Tour de France 2025 News

Hello everyone!

Introduced last year in the Tour de France series, the Club Tour brings together the game’s online modes. While the Moment Races and Moment Descents are, of course, still part of the experience (as we saw in the devblog dedicated to content) the Criterium mode, which allows races between 6 players, is back this year, enhanced with new options.



Let’s start right away with this year’s major addition: My Criterium. This new feature allows you to create private sessions to race with friends on the stage of your choice. Once you've selected one of the 87 available stages, you can customize the race by tweaking many settings, such as:

• The number of players (2 to 6),
  
• Whether AI-controlled teams are included,
  
• The type of team you want to manage (flat, hilly, mountain, or all-rounder),
  
• The length of the stage, chosen from 3 presets: short (20 km), normal (30 km), or long (40 km),
  
• The rider stats used—either real stats or equalized stats to give every player the same starting conditions.

You can also choose whether or not to activate certain modifiers to create more varied race scenarios. For example, you can decide if one rider on your team is in good or bad form, whether feed zones are available, or if teams are composed of 1 or 2 riders. Not sure which settings to pick? Let the game choose randomly for you!

With all these options, we hope you'll find enough race formats to have a great time with your friends. And races played in My Criterium will earn you Criterium Points, which can be used to unlock new items on the Route of Success.



In addition to My Criterium for racing your friends, you'll also be able to compare yourself with all other players thanks to brand-new online leaderboards. Five new rankings, inspired by the official classifications of the Tour de France, let you compete daily to try to wear a distinctive jersey:

• Yellow Jersey Ranking: based on the number of wins during the day,
  
• Green Jersey Ranking: based on the longest winning streak of the day,
  
• Polka-Dot Jersey Ranking: based on your win percentage throughout the day,
  
• White Jersey Ranking: determined by the highest number of Watts gained on a single stage (more on Watts in a moment),
  
• Combativity Award Ranking: based on the number of Criterium Points earned in a day.

These rankings reset every 24 hours. Each winner will wear the associated jersey (or bib number) for the next 24 hours, and a permanent icon will appear next to the winner’s name on the leaderboards.



A 6th leaderboard, the Watts Ranking, will let you challenge yourself throughout the year. This one isn’t daily and is never reset. It's a general ranking designed to track all players of the Criterium mode.



In each Criterium race (My Criterium not included), you’ll earn or lose Watts depending on your final position and your opponents’ skill levels. The better you finish, the more Watts you’ll gain—but if you win against players with much lower Watts, your gain will be small. Conversely, finishing third in a race where you were the underdog can earn you a lot. Your gain or loss is tightly linked to your rivals.



To rank well, you’ll need to string together good results and remain consistent—since all players will lose a small amount of Watts every week. Our goal is to ensure the top spots are held by active players.

That’s it for all the new features in Club Tour 2025. We’ve aimed to strike a balance by adding tools for hardcore competitors with the leaderboards, while also catering to players seeking a more private, friendly experience with My Criterium.

The game’s release is getting closer, but we still have one last devblog to share with you. It won’t have a specific theme, just a rundown of all the remaining game changes that didn’t quite fit into a dedicated post. See you soon!


>> https://linktr.ee/cyclinggames <<

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511320/Tour_de_France_2025/

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the very first AMA dedicated to the Tour de France video game!

First, before we dive in, we believe it’s important to recall the context of the creation of the Tour de France game, as it shapes many of the answers to the questions.



Tour de France operates under a very tight time constraint: no delay in the release date is acceptable. This might seem obvious, but a simple delay of a week or two can have a significant impact on the game's finish.

To avoid any catastrophes, we plan for large safety margins, which sometimes forces us to spread the integration of certain new features over several years rather than risk missing the release.

To summarize, here’s a simplified schedule of the development cycle of a TDF:


Although this is a summary, this development cycle is quite faithful to reality: it particularly shows that the time allocated for new features cannot exceed four months, which is very short and significantly limits iteration possibilities.

The second point to keep in mind is the size of the development team.

The team is made up of individuals who work on both TDF and PCM:

• 1 project manager, responsible for the planning of both games
  
• 1 technical director, ensuring technical consistency to avoid redundancy
  
• 4 level designers, dedicated to production, who then switch to PCM starting in February
  
• 2 to 3 3D artists working for both games (who, with the arrival of Unreal, will have fewer redundant tasks)
  
• 1 2D designer, split 50% between TDF and PCM
  
• 1 AI programmer, responsible for the race gameplay of both games
  
• 2 quality testers, ensuring game stability and preventing bugs or crashes
  
• 1 community manager, working closely with the one at NACON.

Another part is 100% dedicated to TDF (although there are still interactions and idea exchanges with PCM):

• 1 game designer
  
• 2 to 3 programmers tasked with integrating new features.

Overall, the production team consists of 15 people, but not all are 100% dedicated to TDF. Some aspects of the game are outsourced, such as sound design and video creation. We also benefit from support from an external team of testers.

Finally, the integration of Unreal Engine was handled by another team of 3D specialists, working in parallel with the development of previous games (see Devblog).

[h2]The Community Manager on Cyanide's side:[/h2]

Alongside their work with NACON, the studio’s CM ensures a daily presence on all platforms where PCM and TDF players are active.

They respond to messages (emails, social media, forums, Discord), moderate servers, track reported bugs, update the studio's social media with relevant content (videos, screenshots), participate in community live events, and relay official information. They also coordinate player feedback with production teams while keeping an eye on the smooth operation of multiplayer/online games.



[h2]The Marketing Product Manager[/h2]

The Marketing Product Manager for Tour de France and Pro Cycling Manager is the conductor: they don't develop the game, but they define the marketing and communication strategy to maximize visibility. They act as a liaison between NACON’s teams (community management, press, licensing, production) and Cyanide.

Of course, we are talking about the marketing team, but we are more numerous on the project. In total, there are 7 full-time people working on the project on NACON’s side. This includes the following roles: Production, Marketing Product Manager, Licensing, Press Relations, Community Manager, and QA.

[h3]What are their tasks?[/h3]

From the start of the project, they identify key new features to highlight (e.g., new graphics engine in 2025), analyze past releases and competitors, and then define the target audiences, goals, and annual marketing strategy with the Community Manager.

They choose the visuals (riders featured, trailers, key arts), plan the communication (announcements, ad campaigns), and approve all content with Cyanide, the artists, the video team, and licensing. Responsible for the advertising budget, they choose the channels (YouTube, social media, specialized media).

Finally, they present the game to the international sales teams to ensure its availability and visibility in stores (Micromania, Carrefour, GameStop…).

[h3]A coordinator's role: [/h3]

The Product Manager is at the heart of promoting TDF and PCM, working closely with Cyanide and stakeholders. No material is released without validation.

[h2]The Role of the Community Manager:[/h2]

No, a CM doesn’t just “post on social media” – far from it! 🙂

For Tour de France and Pro Cycling Manager, the Community Manager is the bridge between players, the marketing team, and Cyanide. From the start of the project, they develop the communication plan that will guide the entire year.

At NACON, they manage the games’ social media (this year, we’re also on Bluesky, join us!). They animate the Steam and PlayStation pages and co-administer the Discord server with Cyanide’s CM.

But that's not all: they also need to create content, record videos for TikTok, capture screenshots for communication materials, and know how to handle video editing and image retouching tools.

Finally, the CM plays a key intermediary role: they listen, collect, and convey player feedback across all platforms, to evolve the games in line with community expectations.



Will the game be available on Switch 2?

As of now, we cannot announce this. The console seems promising, but we haven't started development for it yet. The main issue is adapting the gameplay since the Joy-Cons do not have analog triggers.



Will women's cycling be added in the future?

This is a topic we are discussing internally, but it presents several challenges. Our discussions mainly focus on how to overcome these obstacles, rather than whether we want to add women's cycling. The answer is "yes," but the challenges are significant.

On one hand, we would need to create an entirely new 3D model for women, compatible with our animation and texturing technologies. The problem is that our male model is outdated, and it would need to be completely recreated to improve animation, textures, and other aspects. These are major challenges, not even considering the specifics to make women recognizable (such as ponytail hair, jewelry, etc.).

On the other hand, this would also require producing additional stages, a topic addressed in the next question.

We must also consider the economic aspect, with the uncertainty of whether players will embrace this novelty.

Will other Grand Tours (Giro & Vuelta) be added?
Will past Grand Tour stages be integrated?
Do you plan to replicate the road race course for the Paris Olympic Games?

Aside from the fact that we are the official game of the Tour de France, and our priority is to add ASO races, adding new content is quite complicated at the moment. Our stage creation tool (Stage Editor) is not fast enough to produce more stages during our production phase. This tool is still tied to the old game engine. A few years ago, it was decided not to invest in updating it because the goal is to develop a new stage editor under Unreal Engine.

This is a huge task, as complex and time-consuming as making the game run on UE5, with the risk of losing compatibility with all previous years’ stages.



Will the rider statistics system be reworked to better reflect form? (e.g., a scale from 0 to 100 or a rating from A to D)

This is a frequent discussion topic. No one really knows where the current 50-85 scale comes from. Redoing this system would be like jumping into the unknown. We know that it would probably break the game, with no certainty that it would bring a real improvement.

On TDF, it might be doable, but on PCM, with twenty years of development and countless lines of code, it would likely cause major errors.

Will weather conditions be introduced and affect gameplay (rain influencing descents, wind affecting the race)?

Due to time constraints, weather conditions are not being introduced this year. The new engine could definitely handle it, as we see in *PCM*. But unlike *PCM*, we want to create specific gameplay where the rider's control changes on wet roads. We don’t want simple passive statistics that make a rider stronger or weaker.

Will final sprint mechanics be improved for better sprint trains and tactics?

We are focusing on sprints this year, so that the trains are better organized, and the lead-out men no longer obstruct their leader when launching the sprint.

Will the overall race pace be slowed down for more realism?

Our data shows that we are close to realism on a race like the Tour de France. The flat stages are slightly faster than in reality, while the mountain stages are slightly slower. This comes from the game design choice to make flat stages less boring. Players also have a lot of influence on the pace depending on their play style.

Will the cyclist models (faces, expressions…) be improved?

This is planned in our mid-term roadmap, but facial expressions are not the priority. Our main goal is to first modernize the general appearance of the riders and make them more recognizable.

Will detailed maps of the final kilometers and climb profiles be available?

This is on our to-do list, but it is not a priority.

Will new race events (bike changes, railway crossings, shortened stages due to extreme weather) be added?

No, we believe that developing rare events like railway crossings is not worth the effort. Even bike changes, which are more common, are considered too costly to develop compared to how often they would be used. On the other hand, events related to extreme weather conditions are becoming more frequent, and we are starting to consider them for the coming years.



What are the long-term development goals for AI and Career Mode?

It’s difficult to establish long-term plans for AI. It’s a very fragile area. We are constantly trying to find a balance between realism and gameplay enjoyment.

We aim to align as closely as possible with what we see on TV, but what guides us above all are the players' feedback. This year, we focused on sprints based on feedback from PCM players.

However, we do have development goals, like offering more options for players to customize their experience.



Will sponsor management and financial aspects be improved?
Can we expect a more in-depth transfer system with real negotiations? Will an online career mode be offered?

The Pro Team mode was built about ten years ago on very arcade-based foundations (three races and a few riders to buy). We believe this vision has reached its limits.

Adding a transfer system on this basis wouldn’t be enough to create a new gameplay experience. Without a retirement system and new generations, it would be ineffective.

You’re probably thinking of PCM when you refer to these mechanics, but our goal is not to make a PCM for consoles. We want to create something deeper than the current Pro Team, while remaining distinct from PCM. We are working on this project, but it’s a huge task, and we don’t know yet when we will be able to release it. It will certainly include a transfer system.

Will the Pro Cyclist mode be expanded with more career choices and interactions?
Will it be possible to play as an existing rider or an U23 prospect instead of a created character?

The Pro Cyclist mode is one we’re not really comfortable with. It was imposed by our previous publisher. The idea was good, but we only had two months to create a mode that allowed creating a rider and progressing them. Due to time constraints, it was decided to use the Pro Team as the base and then improve the mode year after year. Unfortunately, the Pro Leader mode has never become a priority 😞. It has always been overshadowed by the online mode or Pro Team. Moreover, evolving the Pro Team always requires ensuring compatibility with Pro Leader, which can be a hindrance. We currently have more ambition for Pro Team than for Pro Leader.



Will there be a merger between PCM (management) and TDF (gameplay)?

Not at all 🙂.
Would you ask to merge Fifa and Football Manager?

Will modding be introduced for TDF, like on PCM?

It is not a priority. TDF is the official game of the Tour de France.

Many elements must be approved before launch (ASO, teams, brands). Modding can be very problematic for us because we have to verify what is added and manage requests from stakeholders.

Imagine someone creating great bikes through modding, but a manufacturer objects to their presence. We would then have to remove them, which takes a lot of time and could harm our relationships with our partners.



Will you finally secure all the rider licenses?

Our licensing team is working on it, but they don’t always manage to reach agreements with all the teams. This doesn’t depend solely on us, but all World Tour and Pro teams are being contacted.

-------------------------------------------------------------

As you’ve seen, developing Tour de France is a real challenge (from strict deadlines and a small team to ambitious technical goals). Still, every member of the team pushes hard to improve the game each year, while sticking to an unmissable annual release.

The switch to Unreal marks a major step forward, helping us become more efficient and creative in the future. Thank you for your support and feedback, it plays a big role in shaping our decisions. We’ll keep pedaling hard for what’s next!


>> https://linktr.ee/cyclinggames <<

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511320/Tour_de_France_2025/

Hello everyone,

For this new devblog, we’re going to focus on game content, and more specifically, review the various stages available in the game this year.

As explained in the devblog dedicated to Unreal, the new engine allowed us to rethink the way certain technologies function. We’ve reworked the stage loading method. This results in stages taking up significantly less space and has allowed us to substantially increase the number of stages available - for the first time, over 100 stages are included.


We won’t go into detail about the route of the 2025 Tour. Naturally, it’s present with its start in the Hauts-de-France region, passing through Brittany, the Pyrenees, Mont Ventoux, and the Alps before finishing on the Champs-Élysées. For players in Pro Team and Pro Leader modes, 11 alternate stages will modify the Tour route depending on the season. Here is the list in no particular order - it's up to you to guess where these stages fit in 😉.


The most observant among you may have noticed a mystery stage in the list - it will be revealed in the coming days.
The Critérium du Dauphiné and Paris-Nice also make their return. As many players now know, we must adapt our routes since production timelines don’t allow for the current year’s routes to be included. However, we strive to respect the overall balance and intent of the organizers.


The 3 Days of Provence remain true to their identity with a hilly profile and no excessive difficulties - a route inspired by early-season races in the south of France, perfect to kick off the year!


The Breizh Cup is no more and relocates to eastern France to make way for the brand-new Circuit Grand Est. The route now naturally includes more variety, including the Vosges mountains.


The Euro Tour remains unchanged: a stage race that stands out thanks to cobbled sectors, ideal for Flemish specialists.


The Open Tour keeps its short stage format. Based in the Southwest of France - with a brief visit to the Basque Country - this race is limited to riders under 25 years old in Race Mode.


All of these races will also benefit from brand-new leader jerseys - a welcome refresh, created by TomGtr7, a member of the PCM modding community.


The list of available classics expands with the arrival of a new ASO-licensed race. La Flèche Wallonne and its brutal Mur de Huy now join the 5 existing Monuments and the 4 World Championship routes, making for a total of 10 unique classics.


In total, there are 15,700 kilometers of roads (and sometimes trails and cobbles) spread across 102 routes:

• 21 flat
  
• 30 hilly
  
• 9 mid-mountain
  
• 23 mountain
  
• 3 cobbled
  
• 1 gravel
  
• 15 time trials

(Note: This total doesn’t include the Tour de France’s mystery stage.)

All of this is, of course, available for creating your own races in My Tour mode, or for online battles in 6-player Critérium mode. These stages also fuel the regular challenges of Race of the Moment, and while we’re on the subject, let’s not forget the Descents of the Moment, which will feature 23 different descents throughout the year.


>> https://linktr.ee/cyclinggames <<

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511320/Tour_de_France_2025/

Hello!

For this new devblog, we’re going to focus on the overhaul of the refuel system.

For several years now, we’ve been trying to renew this gameplay without finding a satisfying solution. The main pitfalls have been that each time, the result was either too complex or less interesting than the current system, which has the advantage of being simple to understand and use - two significant qualities.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
After many prototypes, we’ve finally found a new approach that refreshes the way feeds are used. The new system is still based on two types of feed, which we’ve named EnerGel and TurboGel, each with its own specific gameplay.


EnerGel is a fusion of the two previous feed types. When you use it, both your blue and red energy bars refill simultaneously, as if you were consuming both the old red and blue gels at the same time. Our goal with this fusion is to increase the strategic importance of using feed.

If you take EnerGel because you need blue energy at a specific moment in the race, you’ll also consume red energy - even if you don’t need it. This means you’ll now have to anticipate your needs more effectively and carefully assess whether it’s the right moment to use a feed.


TurboGel, on the other hand, has a completely different mechanic. When you hold down the feed button to consume it, it will temporarily block the consumption of red energy. The duration of this block depends on how long you hold the button.

Unlike EnerGel, TurboGel is consumed all at once. Once you decide to use it, any unused portion is lost. Similarly, if you don’t attack immediately after using it, its effect will be wasted. Our goal with this feed is to add a more strategic element to planning a major attack. For this reason, TurboGel will only be available after the final feeding zone of a stage.


Reworking this system also gave us the opportunity to correct certain exploits, such as chaining multiple attacks using red energy feeds. From now on, consuming feed will significantly limit effort, making it impossible to push at maximum intensity while refilling your energy bars during sprint preparation.

This new limitation, which varies depending on the selected difficulty level, forces players to carefully choose the right moment to refuel in order to avoid losing too much time or dropping positions in the peloton.

We hope this new gameplay will refresh strategic approaches while offering an exciting new challenge for the 2025 edition.


>> https://linktr.ee/cyclinggames <<

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511320/Tour_de_France_2025/

Dear players,

A new era begins for Tour de France. With the transition to a new graphics engine, Unreal Engine 5, you can enjoy enhanced visual quality and experience new roads and other iconic races like never before.

Curious about the visual upgrade? Watch the new trailer and see the difference for yourself with comparison shots from both engines!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Tour de France 2025 will be released on June 5, 2025.


>> https://linktr.ee/cyclinggames <<

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511320/Tour_de_France_2025/