Who says first day of the year says calendar projection. And, inevitably, the 2025 sports agenda will be scrutinized by all sports lovers. If the coming summer will be particularly calm in comparison with 2024 (Euro football, Olympic Games and Paralympic Games), there will be no shortage of major national and world events this year again. It will start soon enough, since this Friday the Dakar, a historic rally-raid, will take place its 47th edition. Overview.
January: the Dakar as appetizers, the Australian Open and the World Handball Championships as main courses
After Africa and Latin America, the Dakar has established itself in recent years in Saudi Arabia, a maligned country and a player that has become essential in terms of soft powerespecially on the sports scene. From January 3 to 17, cars, motorcycles and trucks will attack the dunes. Several Provençals will be there. The experienced Matthieu Baumel (Céreste, near Manosque), quadruple winner of the car event as co-driver of Nasser Al-Attiyah, is alongside the Belgian Guillaume De Mévius (Mini). Two other co-drivers, from Valensole (also 04), are registered: Delphine and Max Delfino. Among the motorcycles, Neels Theric (Aix-en-Provence) and Max Vianucci (Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) are also in the starting blocks.
After the Dakar warm-up, the month of January will accelerate. After the first tournaments of the season in Brisbane, Sydney or Adelaide, the watches will be set to the Melbourne schedule for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year. From January 12 to 26, the elite ATP and WTA will embark on the race to succeed the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, respectively winners among the men and women in 2024. Marseillais Benjamin Bonzi, current number 75 in the world, will join the main draw, while the Arlesian Clément Chidekh, also a regular in the Marseille city, will will launch into the qualifiers in a few days.
Finally, the second half of January (from the 14th until February 2) will see the men’s handball world championships take place, organized jointly by Norway, Denmark and, for a greater difference, Croatia. Beaten in the final in 2023 by the Danes, the Blues embody the major reference of this competition. Indeed, with 6 world titles (1995, 2001, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017), France is the most successful selection among men. This will be the first major competition since the retirement of Nicolas Karabatic, who played his last match at the Olympic Games (elimination in the quarter-finals by Germany).
February: “Crunch” at Twickenham, Open 13 and Tour de La Provence
If the French XV will begin its Six Nations Tournament on January 31 against Wales, the month of February will see the classic and highly anticipated “Crunch”, England-France at Twickenham this year, on February 8. Fifteen days later, Fabien Galthié’s Rugby players will travel to Rome to face Italy. They will end this 2025 edition in March with the trip to Ireland (8/03) – the most difficult in recent years – then the reception, finally, of Scotland (15/03).
For players on the ATP circuit (Tennis, always) who will opt for a return to Europe at that time, the Open 13 Provence (categorized ATP 250), from February 10 to 16, will directly follow the big meeting in Rotterdam (ATP 500). At the Palais des Sports, for the 32nd edition of the “Open”, who will manage to succeed Ugo Humbert, who will himself be present to defend his title? Beyond the traditional and historic French presence (Bonzi was a finalist in 2023), several foreigners in the top 30 are announced, from Grigor Dimitrov to Sebastian Korda, including Karen Khachanov.
Registered on the UCI calendar since its creation, the Tour cycliste de La Provence is preparing for a new and most spectacular vintage from February 14 to 16. The level will go up another notch with nine training courses from World Tour and 18 squads in total, “including the main French teams”specifies Jean-Louis Pelé, general director of Provence. Who will win the event, the ninth of the name? If Thomas Voeckler was the first winner in 2016, the most successful (with two successes, in 2020 and 2022) is the Colombian Nairo Quintana. We will be at the end of the three days of racing (instead of four). Three days of racing, three stages, a big start from an emblematic place in Marseille, a final arrival in Arles, as in 2024 and as will be the case in 2026, the Tour de La Provence 2025 will offer both classic and thrills for the thousands of spectators expected on the side of the roads but also for his peloton.
From March to May, a busy spring
In March, the two main motor sports return, with the start of the Moto GP world championships (2/03, Thai Grand Prix) then Formula 1, two weeks later, in Australia. Until the iconic Monaco Grand Prix on May 25, no less than 8 F1 races are on the program, including Suzuka (Japan) on April 6 and Imola on May 18. As for two-wheelers, there are 7 races on the menu until the end of May, with the highlight for fans of the discipline in France being the French Grand Prix at Le Mans on May 11. What role will Provençal Johann Zarco, a regular in the premier category, manage to play?
The beginning of spring will mark a highlight of the cycling calendar with, after Paris-Nice (March 9 to 16) with the arrival of a stage in Berre on the 14th, several emblematic meetings: Milan-San Remo (March 22) , Tour of Flanders (April 6), Paris-Roubaix (April 13) or Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 26).
Let’s talk football, too. After the winter break, OM will play their second part of the season, both on the Ligue 1 pitch and in the French Cup (calendar can be found here). Spring will also be dedicated to European club competitions and international windows. The final phase of the Nations League will begin, with the quarter-finals, between March 20 and 23. We will then have to move forward until June for the outcome. After the semi-finals (4 and 5/06), the final is scheduled for June 8. Will Didier Deschamps’ Blues see the adventure through to the end? They are, in any case, qualified for the quarter-finals against Croatia (first away match on March 20, return match three days later).
Taking place in its new format, the Champions League will really get down to business in the second quarter. After the round of 16 in March, the month of April will send shocks into chaos with the quarter-finals (8-9 and 15-16 April) then the first legs of the semi-finals (29-30 April, return matches on May 6 and 7). The Champions League final will take place on May 31 in Munich, ten days after the Europa League (C3) final in Bilbao. Between the two, the Conference League will conclude in Poland.
At the crossroads of the seasons, the moment of truth for club rugby
Whether for national competitions (Top 14, Pro D2) or European competitions (Champions Cup, Challenge Cup), the verdict will be announced at the crossroads of spring and summer. How will the RCT position itself at that time in the elite and in the Champions Cup? If the Top 14 final will make the most impatient like every year (June 28 at the Stade de France), after the semi-finals in Lyon the previous week, the European cups will know their winner more than a month earlier. The two finals will be played in Cardiff on May 23 and 24.
We will, of course, follow with the greatest attention the journey of Aixois de Provence Rugby in this second part of the season in Pro D2. At the end of the regular championship, which will end on May 16, the final phases will take place at the end of May-beginning of June with a final in Toulouse.
A summer unlike the frenzy of 2024, but…
No Euro football, no Olympics (we will have to wait until 2028 in Los Angeles for the next summer edition), no more Paralympic Games… Those nostalgic for 2024 could have the blues. But there will still be plenty to do with the great saga of sport. Having just closed the great Roland-Garros chapter (May 19-June 8), completed the NBA finals (June) and competed in the “24 Hours of Le Mans” (June 14-15), we will begin the summer with the club world cup (football). Will this unique meeting in this format excite the crowds? Nothing is less certain. However, for those who are interested, it will take place in the United States from June 15 to July 13. From July 2 to 27, it will be the women’s Euro with the Bleues, a French women’s team in which the Provençales Sakina Karchaoui and Maëlle Lakrar are regulars.
From one surface to another, tennis will occupy the space, with Wimbledon following Roland-Garros, as usual. Dressed all in white, the players will meet in London for a highly anticipated fortnight, from June 30 to July 13. Then, later, still in summer, room will be made for the US Open, where the elite of the yellow ball will join New York (August 25-September 7).
In the meantime, cycling will have returned to the forefront with the Tour de France (July 5-27) then the Tour of Spain, a Vuelta which will run from August 23 to September 14. How can we not also mention the world swimming championships? In the wake of a truly stratospheric Léon Marchand since the Paris-2024 Games, these Worlds could be exceptional. You will have to be aware of the time difference, since it is Singapore that is affected (July 11-August 3).
A quick return to school
After the resumption of Ligue 1 football and the various foreign championships, the 2025-2026 European Cups will begin in September. We obviously hope to find OM there, well on their way in their ambition to compete in the Champions League.
The first half of September will be marked by the Basketball Euro (start on August 27, final on September 14), in a four-way organization divided between Latvia, Cyprus, Finland and Poland). World championships in several disciplines will also mark the month of September: volleyball in the Philippines and cycling in Rwanda. But it is in athletics that the major event can be expected. This year, Tokyo will be in charge of the organization from September 13 to 21.
Also to follow at the end of the year: Tour of Lombardy cycling (October 11), Paris Tennis Masters 1000 (October 25 to November 2), end of the Moto GP season (November 16, with the Valencia Grand Prix) , women’s world handball championship (November 27 to December 14 in Germany), end of the Formula 1 season (December 7 with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix).
