Tour de France, presented the route: lots of mountains and just 22 km time trial

From Bilbao to Paris, with very little time trial, a lot of mountains and several trap stages. The Tour de France it distances itself considerably from the Giro 2023 and calls pure climbers to its roads, contrary to what the Corsa Rosa will do. An unusual Grande Boucle, from southwest to Great East, almost entirely developed horizontally. The departure from the Basque Country, the Pyrenees (Aspin and Tourmalet above all) in the very first stages, then the plain, interrupted only by the Auvergne volcanoes, up to the much harder Alps, inserted in the penultimate weekend. The last day in the mountains will be the Saturday before Paris, on the Jura, with Ballon d’Alsace and Markstein. No Galibier, no Alpe d’Huez, no Ventoux. The most demanding stage on paper is the seventeenth, from Saint Gervais to Courchevel, with the return to the Col de la Loze, already seen in 2020. A rather unusual absence in the hall, at the Palais des Congres in Paris, that of the outgoing winner Jonas Vingegaard , on whose presence in Bilbao as reigning champion still hovers a thick mystery.

The Tour de France route

The Tour de France 2023 will start on July 1st from the Basque Country, as in 1992. The Gran Départ from Bilbao, the first two bumpy stages in Euskera land, on the 3rd the entry into Franca, in Bayonne, where there will most likely be the first sprint. The Pyrenees already reach the fifth stage, the Pau-Laruns with the tough Soudet and Marie-Blanque. The next day the Tarbes-Cauterets, the classic Pyrenean day with Aspin, Tourmalet and arrival at the top of Cambasque. We return to the plains arriving in Bordeaux and then in Libourne-Limoges. On July 9 the Puy de Dome is back up and after more than thirty years, with the departure from Saint Leonard de Noblat, the city of Raymond Poulidor, protagonist of a legendary duel on the Puy de Dome against Jacques Anquetil.

Rest day in Clermont Ferrand, then back to cycling on 11 July towards Issoire. Sprinter still in action at Moulins. On the 13th a bumpy arrival in Beaujolais. The Gran Colombier, in the Ain, the following day, for the festival of 14 July, (there Pogacar won in 2020) will dig a significant furrow in the standings. From Annemasse to Morzine, runners will find the terrible Joux Plane for their first alpine arrival, followed on 16 July by Les Gets-Saint Gervais, at the foot of Mont Blanc. After the rest day, on the 18th, the only time trial, of 22 km from Passy to Combloux. On the 19th the hardest stage, with Col de la Loze before the arrival of Courchevel. The ascent to the east is easier, to Bourg en Bresse. On the 22nd the decisive day, the last in the mountains, on the Jura with the arrival on Markstein, passing through the Ballon d’Alsace, on the eve of the arrival of Paris. Never so few in modern times are the time trial kilometers, just 22.

The women’s Tour de France

Before the men’s tour, the women’s Tour was also presented, in its second edition after the rebirth by Aso. It will run from 23 to 30 July. Eight stages, the start from Clermont Ferrand, the arrival in Pau with a time trial and the suggestive arrival at the top of the Tourmalet.