Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
On Wednesday 17 September 2025, the 85th edition of the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg began, a five-day race across the Grand Duchy running until Sunday 21 September 2025.
This year’s Škoda Tour de Luxembourg brings together 20 teams and 120 riders competing over 694 km across five stages: Luxembourg-Knuedler to Luxembourg-Fëschmaart (152.8 km), Remich to Mamer (168.4 km), Mertert to Vianden (170.5 km), an individual time trial in Niederanven (26.3 km), and the final stage from Mersch to Luxembourg-Limpertsberg (176.4 km).
The peloton features eight UCI WorldTeams (Alpecin-Deceuninck, Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ, Lidl-Trek, Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates), seven UCI ProTeams (Equipo Kern Pharma, Team Flanders-Baloise, Team Polti VisitMalta, TotalEnergies, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Uno-X Mobility and Wagner Bazin WB), four UCI Continental Teams (Efapel Cycling, Hrinkow Advarics, Rembe | rad-net and Team ColoQuick) as well as the Luxembourg national team.
For the 85th edition, the organisers highlighted the return of several big names, including past winners Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek, 2022) and Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling, 2023), alongside Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), standout of the 2025 Tour de France. Other headliners include Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek). From Luxembourg, national champion Arthur Kluckers (Tudor Pro Cycling) will line up alongside Michel Ries (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Mats Wenzel (Equipo Kern Pharma) and the national team’s young prospects.
Stage 1 (Luxembourg-Knuedler to Luxembourg-Fëschmaart, 152.8 km) opened with a neutral start in Place Guillaume before the peloton faced three early climbs in the Oesling (Putscheid, Bourscheid and Eschdorf). The Spuerkeess Bonus Sprint, set 51 km from the finish, promised to be decisive for the GC contenders, before a fast return into Luxembourg City and an uphill finale at the Fëschmaart. “Starting on the Knuedler gives the race a unique atmosphere in the heart of the capital, and with the climbs coming so early, the riders will be tested from the first kilometres,” noted Andy Schleck, President of the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg, adding that “the short, explosive finish will guarantee suspense right up to the line.”
The breakaway animated proceedings for much of the day – Andrea Pietrobon (Team Polti VisitMalta), Quentin Bezza (Wagner Bazin WB), André Carvalho (Efapel Cycling), Malte Hellerup (Team ColoQuick) and Luxembourg’s Mats Berns and Mil Morang (National Team Luxembourg). Their effort animated the race for much of the day, but the leading group was reeled in several dozen kilometres from the finish, leaving the peloton to decide the outcome in Luxembourg City.
In the final uphill sprint to the Fëschmaart, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) claimed victory in 3:40:45, finishing ten seconds ahead on bonus time. Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-Easypost) crossed the line six seconds back on GC, while Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling) took third, four seconds behind overall. Best-placed Luxembourger was Mats Wenzel (Equipo Kern Pharma), who finished 12th.
