8%), not categorized as a GPM, but the real action will happen in the extremely intense final 35 km. There will first be the difficulty of Anras Oberried (2nd cat., 4.6 km at 8.4%), followed by a tough ramp of 2.2 km at 10.1% and then the more rideable climb of Kartitscher Sattel (3rd cat., 7.6 km at 5.9%), which will end 7 km from the finish.

The grand finale will be in Lienz, in a sprint stage of 112.2 km with start and finish in the Tyrolean city. It will be a replay of the final stage from 2022, when Romain Bardet turned the race upside down in the rain and Thibaut Pinot won the stage (the penultimate victory of his career). The serious action will begin after 35 km, when riders will first encounter the Bannberg (1st cat., 4.8 km at 9.1%), followed by the Oberassling climb (3.8 km at 10.1%) and the Anras bump (900 meters at 8.2%). However, the Tour of the Alps will be decided in the last 40 km, first with the second ascent of Bannberg (4.8 km at 9.1%) and then with the deadly Stronach climb (1st cat., 3.1 km at 12.3%) 10 km from the finish. If it wasn't already clear, the race cannot be considered closed until the very last meter.