queen stage of tour de france

The queen stages of the 2023 Grand Tours!

We already know the complete profiles of the three grand tours of cycling for 2023. Today we remind you of the dates of the main stages of the Giro d'Italia , Tour de France and Vuelta a España. 3 days not to be missed for cycling lovers.

Giro d'Italia - May 24

Stage 19: Longarone - Tre Cime di Lavaredo, 182 kilometers

The queen stage of the Giro d'Italia will head into the Dolomites, on a day that has been affected by the weather in the past, especially in 2013. It could very likely be the return of Tre Cime di Lavaredo to the Giro d'Italia.

This should see the combination of Passo Campolongo, Passo Valparola, Passo Giau and Passo Tre Croci beforehand. All of these will be ridden at high altitude, and the Passo Giau should be an incredibly tough climb with almost 10 kilometers at 10%. The summit finish, however, will take place at over 2300 meters altitude, with 4 kilometers at 11%.

Profiles & Route 2023 Giro d'Italia | 68 ITT kilometers; Tre Cime di Lavaredo returns and HELLISH MTT on stage 20

Tour de France - July 19

Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc - Courchevel, 166 km

The queen high mountain stage of the 2023 Tour de France features 5000 meters of elevation gain and four very tough climbs during the 166 km stage: Col des Saisles (13.3 km at 5.3%), Cornet de Roselend (19.9 km at 6%, Cöte de Longefoy (6.6 km at 7.6%) and the terrible final climb to the Col de la Loze (28.4 km at 6%). The summit will be reached 6.5 km from the finish in Courchevel, which will be reached after a fast descent.

Profiles & Route Tour de France 2023 | 22 kilometers of ITT; Col de la Loze, Puy de Dôme, Grand Colombier in climber-oriented route

Vuelta a Espana - September 8

Stage 13: Formigal - Col du Tourmalet, 134.7 km

The queen stage was one of the most rumored and it turned out to be exactly as expected, as the race heads into the Pyrenees, with a mammoth mountain stage. Not because of its size, as it stretches over just 134 kilometers, but because of its constant climbs and descents. The riders will climb the Col d'Aubisque and the Col de Spandelles, which are separately very tough climbs, before the summit finish on the Col du Tourmalet, above 2000 meters.

Profiles & Route 2023 Vuelta a Espana - Andorra, Tourmalet and Angliru summit finishes headline mountainous route

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Tue 16 Apr 2024

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Tour de France: Gall grinds to stage 17 win as Vingegaard opens up gulf at top – as it happened

Felix Gall won a brutal Queen Stage, while any faint hopes Tadej Pogacar might have had of catching Jonas Vingegaard were completely obliterated

• Read Jeremy Whittle’s stage 17 report from Courchevel
• 19 Jul 2023 Gall wins stage, while Vingegaard all but wins Tour
• 19 Jul 2023 The top five on General Classification
• 19 Jul 2023 The top three on stage 17
• 19 Jul 2023 Felix Gall wins stage 17!
• 19 Jul 2023 Pogacar: "I'm gone, I'm dead"
• 19 Jul 2023 Tadej Pogacar is in big trouble ...
• 19 Jul 2023 Tadej Pogacar crashes ...
• 19 Jul 2023 The peloton is racing on stage 17 ...
• 19 Jul 2023 Today's roll-out has begun
• 19 Jul 2023 Who's wearing what jersey
• 19 Jul 2023 Vingegaard leaves rivals trailing in his wake
• 19 Jul 2023 The top 10 on General Classification
• 19 Jul 2023 Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc to Courchevel (165.7km)

35km to go: Bora-Hansgrohe rider Nils Politt takes up the cudgels at the front of the yellow jersey group, his team getting anxious that Jai Hindley’s fifth place on the GC is coming under threat. Simon Yates, Pello Bilbao, D**** G**** and Felix Gall are all in the top 10 but behind Jai Hindlay. Guillaume Martin, who is 11th on GC, is also in the lead group.

44km to go: The terrain flattens out … a bit, with 16 kilomtres to go until the official beginning of the final climb of the day. Marc Soler is at the front of the lead bunch. A few of those at the back are struggling to keep up. Egan Bernal has lost over two minutes on the yellow jersey group since crashing.

45km to go: “Why would you put a banner marking the top of a climb below the top of the climb?” asks Ben Bull. “That’s just cruel. It reminds me of the many false summits I rolled over on the Cabot Trail in Canada, wobbling my bike from side to side, clutching my chest. There is surely no darker feeling in the world than reaching a ‘summit’ only to see another summit dead ahead.”

49km to go: Bernal has lost over 90 seconds on the yellow jersey group and after his fall, is travelling down the descent with extreme caution. The road is narrow, tight and twisty, with low concrete walls on some of the corners.

52km to go: In the yellow jersey group, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) loses his front wheel at the first of them and hits the deck. He’s OK to remount and continue.

54km to go: The lead group beging their descent begins and it’s a long, steep one with over 20 hairpin bends.

55km to go: Great news. I can confirm categorically that David Gaudu is in the lead bunch, as Thibaut Pinot has just escorted him to the front of it. Now let’s never speak of him again unless he actually goes on to contest the end of the stage. The riders are still ascending, despite having passed the banner marking the top of the third climb. Ineos Grenadiers have taken over at the front of the yellow jersey group.

60km to go: “Gaudu moves in mysterious ways,” writes Bruno Rabl. Wearing a polka-dot helmet, shirt, shorts and socks, Giulio Ciccone crests the summit of the third climb of the day unopposed to take maximum points for the third time today. He could still lose the jersey if Jonas Vingegaard is first over the top of the last climb of the day and he doesn’t collect any more points today. Were that to happen, there are a sufficient number of climbs left on the Tour for him to win it back.

😍😍😍 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/C3TLjf8ACX — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 19, 2023

63km to go: Halfway up the Côte de Longefoy, our group of leaders have dropped Julian Alaphilippe and are almost three minutes clear of the yellow jersey group.

Your leaders: Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citröen), Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla), Stefan Kung, Valentin Madouas and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Magnus Cort and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Dries Devenyns (Soudal-Quick Step), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Felix Gall (Ag2r) and Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla).

Bizarrely, debate continues to rage over whether David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is in this group or not. The current thinking is that he definitely is and the Tour’s rider tracking gizmo appears to back that up.

Côte de Longefoy is the 3rd iconic segment during this stage: https://t.co/wxOMB06cTS pic.twitter.com/LNSkBRDL34 — Strava (@Strava) July 19, 2023

69km to go: The leaders are approaching the foot of the day’s penultimate climb, a comparative hillock compared to the monster lying in wait later. The category two Côte de Longefoy is 1,174m high and 6.7 kilometres in length with an average gradient of 7.5%. Easy!

Schrödinger’s Gaudu: “David Gaudu seems to be the Tour’s most elusive rider,” writes Chris Taine. “He’s in a group until you look for him in a group, at which point he’s not in that group. Or not not in that group. Meow.”

We are all, in our own way, waiting for Gaudu.

72km to go: “Much has been written about Vingegaard’s performance yesterday but it’s worth noting that he gained a substantial amount of time on the downhill sections,” writes Michael Forbes. “Cycling isn’t only about climbing but also about descending. Frankly, I’d rather investigate how he stayed on the bike around some of those corners!”

76km to go: Withg two of today’s four climbs behind them, the lead group of 33 riders has a lead of 2min 10sec over the yellow jersey group, which is 35-riders strong. THere’s another group of around 20 riders between them and the green jersey group, which is nine minutes behind the leaders.

82km to go: While we’re on the subject, the Irish journalist Paul Kimmage posted a tweet today, showing what I presume is a genuione page from today’s L’Equipe in which they had a photo of Vingegaard accompanied by the headline “D’une Autre Planete”. They have used that headline in the past, accompanying a story aboout … Lance Armstrong.

I always had my doubts about Lance and often got woeful abuse from his fans for expressing my cynicism. I really want to believe today’s best riders are on the level but also think it’s fair to ask questions in the face of some almost superhuman performances.

As my old friend David Walsh once said: “We reserve the right to applaud.” pic.twitter.com/dJjneLmcvA — Paul Kimmage (@PaulKimmage) July 19, 2023

An email: With the riders on a long descent it’s time to dip into the mailbag. “Very sad and a bit confusing to see so much on social media about Vingegaard’s amazing performance yesterday – particularly from fans of Pogacar?” writes Jeremy.

“Both are great riders and both seem to have the utmost respect for each other – shame the same can’t be said of some of Pogi’s fans who have thrown the doping card into what should merely be a discussion of which planet Vingegaard actually hails from!

“I think they are both a credit to modern day cycling - mind you, I have just discovered he is a big Liverpool fan - which I think does need some explanation in my book.”

It’s an interesting email but while there isn’t a shred of evidence to suggest that Vingegaard has done anything dodgy, I think that given the sport’s extremely murky past, there are legitimate questions to be asked about his performances. Yesterday’s was out of this world.

Vingegaard himself has welcomed questions from sceptics and this very subject was addressed on Eurosport’s pre-stage coverage this morning.

All concerned arrived at what I think is the fair conclusion that, until we see any evidence that Vingegaard (or indeed Pogacar) might be cheating in some way, we have to presume they are not. Other opinions are available.

King of the Mountains: Giulio Ciccone is now on 83 points, with Neilson Powless next in the pecking order on 58. Jonas Vingegaard is one behind the American in third.

In the entirely plausible scenario that Ciccone doesn’t take any points on today’s final climb and Vingegaard is first to the summit of the Col de la Loze, it is the Dane who will be top of the King of the Mountains standings at close of play this afternoon. Ciccone would continue to wear the polka-dot jersey, but only on Vingegaard’s behalf.

97km to go: In the polka-dot jersey, Giulio Ciccone is first over the Cormet de Roselend, followed by his teammate Mattias Skjelmose. I can confirm that David Gaudu is not in the lead group.

102km to go: We have three riders from the top 10 on GC in the lead group, the highest placed being Pello Bilbao, in seventh. Simon Yates (eighth) and Felix Gall (tenth). David Gaudu seems to have been vanished off the face of the earth, as there’s no sign of him in any of the first three groups. He’s definitely in one of them and I’m pretty sure it’s that of the leaders, which would make it four from the top 10.

105km to go: “What the heck happened to Neilson Powless!?” asks Joe Pearson. “A couple days ago he was in polka dot; today he’s in the Green Jersey group, over six minutes back. Is he ill or injured? Do we know?”

We can’t know for sure Joe, but he tried to escape early on in a group with Giulio Ciccone, who relieved him of his KOM jersey two days ago, but just didn’t seem to have the legs. He started going backwards very quickly at the first application of pressure. Probably just one of those bad days at the office.

106km to go: With a shimmering, emerald green lake to their right and slightly darker green mountains to their left and straight ahead, the riders continue their journey towards the summit of the Cormet de Roselend. The lead group is comprised of 34 riders, who have put 1min 23sec into the yellow jersey group behind them. The climb is about to ramp up quite viciously.

108km to go: The German Bahrain Victorious sprinter Phil Bauhaus has abandoned the race after being distanced at the back of the field. He cut an extremely forlorn figure while riding through the intermediate sprint zone all by himself.

An email: “I’ve been following the Tour for years now and I can’t ever remember hearing the phrase Queen Stage,” writes Lizzi. “What does it mean?” The Queen Stage is the toughest, most gruelling mountain stage of any Grand Tour.

109km to go: There’s another 10 kilometres to go up the second climb of the day with the gap from the leaders to the yellow jersey group at 1min 10sec. The green jersey group is currently toiling almost six minutes off the pace.

110km to go: Correction, there are way, way more than 12 riders in the yellow jersey group. Jumbo-Visma have six riders at the front, with the riders of UAE Team Emirates behind them and the lads from Ineos Grenadiers next in line. Christophe Laporte is towing them up the mountain, making a punishing pace.

113km to go: The two lead groups have come together to form one big 33-rider festival of pain. The 12-man yellow jersey group is only 1min 19sec back.

114km to go: Your chase group: David Gaudu, Stefan Kung, Valentin Madouas and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Magnus Cort and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Dries Devenyns (Soudal-Quick Step), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Felix Gall (Ag2r) and Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla). My humble apologies go out to David Gaudu, who I erroneously reported had been dropped. They have 14.5km of the second climb remaining.

115km to go: We have a lead group of nine readers who have opened a gap of 1min 10sec on the yellow jersey group, with a chase group in between.

Your leaders: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citröen), Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla).

Intermediate sprint: It went uncontested in the valley between the first two climbs and Julian Alaphilippe took maximum points, for all the good they are to him. Assuming he finishes the race, Jasper Philipsen won’t be caught in the points classification. Alaphilippe does, however, also win €1,500 for the team kitty, which will pay for a few righteous beers in Paris on Sunday night. Probably not too many, given how expensive everything is around the Champs Elysees.

• Tour de France 2023
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Tour de France 2023: Daily stage results and general classification standings

The latest updates on the winners of each stage and the top contenders for the coveted yellow jersey in the 110th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 23 July.

Jonas Vingegaard claimed back-to-back Tour de France titles beating main rival Tadej Pogacar into second place in a repeat of the 2022 result.

Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) produced the best result of his career, winning the final stage on his Le Tour debut. He triumphed in a photo finish beating Jasper Philipsen and Dylan Groenewegen into second and third place, respectively.

The 2023 Tour de France , the second and most prestigious Grand Tour of the year in the men’s road cycling season , started in Bilbao on 1 July.

Check out the daily results and the general classification standings after each stage right here.

• Tour de France 2023 preview: Full schedule and how to watch live

Sunday July 23: Stage 21 - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Paris Champs-Élysées, 115.1 km

The final stage of the 2023 Tour de France came to a climactic end with Belgium’s Jordi Meeus claiming a surprise victory in a sprint for the line on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Meeus won by the narrowest of margins in a photo finish edging Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Deceuninck) and Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco Alula) into second and third place, respectively.

Meeus celebrated an emphatic end to his debut while Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard claimed a second consecutive Tour de France title. Vingegaard finished seven minutes, and 29 seconds ahead of Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar with Adam Yates of Great Britain taking third overall.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 21 Results - Sunday 23 July

Saint-quentin-en-yvelines - paris champs-élysées, 115.1 km.

• Jordi Meeus (BEL, BORA-hansgrohe) 2h 56’13’’
• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0"
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco-AIUla) +0"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN, LidI-Trek) +0"
• Cees Bol (NED, Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0"
• Biniam Girmay (ER, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) +0"
• Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) +0"
• Søren Wærenskjold (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Corbin Strong (NZ, Israel-Premier Tech) +0"
• Luca Mozzato (ITA, Arkéa-Samsic) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 21

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 82h 05'42"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +7:29"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +10:56"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +12:23"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +13:17"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +13:27"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +14:44"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +16:09"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +23:08"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +26:30"

Saturday 22 July: Stage 20 - Belfort - Le Markstein Fellering, medium mountains, 133.5 km

Despite failing to regain the yellow jersey he won in 2020 and 2021, Tadej Pogacar  ended his Tour de France on a high note.

In his last Tour de France mountain stage before retirement, home favourite Thibaut Pinot went on a solo attack to the delight of the French fans.

But the climbing specialist was unable to stay in front with first Tom Pidcock and Warren Barguil catching him before Pogacar made his bid to bridge the gap.

Overall race leader Jonas Vingegaard covered the move with Felix Gall , and the three forged clear on the closing Col du Platzerwase climb.

As things became tactical at the front, the Yates brothers - Adam and Simon - made it a lead group of five.

Vingegaard made his bid for the stage win with 250m to go, but Pogacar was too strong this time with the Dane losing second to Gall on the line.

Pinot received a hero's welcome as he crossed the line in seventh place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 20 Results - Saturday 22 July

Belfort - le markstein fellering, medium mountains, 133.5 km.

• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 3h 27'18"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +0"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +0"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +0"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +7"
• Warren Barguil (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +33"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +33"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +33"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +50"
• Rafał Majka (POL, UAE Team Emirates) +50"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 20

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 79h 16'38"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +12:57"

Friday 21 July: Stage 19 - Moirans-en-Montagne - Poligny, hilly, 172.8 km

Matej Mohoric denied Kasper Asgreen a second consecutive win at the 2023 Tour de France after a thrilling photo-finish sprint in Poligny.

The two riders emerged from a three-man breakaway and outsprinted Australia's Ben O'Connor, with Mohoric narrowly beating Asgreen to the finish line.

Throughout the 172.8km stage, there were numerous fragmented attacks across the field, leading to an intense pursuit among different breakaway groups in the final 20km.

Overall leader Jonas Vingegaard finished with the main peloton and kept his seven-and-a-half-minute lead on Tadej Pogacar in the general classification (GC) with just two stages remaining

2023 Tour de France: Stage 19 Results - Friday 21 July

Moirans-en-montagne - poligny, hilly, 172.8km.

• Matej Mohoric (SLO, Bahrain-Victorious) 3h 31'02"
• Kasper Asgreen (DEN, Soudal - Quick Step) +0"
• Ben O'Connor (AUS, AG2R Citroen Team) +4"
• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) +39"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +39"
• Christophe Laporte (FRA, Jumbo-Visma) +39"
• Luka Mezgec (SLO, Team Jayco AlUla) +39"
• Alberto Bettiol (ITA, EF Education-EasyPost) +39"
• Matteo Trentin (ITA, UAE Team Emirates) +39"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +39"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 19

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 75h 49'24"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +7:35"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +10:45"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +12:01"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +12:19"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +12:50"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +13:50"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +16:11"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +16:49"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +17:57"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 19 - Moirans-En-Montagne to Poligny - France - July 21, 2023 Team Bahrain Victorious' Matej Mohoric crosses the finish line to win stage 19

Thursday 20 July: Stage 18 - Moûtiers - Bourg-en-Bresse, flat, 184.9 km

Kasper Asgreen surprised the sprinters and claimed stage 18 of the Tour de France after a long day in the breakaway.

Following several mountain stages in the Alps, a flatter stage awaited the peloton on Thursday. A breakaway of four rider with Kasper Asgreen , Jonas Abrahamsen , Victor Campenaerts, and later Pascal Eenkhoorn managed to just stay clear of the sprinters that were breathing down their necks on the finish line.

Asgreen of Denmark proved to be the fastest of the riders in the breakaway, and he secured his team Soudal Quick Step their first stage win of this year’s Tour de France.

Jonas VIngegaard held on to the leader's yellow jersey and maintains his 7:35 advantage to Tadej Pogacar .

2023 Tour de France: Stage 18 Results - Thursday 20 July

Moûtiers to bourg-en-bresse, flat, 184.9 km.

• Kasper Asgreen (DEN, Soudal - Quick Step) 4h 06'48"
• Pascal Eenkhoorn (NED, Lotto Dstny) +0"
• Jonas Abrahamsen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +0"
• Jordi Meeus (BEL, BORA - hansgrohe) +0"
• Matteo Trentin (ITA, UAE Team Emirates) +0"
• Christophe Laporte (FRA, Jumbo-Visma) +0"
• Luca Mozzato (ITA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 18

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 67h 57'51"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 18 - Moutiers to Bourg-En-Bresse - France - July 20, 2023 Soudal–Quick-Step's Kasper Asgreen celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 18 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Wednesday 19 July: Stage 17 - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc - Courchevel, high mountains, 165.7 km

Felix Gall claimed a dramatic queen stage of the Tour de France 2023, where Jonas Vingegaard cracked Tadej Pogacar to gain more than five and a half minutes on the Slovenian. The Dane is now seven minutes and 35 seconds clear in the overall lead, and looks very likely to win his second consecutive Tour de France.

The stage winner Gall attacked his breakaway companions with six kilometres remaining of the final climb Col de la Loze. Simon Yates tried to chase down Gall, but the AG2R Citroën Team rider managed to maintain a small gap to the Brit, and he crossed the finish line solo.

The general classification leader Vingegaard dropped Pogacar 7.5 kilometres from the summit of Col de la Loze, and while the Slovenian tried to limit his losses, last year’s winner did what he could to gain as much time as possible. His lead seems unassailable with four stages remaining.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 17 Results - Wednesday 19 July

Saint-gervais mont-blanc to courchevel, high mountains, 165.7 km.

• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) 4h 49'08"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +34"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +1:38"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +1:52"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +2:09"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +2:39"
• Chris Harper (AUS, Team Jayco AlUla) +2:50"
• Rafał Majka (POL, UAE Team Emirates) +3:43"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:43"
• Wilco Kelderman (NED, Jumbo-Visma) +3:49"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 17

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 17 - Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to Courchevel - France - July 19, 2023 AG2R Citroen Team's Felix Gall celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 17 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Tuesday 18 July: Stage 16 - Passy - Combloux, individual time trial, 22.4 km

Jonas Vingegaard took a big step toward reclaiming his Tour de France title, as the Danish rider triumphed on this year’s lone time trial.

The yellow jersey wearer gained an astonishing one minute and 38 seconds to his biggest rival Tadej Pogacar , who finished second on the stage.

Before Wednesday’s queen stage, the Dane now has an advantage of 1:48 to his Slovenian rival.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 16 Results - Tuesday 18 July

Passy to combloux, individual time trial, 22.4 km.

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 32:26
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +1:38"
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +2:51"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +2:55"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +2:58"
• Rémi Cavagna (FRA, Soudal - Quick Step )+3:06"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:12"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +3:21"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN Lidl - Trek) +3:31"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +3:31

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 16

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 63h 06'53"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +1:48"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +8:52"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +8:57"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +11:15"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +12:56"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +13:06"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +13:46"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +17:38"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +18:19"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 16 - Passy to Combloux - France - July 18, 2023 Team Jumbo–Visma's Jonas Vingegaard wearing the yellow jersey crosses the finish line after stage 16 REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Sunday 16 July: Stage 15 - Les Gets les Portes du Soleil - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, mountain stage, 179 km

Wout Poels took the first Tour de France stage win of his career, as he crossed the finish line alone at Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc on stage 15.

The 2016 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner dropped his breakaway companions Wout van Aert and Marc Soler 11 kilometres from the finish and managed to maintain his advantage.

Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar fought another alpine duel, but neither rider could get the better of the other, and they crossed the finish line together.

The yellow leader’s jersey therefore remains with Vingegaard. His advantage to Tadej Pogacar is 10 seconds.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 15 Results - Sunday 16 July

Les gets les portes du soleil to saint-gervais mont-blanc, mountain stage, 179 km.

• Wout Poels (NED, Bahrain - Victorious) 4:40:45
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +2:08"
• Mathieu Burgaudeau (FRA, TotalEnergies) +3:00"
• Lawson Craddock (USA, Team Jayco AlUla) +3:10"
• Mikel Landa (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +3:14"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +3:14"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +3:32"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +3:43"
• Simon Guglielmi (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +3:59"
• Warren Barguil (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +4:20

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 15

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 62h 34'17"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +10"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +5:21"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +5:40"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +6:38"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +9:16"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +10:11"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +10:48"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +14:07"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +14:18"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 15 - Les Gets Les Portes Du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc - France - July 16, 2023 Team Bahrain Victorious' Wout Poels celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 15 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Saturday 15 July: Stage 14 - Annemasse - Morzine Les Portes du Soleil, mountain stage, 151.8 km

Carlos Rodriguez claimed the biggest victory of his career, marking the second consecutive win for his team INEOS Grenadiers, on stage 14 of the 2023 Tour de France after crossing the finish line alone in Morzine.

The 22-year-old Spaniard took advantage of the mind games between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, who were the strongest riders during the ascent on the Col de Joux de Plan.

The Slovenian secured second place, beating his Danish rival, but now trails Vingegaard, who picked up an extra bonus second, by 10 seconds.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 14 Results - Saturday 15 July

Annemasse - morzine les portes du soleil, mountain stage, 151.8 km.

• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) 3:58:45
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +5"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +5"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +10"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +57"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:46"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +1:46"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +3'19"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +3'21"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +5'57"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 12

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 46h 34'27"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +4:43"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +4:44"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +5:20"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +8:15"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +8:32"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +8:51"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +12:26"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +12:56"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 14 - Annemasse to Morzine Les Portes Du Soleil - France - July 15, 2023 Ineos Grenadiers' Carlos Rodriguez celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 14

Friday 14 July: Stage 13 - Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier, mountain stage, 137.8 km

Michael Kwiatkowski of INEOS Grenadiers secured a remarkable solo victory on stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France, conquering the iconic Grand Colombier.

The Polish rider made a decisive move with 11km to go annd successfully maintained his lead over the pursuing riders, securing his third career stage win at La Grande Boucle.

Tadej Pogacar launched a late but blistering attack to finish third and narrow the gap to overall leader Jonas Vingegaard , with the Danish rider now leading by just nine seconds.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 13 Results - Friday 14 July

Châtillon-sur-chalaronne - grand colombier, mountain stage, 137.8 km.

• Michal Kwiatkowski (POL, INEOS Grenadiers) 3:17:33
• Maxim Van Gils (BEL, Lotto Dstny) +47"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +50"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +54"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) 1'03"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) 1'05"
• James Shaw (GBR, EF Education-EasyPost) 1'05"
• Harold Tejada (COL, Astana Qazaqstan Team) 1:05"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) 1'14"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 1'18"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +9"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:51"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +4:22"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +5:03"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +5:04"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +5:25"
• Tom Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +5:35"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +6:52"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +7:11"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 13 - Chatillon-Sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier - France - July 14, 2023 Ineos Grenadiers' Michal Kwiatkowski celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 13

Thursday 13 July: Stage 12 - Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais, medium mountains, 168.8km

Ion Izagirre of Cofidis claimed a stunning solo victory on stage 12 of the Tour de France 2023. The 34-year-old Spaniard made a daring move from the breakaway 30 kilometres before the finish line and successfully fended off the chasing pack to claim his second stage win in the prestigious French grand tour. The Basque won his first stage in 2016.

Mathieu Burgaudeau took the second spot on the stage, while Matteo Jorgenson was third.

Jonas Vingegaard maintained his hold on the yellow leader's jersey, with the Danish rider maintaining a 17-second lead over  Tadej Pogacar in second place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 12 Results - Thursday 13 July

Roanne to belleville-en-beaujolais, medium mountains, 168.8km.

• Ion Izagirre (ESP, Cofidis) 3:51:42
• Mathieu Burgaudeau (FRA, TotalEnergies) +58"
• Matteo Jorgenson (USA, Movistar Team) +58"
• Tiesj Benoot (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +1:06"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team +1:11"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +1:13"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +1:13"
• Dylan Teuns (BEL, Israel - Premier Tech) +1:27"
• Ruben Guerreiro (POR, Movistar Team) +1:27"
• Victor Campenaerts (BEL, Lotto Dstny) +3:02"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +17"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:40"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious +4:36"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +4:41"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +4:46"
• Tom Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +5:28"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +6:01"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +6:47"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 12 - Roanne to Belleville-En-Beaujolais - France - July 13, 2023 Cofidis' Ion Izagirre Insausti celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 12 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Wednesday 12 July: Stage 11 - Clermont-Ferrand - Moulins, flat, 179.8km

Jasper Philipsen secured his fourth stage win of this year’s Tour de France, as the Belgian once again proved to be the fastest rider of the peloton in a bunch sprint.

The green jersey wearer Philpsen won ahead of Dylan Groenewegen and Phil Bauhaus .

Jonas Vingegaard is still in the yellow leader’s jersey, after a stage that saw no changes in the top ten of the general classification.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 11 Results - Wednesday 12 July

Clermont-ferrand to moulins, flat, 179.8km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:01:07
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco AlUla) +0"
• Phil Bauhaus (GER, Bahrain - Victorious) +0"
• Bryan Coquard (FRA, Cofidis) +0"
• Alexander Kristoff (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Peter Sagan (SLK, TotalEnergies) +0"
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +0"
• Sam Welsford (AUS, Team dsm - firmenich) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 11

• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +4:24"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 11 - Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins - France - July 12, 2023 Alpecin–Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 11 REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Tuesday 11 July: Stage 10 - Vulcania - Issoire, medium mountains, 167.2km

Pello Bilbao of Bahrain-Victorious claimed the first Spanish Tour de France stage win in five years as he outsprinted his breakaway companions in a thriliing finale on stage 10.

Prior to the sprint finish, Krists Neilands of Israel-Premier Tech was caught just three kilometres from the finish line after the Latvian tried to go solo 30 kilometres earlier.

Several riders from the breakaway attacked in the final, where Bilbao broke free with Georg Zimmermann of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty. Ben O'Connor of AG2R Citroën Team managed to bridge accross right before Bilbao launched his sprint.

Neither Zimmerman nor O’Connor could respond, and the 33-year-old Spaniard could take his first-ever Tour de France stage win. A victory he dedicated to his former teammate Gino Mäder, who tragically lost his life last month after a crash at the Tour de Suisse.

In the general classification, Jonas Vingegaard crossed the finish line alongside the other favourites, and he retains his 17-second advantage over Tadej Pogacar in second place. Bilbao advanced from 11 th to fifth position in the overall standings.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 10 Results - Tuesday 11 July

Vulcania to issoire, medium mountains, 167.2km.

• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious 3:52:34
• Georg Zimmermann (GER, Intermarché - Circus - Wanty) +0"
• Ben O'Connor (AUS, AG2R Citroën Team) +0"
• Krists Neilands (LAT, Israel - Premier Tech) +0"
• Esteban Chaves (COL, EF Education-EasyPost) +0"
• Antonio Pedrero (ESP, Movistar Team) +3"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +27"
• Michał Kwiatkowski (POL, INEOS Grenadiers) +27"
• Warren Barguil (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +30"
• Julian Alaphilippe (FRA, Soudal - Quick Step) +32"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 10

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 42h 33'13"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious +4:34"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +4:39"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +4:44"
• Tom Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +5:26"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +6:45"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 10 - Vulcania to Issoire - France - July 11, 2023 Team Bahrain Victorious' Pello Bilbao Lopez celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 10 REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Sunday 9 July: Stage 9 - Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme, 182.4km

The iconic finish at Puy de Dôme , a 13.3 km stretch at 7.7% average gradient, returned to the race for the first time since 1988.

The stage was forecast to be a battle between overall leader Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar but it turned into a heartbreaking loss for Matteo Jorgenson. The U.S. rider who was stung by a wasp and needed to be attended to by the race doctor with 72km to go, produced a brave 50km solo effort and was caught 450m from the finish by Canada's Michael Woods.

Meanwhile, Pogacar gained eight seconds on Vingegaard. 

2023 Tour de France: Stage 9 Results - Sunday 9 July

Saint-léonard-de-noblat to puy de dôme, 182.4km.

Michael Woods (CAN, Israel Premier Tech) 4:19:41

Pierre Latour (FRA, TotalEnergies) +28

Matej Mohoric (SLO, Bahrain - Victorious) +35

Matteo Jorgensen (USA, Movistar) +35

Clement Berthet (FRA, AG2R Citroën) + 55

Neilson Powless (USA, EF Education-EasyPost) +1:23

Alexej Lutsenko (UKR, Astana Qazaqstan Team) + 1:39

Jonas Gregaard (DEN, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +1:58

Mathieu Burgaudeau (FRA, TotalEnergies) + 2:16

David de la Cruz (SPA, Astana Qazaqstan Team) + 2:34

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 9

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 38h 37'46"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team DSM - Firmenich) +6:58"

Saturday 8 July: Stage 8 - Libourne - Limoges, hilly, 200.7km

Mads Pederson held off triple stage winner Jasper Philipsen and Wout van Aert to clinch stage eight of the Tour de France in 4:12:26.

Van Aert had looked to be in a position to take the stage but was forced to apply the brakes after getting blocked by his own Jumbo-Visma teammate Christophe Laporte . The Belgian was able to recover to catch third.

Earlier in the race, joint record holder for stage wins Mark Cavendish was forced to abandon his 14th and expected last Tour after he was caught in a crash with 63km to go.

The Manx Missile appeared to have injured his shoulder after a touch of wheels in the peloton forced him off his bike and onto the tarmac.

It's been a heartbreaking 24 hours for Cavendish who was denied a record win yesterday (Friday) after suffering a mechanical issue in his sprint showdown with Philipsen.

In the GC, Jonas Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey, while Great Britain's Simon Yates slid two places into sixth following his crash with just 5km of the race left to go.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 8 Results - Saturday 8 July

Libourne to limoges, hilly, 200.7km.

• Mads Pederson (DEN, Lidl - Trek) 4:12:26
• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin - Deceuninck) +0"
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Jayco AlUla) +0"
• Nils Eekhoff (NED, Team DSM - Firmenich) +0"
• Jasper De Buyst (BEL, Lotto Dstny) +0"
• Rasmus Tiller (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Corbin Strong (NZL, Israel - Premier Tech) +0"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 8

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 34h 10'03"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +25"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:34"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +3:30"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:40"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +4:01"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +4:03"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team DSM - Firmenich) +4:43"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +4:43"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +5:28"

Friday 7 July: Stage 7 - Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux, flat, 169.9km

Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck got his hat-trick, as he claimed his third sprint victory on stage 7 of the 2023 Tour de France.

The points classification leader won ahead of Mark Cavendish of Astana Qazaqstan Team and Biniam Girmay of Intermarché - Circus - Wanty.

A breakaway tried to challenge the peloton for the stage win, but it was inevitable that the sprinters were going to battle it out in the end.

The GC favourites, including Jonas Vingegaard , crossed the finish line in the peloton, and the Jumbo-Visma rider retained the yellow leader’s jersey.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 7 Results - Friday 7 July

Mont-de-marsan to bordeaux, flat, 169.9km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 3hr 46'28"
• Mark Cavendish (GBR, Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0"
• Biniam Girmay (ERI, Intermarché - Circus - Wanty) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 7

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 29h 57'12"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +3:14"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 7 - Mont-De-Marsan to Bordeaux - France - July 7, 2023 Alpecin–Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 7 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Thursday 6 July: Stage 6 - Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque, high mountains, 144.9km

Tadej Pogacar of UAE Emirates won the mountainous stage 6 in the Pyrenees ahead of reigning Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard , who took over the leader’s jersey.

The first part of the stage was dominated by Jumbo-Visma and Vingegaard, who put pressure on the penultimate climb Col du Tourmalet. First, overnight leader Jai Hindley  was dropped by the pace of Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma).

Shortly after, Vingegaard attacked on climb, and only Pogacar could follow. The Dane’s teammate Wout van Aert got into the early breakaway and was waiting on the descent to pilot his captain into the final kilometres of the last climb - Cauterets-Cambasque.

Defending champion Vingegaard attacked again on the final climb with 4.5 kilomtres to the finish, but Pogacar stayed in his wheel. Two kilometres later, the Slovenian opened up a gap to the Dane. The two-time Tour de France winner managed to stay and claim his tenth Tour de France stage win.

In the GC, Vingegaard now leads by 25 seconds to Tadej Pogacar in second place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 6 Results - Thursday 6 July

Tarbes to cauterets-cambasque, high mountains, 144.9km.

• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 3hr 54'27"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +24"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +1:22"
• Ruben Guerreiro (POR, Movistar Team) +2:06"
• James Shaw (GBR, EF Education-EasyPost) +2:15"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:39"
• Carlos Rodríguez (SPA, INEOS Grenadiers) +2:39"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +2:39"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:11"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm - firmenich) +3:12"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 6

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma)
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm - firmenich) +4:43"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 6 - Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque - France - July 6, 2023 UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 6 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Wednesday 5 July: Stage 5 - Pau to Laruns, high mountains, 162.7km

General Classification podium contender Jai Hindley of BORA-Hansgrohe claimed the first mountain stage of the 2023 Tour de France. He also took over the leader’s yellow jersey from Adam Yates . Australian rider Hindley had sneaked into a big breakaway, where he attacked on the last categorised climb, Col de Marie Blanc. Hindley managed to maintain a gap to the GC favourites to take his first ever Tour de France stage.

Behind the stage winner, reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard had dropped two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and others on the last steep climb, and the Dane started the final descent with a 40-second advantage to the Slovenian.

Vingegaard crossed the finish line in fifth place, 34 seconds behind Hindley but gained more than a minute on his biggest rival for the overall win, Pogacar. Last year’s winner moves up to second place in the GC, 47 seconds behind Hindley, who was awarded 18 bonus second on the stage. Pogacar is in sixth place, 1:40 behind the leader’s jersey.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 5 Results - Wednesday 5 July

Pau to laruns, high mountains, 162.7km.

• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) 3hr 57'07"
• Giulio Ciccone (ITA, Lidl - Trek) +32"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +32"
• Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA - hansgrohe) +32"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +34"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +1:38"
• Daniel Felipe Martínez (COL, INEOS Grenadiers) +1:38"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +1:38"
• Carlos Rodríguez (ESP, INEOS Grenadiers) +1:38"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 5

• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) 22hr 15'12"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +47"
• Giulio Ciccone (ITA, Lidl - Trek) +1:03"
• Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA - hansgrohe) +1:11"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +1:34"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +1:40"
• Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) +1:40"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +1:56"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +1:56"
• David Gaudu (Groupama - FDJ) +1:56"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 5 - Pau to Laruns - France - July 5, 2023 Bora–Hansgrohe's Jai Hindley celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 5 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Tuesday 4 July: Stage 4 - Dax to Nogaro, flat, 181.8km

Jasper Philpsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinted to his second consecutive stage win on stage four of this year's Tour de France. In a close sprint finish, the Belgian threw his bike at the finish line to win right ahead of the Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny).

A few crashes on the final kilomtres did not change anything among the GC favourites. Adam Yates crossed the finish line within the peloton, and the UAE Emirates rider retained the yellow leader's jersey.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 4 Results - Tuesday 4 July

Dax to nogaro, flat, 181.8km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4hr 25'28"
• Caleb Ewan (AUS, Lotto Dstny) +0"
• Danny van Poppel (NED, BORA - hansgrohe) +0"
• Luka Mezgec (SLO, Team Jayco AlUla) +0

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 4

• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 9hr 09'18"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +6"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco Alula) +6"
• Victor Lafay (FRA, Cofidis) +12"
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +16"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +17"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +22"
• Michael Woods (CAN, Israel-Premier Tech) +22"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +22"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +22"

• Jul 3, 2023 Foto del lunes del pedalista del Alpecin–Deceuninck Jasper Philipsen celebrando tras ganar la tercera etapa del Tour de Francia REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Monday 3 July: Stage 3 - Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne, flat, 193.5km

Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck claimed the first sprint stage finish of the 2023 Tour de France, as the peloton left Spain to finish in Bayonne, France. It was the third Tour de France stage win for the Belgian sprinter.

The leader's yellow jersey stayed with Adam Yates, who came through the stage unscathed. He has a six-second lead to UAE Emirates teammate Tadej Pogacar.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 3 Results - Monday 3 July

Amorebieta-etxano to bayonne, flat, 193.5km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4hr 43'15"
• Fabio Jakobsen (NED, Soudal - Quick Step) +0"
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco AlUla) +0

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 3

• Mikel Landa (ESP, Bahrain Victorious) +22"

Sunday 2 July: Stage 2 - Vitoria-Gasteiz to Saint-Sébastien, hilly, 208.9km

Frenchman Victor Lafay (Cofidis) timed his attack to perfection pulling away from the peloton with a kilometre left to sprint to a maiden Tour de France stage win in Saint-Sébastien.

Lafay’s brave sprint to the finish gave Cofidis their first win since 2008 with Wout van Aert finishing a few bike lengths behind him in second place.

Tadej Pogacar , bidding for a third yellow jersey after losing his title to Jonas Vingegaard last year, again crossed the line in third place for second in the general classification.

First-stage winner, Adam Yates , held onto the yellow jersey finishing the stage in 21st place, one spot behind brother Simon .

2023 Tour de France: Stage 2 Results - Sunday 2 July

Vitoria-gasteiz to saint-sébastien, medium mountains, 208.9km.

• Victor Lafay (FRA, Cofidis) 4hr 46'39"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, Ineos Grenadiers) +0"
• Pello Bilbao Lopez (ESP, Bahrain Victorious) +0"
• Michael Woods (CAN, Israel - Premier Tech) +0"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team DSM - Firmenich) +0"
• Dylan Teuns (BEL, Israel - Premier Tech) +0
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora - Hansgrohe) +0"
• Steff Cras (BEL, Totalenergies) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 2

Saturday 1 july: stage 1 - bilbao to bilbao, medium mountains, 182km.

Britain's  Yates twins  pulled away from the lead group inside the last 10km of the Grand Départ with  Adam  easing clear of  Simon  inside the final kilometre to take his first Tour de France stage win in Bilbao.

Tadej Pogacar , bidding for a third yellow jersey after losing his title to  Jonas Vingegaard  last year, won the sprint for third and punched the air as he celebrated gaining a four-second time bonus on his rivals as well as a stage win for his UAE Team Emirates colleague in northern Spain.

Thibaut Pinot  was fourth with reigning champion Vingegaard safely in the lead group in ninth place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 1 Results - Saturday 1 July

Bilbao to bilbao, medium mountains, 182km.

• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 4hr 22'49"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco Alula) +4"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +12"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama-FDJ) +12"
• Michael Woods (CAN, Israel-Premier Tech) +12"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +12"
• Skjelmose Mattias Jensen (DEN, Lidl-Trek) +12"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +12"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama-FDJ) +12"

Tour de France 2023: General Classification standings after Stage 1

• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco Alula) +8"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +18"
• Thibault Pinot (FRA, Groupama-FDJ) +22"

Day-by-day route of the 2023 Tour de France

• Saturday 1 July: Stage 1 - Bilbao-Bilbao (182km)
• Sunday 2 July: Stage 2 - Vitoria-Gasteiz - Saint-Sebastian (208.9km)
• Monday 3 July: Stage 3 - Amorebieta - Etxano-Bayonne (187.4 km)
• Tuesday 4 July: Stage 4 - Dax - Nogaro (181.8 km)
• Wednesday 5 July: Stage 5 - Pau - Laruns (162.7 km)
• Thursday 6 July: Stage 6 - Tarbes - Cauterets-Cambasque (144.9 km)
• Friday 7 July: Stage 7 - Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux (169.9 km)
• Saturday 8 July: Stage 8 - Libourne - Limoges (200.7 km)
• Sunday 9 July: Stage 9 - Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme (182.4 km)
• Monday 10 July: Rest Day
• Tuesday 11 July: Stage 10 - Vulcania - Issoire (167.2 km)
• Wednesday 12 July: Stage 11 - Clermont-Ferrand - Moulins (179.8 km)
• Thursday 13 July: Stage 12 - Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais (168.8 km)
• Friday 14 July: Stage 13 - Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier (137.8 km)
• Saturday 15 July: Stage 14 - Annemasse - Morzine Les Portes du Soleil (151.8 km)
• Sunday 16 July Stage 15 - Les Gets les portes du soleil - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (179 km)
• Monday 17 July: Rest Day
• Tuesday 18 July: Stage 16 - Passy - Combloux (22.4 km individual time trial)
• Wednesday 19 July: Stage 17 - Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc - Courchevel (165.7 km)
• Thursday 20 July: Stage 18 - Moûtiers - Bourg-en-Bresse (184.9 km)
• Friday July 21: Stage 19 - Moirans-en-Montagne - Poligny (172.8 km)
• Saturday July 22: Stage 20 - Belfort - Le Markstein Fellering (133.5 km)
• Sunday July 23: Stage 21 - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Paris Champs-Élysées (115.1 km)

How to watch the Tour de France 2023

The Tour de France will be shown live in 190 countries. Here is a list of the official broadcast partners across different territories.

• Basque Country - EiTB
• Belgium - RTBF and VRT
• Czech Republic - Česká Televize
• Denmark - TV2
• Europe - Eurosport
• France - France TV Sport and Eurosport France
• Germany - Discovery+ and ARD
• Ireland - TG4
• Italy - Discovery+ and RAI Sport
• Luxemburg - RTL
• Netherlands - Discovery+ and NOS
• Norway - TV2
• Portugal - RTP
• Scandinavia - Discovery+
• Slovakia - RTVS
• Slovenia - RTV SLO
• Spain - RTVE
• Switzerland - SRG-SSR
• United Kingdom - Discovery+ and ITV
• Wales - S4C
• Canada - FloBikes
• Colombia - CaracolTV
• Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN
• South America - TV5 Monde
• United States - NBC Sports and TV5 Monde

Asia Pacific

• Australia - SBS
• China - CCTV and Zhibo TV
• Japan - J Sports
• New Zealand - Sky Sport
• South-East Asia - Global Cycling Network and Eurosport

Middle East and Africa

• The Middle East and North Africa - BeIN Sports and TV5 Monde
• Subsaharan Africa - Supersport and TV5 Monde

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Tour de France 2023: Gall wins Queen Stage, Vingegaard cements GC lead

Results 17th stage 2023 Tour de France

1. Felix Gall (aut) 2. Simon Yates (gbr) + 0.34 3. Pello Bilbao (spa) + 1.38 4. Jonas Vingegaard (den) + 1.52 5. David Gaudu (fra) + 2.09 6. Tobias Halland Johannessen (nor) + 2.39 7. Chris Harper (aus) + 2.50 8. Rafal Majka (pol) + 3.43 9. Adam Yates (gbr) s.t. 10. Wilco Kelderman (nld) + 3.49

12. Jai Hindley (aus) + 4.25 15. Carlos Rodriguez (spa) + 4.54 16. Sepp Kuss (usa) + 5.43 22. Tadej Pogacar (slo) + 7.37

GC after stage 17 1. Jonas Vingegaard (den) 2. Tadej Pogacar (slo) + 7.35 3. Adam Yates (gbr) + 10.45 4. Carlos Rodriguez (spa) + 12.01 5. Simon Yates (gbr) + 12.19 6. Pello Bilbao (spa) + 12.50 7. Jai Hindley (aus) + 13.50 8. Felix Gall (aut) + 16.11 9. Sepp Kuss (usa) + 16.49 10. David Gaudu (fra) + 17.57

Race report KOM leader Giulio Ciccone, Neilson Powless, Mads Pedersen, Jonas Gregaard and Luka Mezgec jump off the front after 10 kilometres of action. The five enter the Col des Saises with a 30 seconds lead, but they are caught by the front of the peloton. A group with Rafal Majka, Thibaut Pinot, Neilson Powless, Rigoberto Uran, Julian Alaphilippe, Jack Haig, Giulio Ciccone, Mattias Skjelmose, Felix Gall, Rui Costa, Victor Lafay, Kevin Vermaerke, Krists Neilands, Simon Yates, Lawson Craddock, Chris Harper, Clément Champoussin and Jonas Gregaard pushes on, but the Jumbo-Visma led peloton keeps them on a leash and brings the attackers back in the final kilometre of the climb.

Alaphilippe strikes on descent, while Ciccone and Neilands track him down. Gregor Mühlberger, Jack Haig, Kevin Vermaerke and Mattias Skjelmose rejoin them in the valley before a huge group of riders – Tiesj Benoot, Wilco Kelderman, Rafal Majka, Marc Soler, David Gaudu, Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot, Magnus Cort, Rigoberto Uran, Dries Devenyns, Pello Bilbao, Ben O’Connor, Nans Peters, Felix Gall, Rui Costa, Guillaume Martin, Matthew Dinham, Hugo Houle, Nick Schultz, Simon Yates, Lawson Craddock, Chris Harper, Clément Champoussin, Simon Guglielmi, Alexey Lutsenko, Gianni Moscon, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Jonas Gregaard – bridges across on the Cormet de Roselend.

While the lead group opens up a maximum gap of over 3 minutes, Ciccone takes maximum KOM points on the Saises, Cormet de Roselend and Côte de Longefoy. The Italian loses contact on the early slopes of the Col de la Loze.

The lead group is down to Felix Gall, Simon Yates, Chris Harper and Rafal Majka when Tadej Pogacar loses contact in the GC group. Moments later Gall heads out alone.

Benoot waits for Jonas Vingegaard and starts setting the pace. Adam Yates is the last rider to be dropped from the Jumbo Bees mini train.

Simon Yates leaves Majka behind and reaches the summit of the Col de la Loze 23 seconds after Gall. Vingegaard crests the giant 1.30 minutes later with Bilbao and Gaudu in his wheel.

Gall holds on on descent and in the steep last 600 metres to take the best win in his career. Yates finishes in second, while Bilbao drops Vingegaard in the dying metres to finish in third. The Dane won’t bother as he finishes 5.45 minutes ahead of Pogacar and virtually seals his second Tour de France victory in a row.

Another interesting read: route 17th stage 2023 Tour de France.

Tour de France 2023 stage 17: routes, profiles, more

Click on the images to zoom

Tour de France 2023: Six key stages you need to watch in the men's race next July

Six stages where drama in the fight for the yellow jersey could unfold in the 110th edition of the Tour de France

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The 110th edition of the Tour de France will get underway in Bilbao in 2023 before wrapping up three weeks later in Paris. 

Taking place between 1-23 July, the 3,404 kilometre route packs plenty of punches which includes stages in all five of the country’s mountain ranges. In total there are four summit finishes to contend with including a return to the iconic Puy de Dôme climb, and just one 22 kilometre individual time trial. 

A Grand Départ in the Basque Country means plenty of drama in the opening few stages which riders of the mould of Julian Alaphilippe and Tom Pidcock will relish. After the race leaves the Basque Country, it then moves through the Pyrenees and into France with a sprint finish in Bordeaux before returning to the mountains. 

At the grand unveiling of the route, race director Christian Prudhomme called it "one for the climbers" as the multiple summit finishes and steep roads were revealed. With that considered, it makes it highly likely that riders such as Remco Evenepoel , Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglič will head to the Giro d’Italia next year with Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar expected to lock horns in France. 

The big surprise was that there is no final weekend time trial as was widely expected, and no team time trial as was rumoured beforehand. 

Here are the six key stages where we predict early drama to take place as well as battles between the overall favourites throughout the three weeks. 

STAGE TWO: VITORIA-GASTEIZ - SAN SEBASTIAN 210 km

Stage two is undoubtedly one for the puncheurs featuring many of the climbs associated with the Clasica San Sebastian . 

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The 210 kilometre stage includes the Cote d’Aztiria, Cote d’Alkiza as well as the infamous Jaizkibel climb where the Basque fans will be out in full force. At 8.1 kilometres, the Jaizkibel is a nasty little ramp with sections touching eight per cent which the riders will have to contend with before speeding towards the finish. 

In August, Remco Evenepoel cut his way through a sea of fireworks, beer and screaming fans as he sped towards a second Klasikoa title on the Jaizkibel. Next July, expect a rider of the calibre of Julian Alaphilippe, Wout Van Aert or Matej Mohoric to be right in contention on stage two of the Tour. 

STAGE SIX: TARBES - CAUTERETS-CAMBASQUE 145 km  

Stage six sees the mighty Col du Tourmalet return to the Tour with the prize of the Souvenir Jacques Goddet , awarded to the first rider to cross the top of the Tourmalet, at the summit.

At just 145 kilometres, it includes three huge climbs including the well-known Col d’Aspin, the Col du Tourmalet and the first summit finish of the 2023 edition at Cauterets-Cambasque. The climb up to the finish is 16 kilometres in length with an average gradient of just 5.4%. However, the final three kilometres pitch all the way up to 10% meaning serious damage could be done in those final three kilometres alone.

Tadej Pogačar’s teammate Rafal Majka won the last time the race visited Cauterets in 2015. The stage may come too early for a GC battle this year, so expect a climber to win from a breakaway in similar style to Majka’s victory. Arka-Samsic's Warren Barguil could be a surprise favourite on a stage such as this.

STAGE NINE: SAINT-LÉONARD-DE-NOBLAT - PUY DE DǑME 184 km 

After much speculation, it was finally confirmed in October that the iconic Puy de Dôme mountain would be returning to the French grand tour in 2023 for the first time since 1988.

The 1,465 metre dormant volcano, located in the heart of the Massif Central will provide a horrific test of strength and endurance at the end of stage nine. It may also perhaps provide the first major general classification showdown. At 13.3 kilometres in length, with an average gradient of 7.7% it’s a climb that Vingegaard and Pogačar will both want to win on to add to their already glittering palmares.

In 1964, the final climb was the site of a legendary duel between five time winner Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor. Eddy Merckx was also punched there in 1975 by a spectator tired of the Belgian's dominance. 

Whoever has their arms in the air celebrating victory on stage nine will firmly write their name into cycling and Tour de France folklore. 

STAGE 14: ANNEMASSE - MORZINE LES PORTES DU SOLEIL 152 km 

Stage 14 has all the makings of a savage day on the bike with a consistently up and down parcours . 

There is a grand total of 4,200 metres of elevation stacked within the 152 kilometre stage. The day includes six climbs, which includes the gruelling Col de la Ramaz before the brutal Col de Joux Plane, followed by the fast and furious descent into Morzine. 

Due to the technicalities of the descent, any time gap at the top of the climb could be devastating, as only the bravest of descenders would dare to force a gap on the downhill run into Morzine. 

With stage 15 and another summit finish to come, will the riders at the sharp end of the general classification be willing to sacrifice everything with such a tough day still to come?

STAGE 15: LES GETS - MONT BLANC 180 km 

A gruelling Alpine weekend draws to a close with a 180 kilometre long test which concludes on the slopes of Mont Blanc. 

The ride through the Haute-Savoie includes the trio of the Col de la Forclaz, the Croix Fry and the Col des Aravis. With that demanding trio out of the way, it’s onto the slopes of the final climb which begins with the 11% Côte des Amerands. As the riders crest the Amerands the road goes sharply upwards with sections touching 17% according to the organisers. 

Either way, it’s one for the pure climbers once again and will inevitably provide a GC showdown. 

STAGE 17: SAINT GERVAIS-MONT BLANC - COURCHEVEL 166 km 

The high mountains continue on stage 17 with the mighty Col de la Loze on the menu. It’s arguably the Queen Stage of the 2023 edition with the Cormet de Roselend, the Col des Saisies and the Col de la Loze all playing a major role in proceedings. 

With its inconsistent gradients and sections touching 20%, the 2,304 metre Col de la Loze is a beyond fearsome climb which is enough to strike fear into even the most talented of climbers. 

The 2020 Tour included a summit finish at the top of the climb. Miguel Ángel López took the stage honours that day and another South American, Richard Carapaz, came unstuck on the slopes of the Loze after a gruelling day in the breakaway. 

The Souvenir Henri Desgrange , awarded to the first person over the peak of the Tour, is at the top of the climb, and is a fitting prize to go with the stage win for whoever crosses the line first at Courchevel. 

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Tom joined Cycling Weekly in early 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine. 

He has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the recent Glasgow World Championships. He has also covered races elsewhere across the world and interviewed some of the sport's top riders including Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert, Primož Roglič and Lizzie Deignan. 

When not writing news scoops from the WorldTour, or covering stories from elsewhere in the domestic professional scene, he reports on goings on at bike shops up and down the UK, where he is based when not out on the road at races. He has also appeared on the Radio Cycling podcast. 

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• Spring Classics

News Round-up: Tour de France Queen stage delivers blockbuster action in the Alps

The final week of the Tour de France started in explosive fashion with one of the most memorable time trial performances in recent memory. There was no time for the cycling world to catch its breath as the race quickly moved onto the Queen Stage and a brutal day with over 5000m of climbing. Could Tadej Pogačar strike back? In other news, Australia has revealed its World Championships squad, an event Kristen Faulkner is now going to miss due to further health complications, plus further updates from the Tour de France.

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online production editor.

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© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

It was a defining day at the Tour de France.

| Felix Gall conquers Tour de France Queen stage as Tadej Pogačar cracks

On a day that promised big GC shake-ups, stage 17 certainly delivered as Felix Gall ( AG2R Citroën ) took a stage victory that pushed him up the overall standings, whilst behind Jonas Vingegaard ( Jumbo-Visma ) added more than five minutes to his yellow jersey lead.

The big moment of the day came early on the final climb when Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) dropped out of the yellow jersey group with more than 15km still to race, eventually losing 5:45 to Vingegaard by the time he finally arrived at the finish.

Dropping Pogačar was not sufficient for Vingegaard, who attacked the rest of his GC rivals on the climb to go past the remnants of the day’s breakaway, and finish fourth on the stage.

He couldn’t catch all of the breakaway riders, though, and it was Gall who took the win ahead of fellow escapees Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious).

© Velo Collection (David Ramos) / Getty Images

Felix Gall claimed his first Grand Tour stage win.

“This whole year has been incredible, and now to do so well in the Tour de France, to win the Queen stage, it’s incredible,” Gall said at the finish, now sitting at eighth overall. “I just want to say thank you to the team. They have given me so much.

“It’s not easy to do a three-week stage race, and I have the role of the leader now after a few days, so we slowly focused on that and I was stressing myself a lot about that also. It’s not easy, but the last few days I have been more and more comfortable. I was just afraid that I would be caught in the last kilometres or the last descent.“

Gall attacked 6km from the summit of the final Col de la Loze climb, cresting the top alone, with 20 seconds to defend from Yates on the 6km descent towards the finish.

Despite the small gap, the Austrian rider descended skillfully and held on on the final ramp to take victory, his first in a Grand Tour and with enough of a time gap to move up to eighth on GC. Yates finished second, with Bilbao in third whilst Vingegaard overtook the rest of the breakaway riders to finish fourth. Yates also benefited on the GC, moving up to fifth.

| Tadej Pogačar: “I’m gone, I’m dead”

With only one mountain test remaining and a mighty 7:35 buffer, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) now appears to have secured another Tour de France title barring any disaster.

The final week didn’t start so comfortably. Two days ago Tadej Pogačar ( UAE Team Emirates ) was only 11 seconds behind, ready to mount an assault on the lead.

His hopes were dealt a hammer blow on stage 16, the only time trial of the race, where he shipped over 1:38 to Vingegaard.

Despite the major setback, the Slovenian was adamant after the stage that the final nail hadn’t been hammered into his coffin, vowing to come out swinging on today’s epic over the Col de la Loze.

“It’s definitely not over,” Pogačar said.

Any hopes of a fight back quickly unravelled on the final climb today when Pogačar’s voice uttered four haunting words across the UAE Team Emirates in-race radio, shared across the live coverage: “I’m gone, I’m dead.”

© Velo Collection (Michael Steele) / Getty Images

A dejected Tadej Pogačar crosses the line over five minutes behind Jonas Vingegaard.

Those words from Pogačar effectively signalled the end of his Tour de France challenge as he dropped back from the yellow jersey group, eventually losing nearly six minutes to Vingegaard.

The Dane is now in a prime position to reclaim his title and join Pogačar on two Tour de France victories.

| Grace Brown and Michael Matthews headline Australia squad for World Championships

Australia has announced its squad for the road events at the upcoming World Championships, with Grace Brown and Michael Matthews once again headlining.

The duo will line up for their respective road races where Matthews will be hoping to emulate or better the third-place finish he achieved on home roads in Wollongong last season. Brown will also take on the time trial alongside Georgie Howe having finished runner-up in the event in 2022.

Two-time former world champion Rohan Dennis leads the men’s time trial team for one final time before he retires at the end of the season. The 33-year-old took back-to-back victories in 2018 and 2019 before failing to add a third title in 2020, the last time he competed at the event. He’ll be joined by current Australian time trial champion Jay Vine.

Now only weeks away, the Glasgow event will bring all of the cycling events together into one big World Championships for the first time.

Medals will be won and World Champions crowned across a range of disciplines including road, cross-country, cross-country marathon, downhill, observed trials, track cycling, para-cycling, Freestyle BMX and BMX racing.

Including the road teams, Australia will take 121 athletes to Glasgow in total.

Women’s Elite Road Race: Grace Brown, Brodie Chapman, Lauretta Hanson, Alexandra Manly, Ruby Roseman-Gannon, Sarah Roy and Amanda Spratt.

Women’s Elite Individual Time Trial: Grace Brown and Georgie Howe.

Men’s Elite Road Race: Simon Clarke, Luke Durbridge, Caleb Ewan, Kaden Groves, Michael Matthews, Robert Stannard, Luke Plapp and Harry Sweeny.

Men’s Elite Individual Time Trial: Rohan Dennis and Jay Vine.

| Kristen Faulkner to miss World Championships after developing a blood clot

Kristen Faulkner ( Jayco AlUla ) has provided a further update after her training ride crash in May, confirming that she’s since developed a blood clot which will keep her out of action until the middle of September.

The American was originally ruled out of the Giro d’Italia Donne and Tour de France Femmes after being hit by a vehicle and fracturing her knee while training on May 28. That lay off has now been extended due to further help complications meaning that she will also miss the World Championships in Glasgow having originally been announced in the US squad for the time trial.

If all goes to plan, Faulkner is hoping to return to racing at the Tour de Romandie Féminin on September 15.

“After my accident in May, I developed a blood clot in my lung from all the swelling,” the American said in an Instagram post . “It will take 3 months to heal, during which time I cannot ride outside. Unfortunately, this means that I will also miss the World Championship and my first race will be Romandie on September 15-17.

“I am disappointed to miss such important races this season when I started out the year in the best shape of my life. However, my long-term health is my #1 priority, and my doctors recommend I take this time to fully recover so that I can come back 100% for the end of this season and next year.”

© Velo Collection (Luc Claessen) / Getty Images

Kristen Faulkner last raced at La Vuelta Femenina.

| Charlotte Kool ‘dreaming’ of yellow jersey in opening stage of Tour de France Femmes

With an incredible set of results already on her 2023 palmarès, Charlotte Kool ( dsm-firmenich ) heads into the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as one of the marquee sprinters aiming for a stage win and potential yellow jersey on stage 1.

The Dutch sprinter has enjoyed a meteoric rise this year, with a win tally that’s already into double figures, and the opening stage is set for another standout performance.

“I’ve been dreaming about the yellow jersey and stage 1 all winter,” the 24-year-old told GCN in a pre-race interview on Wednesday.

“When I was making my efforts in the winter this was on my mind. I can’t say for sure that stage 1 will be a bunch sprint, because the hill at the end isn’t easy at all, and with so many riders at their top form, it won’t be easy. But we’ll go all-in for a sprint and then see what that brings.”

© Velo Collection (Stephen Pond) / Getty Images

Charlotte Kool has already taken 11 wins in 2023.

With a climb inside the final 20km, stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes is far from a nailed-on day for the sprinters. Given Kool’s form and her team’s consistent backing, the Dutchwoman will be one of the big favourite’s should it end in a bunch sprint.

There will be extra incentive for the sprinters to survive the final climb with the first yellow jersey up for grabs. Who will claim it? Watch stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes live or on-demand on GCN+ .

| Alexis Renard abandons Tour de France after time trial crash

Stage 16 of the Tour de France proved to be a brutal day, claiming many victims, and not all of those were at the hands of eventual winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). Before the pre-stage favourites had even warmed up, three of the early starters all hit the deck on the opening corner.

Alexis Renard ( Cofidis ) and dsm-firmenich duo John Degenkolb and Nils Eekhoff were the unfortunate victims, all slipping out on a painted section of the road. While dsm’s riders appeared to come away from their crashes unscathed, Renard suffered a fractured elbow, forcing him to abandon the race.

“Unfortunately, Alexis Renard won't ride tomorrow,” Cofidis confirmed after the stage on Twitter . “Following his fall at the start of the stage, our Breton rider suffered a fractured right elbow.”

Alexis Renard became the latest rider to abandon the Tour de France after crashing on stage 16.

Even without the injury, Renard’s participation in the race was unknown after he finished the stage last, 10:46 behind winner Vingegaard and one second outside of the time cut.

After the crashes, the organisers appeared to move the barriers further into the road to seal off the spot where the riders had slipped out.

| Pascal Ackermann set to join Israel-Premier Tech

Pascal Ackermann is on the verge of joining Israel-Premier Tech for the 2024 season, according to WielerFlits .

The German sprinter is out of contract with UAE Team Emirates at the end of the season, and while riders can’t officially join new teams until the August transfer window opens, it’s believed that he’s signed an agreement that will be announced in the coming weeks.

It would bring to an end his two-year stint with the team having first joined from Bora-Hansgrohe at the beginning of 2022. During that time Ackermann has struggled to pick up wins, only topping the podium on four occasions. That’s compared to 36 victories in the four seasons before he joined the team.

AG2R Citroën Team

• Nationality France
• Founded 1992
• Team Principal Vincent Lavenu
• UCI Code ACT
• Bike Sponsor BMC

Jumbo-Visma

• Nationality Netherlands
• Founded 1984
• Team Principal Richard Plugge
• UCI Code TJV
• Bike Sponsor Cervélo

• Team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
• Nationality Austria
• Height 1.78m

Jonas Vingegaard

• Team Team Visma | Lease a Bike
• Nationality Denmark
• UCI Wins 35
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Tour de France 2023 route announcement – Everything you need to know

Mountainous profile, only 22km of time trialling and four summit finishes - all the details of the 110th Grande Boucle

There were gasps from the audience in the Palais des Congrès in Paris when the men’s 2023 Tour de France route was unveiled and the severity of the course was confirmed.

The 110th edition of cycling’s biggest race includes just a single 22km hilly time trial in the Alps and mountain stages in all five of France’s mountain ranges on the road between the Grand Départ in the Basque Country and the finish in Paris.

Race director Christian Prudhomme openly admitted that the 2023 Tour route was for the climbers as he revealed the multiple mountain top finishes and steep roads.

The very limited amount of time trialling and preponderance of mountains no doubt pleased French riders Thibaut Pinot , David Gaudu and Romain Bardet. However, Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglič and Geraint Thomas are more likely to target the Giro d’Italia, which has three times the amount of time trialling and arguably fewer mountains.

How to watch the 2023 Tour de France route presentation – live streaming

Jonas Vingegaard: Defending the Tour de France is hard but I’m up for the challenge

2023 Tour de France to start in the Basque Country

Official information from race organiser ASO claimed the 3,404km route includes eight flat stages for the sprinters, four hilly stages suited to breakaways and eight mountain stages. Four of these include summit finishes: in the Pyrenees at Cauterets-Cambasque, on the legendary Puy de Dôme volcano in the Massif Central, on the Grand Colombier in the Jura and at Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc in the Alps.

The other mountain stages are also extremely difficult, even if some are short and so extra intense.

Stage 14 to Morzine includes the mighty Col de Joux Plane and its testing descent to the finish. Stage 15 ends with the 11% ‘wall’ of Côte des Amerands and then the 7km 7.7% climb up to Saint-Gervais in view of Mont-Blanc.                                              

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Stage 17 to Courchevel climbs the 2,304m-high Col de la Loze and then descends to finish on the altiport runway. Stage 20 is a final brutal multi-mountain stage in the Vosges between Belfort and Le Markstein ski resort.

The only time trial is on stage 16 in the Arve valley near Sallanches after the second rest day, but the 22km route between Passy and Combloux will test riders' bike handling skills and climbing as much as their time trialling. The stage includes the Côte de Domancy, where Bernard Hinault forged his 1980 Worlds victory, and which also featured as part of the final week time trial in the 2016 Tour.

There is no final weekend time trial before Paris and no team time trial around Tarbes in the first week, as was rumoured before the route was unveiled.

2022 Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard was not present at the route presentation but he no doubt liked what he saw during the final days of his holidays. He was arguably the best climber of the last two editions of the Tour and he appears to have plenty of opportunities to go on the attack on the steep ascents in 2023.

Two-time winner Tadej Pogačar was at the Palais des Congrès in Paris and he smiled as the route was unveiled, relishing next July’s challenge against Vingegaard, Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers and anyone else.

2021 green jersey winner Mark Cavendish was not as happy. He has a number of opportunities to set a new record of 35 Tour de France stage victories but like all the fastmen, he will have to suffer through the mountains to make it to Paris for the final sprint.

Week one: From the Basque Country to the Puy du Dome

The 2023 Tour begins in the Basque Country, 31 years on from the 1992 Grand Départ in San Sebastian, when Miguel Indurain claimed the prologue time trial ahead of what would be the second of his five overall victories.

The three road stages will be a celebration of the Basque Country’s love of cycling, with huge crowds expected for the team presentation outside the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.

There is no early time trial this year, and the Tour begins with a 182km road stage around Bilbao. The route heads out to the hilly Bay of Biscay coastline before returning to the city for a late, steep climb of the 10% Pike Bidea and the finish in the centre. The stage includes 3,300m of climbing and so Wout van Aert and an on-form Peter Sagan rather than the pure sprinters could be the favourites to win and take the first yellow jersey – as, indeed, could Julian Alaphilippe.

Stage 2 features more punchy terrain on a 209km route from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Donostia San Sebastián, with the Jaizkibel climb – well known from the Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa – only 20km from the finish.

Stage 3 will start in Amorebieta-Etxano and heads 80km along the Basque Country coastline before reaching the French border. The 185km stage ends in Bayonne with the sprinters finally getting a clear chance of victory. The day after offers a chance of revenge for the defeated, with another fast finish expected on the Nogaro motor racing circuit.

The mountains begin on stage 5 with a 165km ride through the Pyrenees from Pau to Laruns with the Col de Soudet and Col de Marie Blanque featuring ahead of the run-in to the finish.

The race continues in the Pyrenees on stage 6 from Tarbes to Cauterets Cambasque. Rafał Majka was the last winner in Cauterets in 2015, after he distanced his breakaway companions on the Col du Tourmalet.

The stage climbs the Col d’Aspin and the 2115m-high Col du Tourmalet before a long descent to the valley and the 16km climb up to the finish. The average gradient is only 5.4% but the final three kilometres are over 10%.

Stage 7 takes the Tour away from the Pyrenees to Bordeaux with a start in Mont-de-Marsan, the adopted hometown of 1973 Tour winner Luis Ocaña. Bordeaux hasn't hosted a Tour stage finish since Cavendish won in 2010 and the pan-flat profile will surely offer him and others a chance of another sprint win.

The 201km stage 8 ride from Liborne to Limoges is a transition stage towards the Massif Central and is another sprint opportunity before the mountains return on stage 9 with the finish on the Puy de Dôme. The climb up and around the dormant volcano hasn't been used since 1988 but has a special place in Tour de France history, including the Poulidor-Anquetil duel in 1964 and the drama of when a spectator punched Eddy Merckx in 1975 to try to stop him winning yet again. The Puy de Dôme climb is 13.3km long at an average of 7.7% but the final four kilometres are above 11%.

Week two: Towards the high Alps for the single time trial

The riders enjoy a well-deserved first rest day in Clermont Ferrand before a hilly 167km stage between the Vulcania volcano park and Issoire. Stage 11 heads east from Clermont Ferrand to Moulins for another sprint finish if the peloton can control the breakaways.

It will be a similar scenario on stage 12 from Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, with little time for wine tasting along the route and a hilly finale perhaps playing a major role in the fight for the green jersey.

The mountains return on stage 13 in the Ain region and then just keep coming. The first is a short but intense 138km ride from Chatillon-sur-Charlaronne to the Grand Colombier summit finish. A stage first finished here in 2020 when Pogačar duelled with Roglič.

The riders climb up to the Hauteville-Lompnes plateau and then descend to face the 17.4km haul up to the Grand Colombier finish at an average gradient of 7.1%. A French winner would be fitting on Bastille Day.

The high mountains continue on stage 14 and into the second weekend, with 4,200 metres of climbing in just 152km between Annemasse and Morzine. The day includes six climbs, including the nasty Col de la Ramaz before the Col du Joux Plane. The descent off the mountain to Morzine will also be important and surely only increase any time gap achieved at the summit.

A demanding weekend ends with stage 15 from Les Gets to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, which should inspire a GC battle. The ride through the Haute-Savoie includes the Col de la Forclaz, the Croix Fry and the Col des Aravis. The climb to the finish kicks off with the 11% Côte des Amerands wall and then the 7km climb up to Saint-Gervais gets steeper and steeper, with ASO suggesting some sections touch 17%.

Week three:  The only time trial and more mountains before Paris 

The riders will enjoy the second rest in Sallanches but will be full of dread for what they face in the final week.

The only time trial of the Tour is on stage 16 and covers just 22km in the Arve valley south of Sallanches. It will be a chance to recover for the domestiques and sprinters but a huge day for the overall contenders.

The time trial starts in Passy on the north side of the Arve valley and then crosses to the south to climb the Côte de Domancy and up to the finish in the village of Combloux.

The climb is only three kilometres long but has an average gradient of 8.5% and a section at 16%. Some riders might be tempted to switch from a time trial bike to a climbing bike, but the time benefit is probably not worth the risks involved.

Time gaps might not be huge, but the stage will shake-up the overall classification and set the narrative for the final week.

The high mountains continue on stage 17 from Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to Courchevel. The 166km stage includes three categorised Alpine passes and it tackles the Col de la Loze before a short descent to Courchevel. The climbing isn’t quite over, however, with an 18% ramp up to the finish line at the altiport runway.

It is arguably the queen stage of the 2023 Tour de France, with the 2,304m climb up the Col de la Loze the highest point of the whole race. The Loze was only climbed once before at the Tour, in 2020, after the narrow bike path to the summit was asphalted. On that occasion, Roglič distanced Pogačar, with Miguel Ángel López winning the stage. We can expect a similar showdown next July.

The Tour leaves the Alps on stage 18 from Moutiers to Bourg-en-Bresse, giving a breakaway a chance of glory if they can break the will of the sprinters and their teams. Stage 19 from Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny is a hillier transition stage through the Jura and so north towards the Vosges and the French-Swiss border.

There is no time trial on the final Saturday of the race, and instead ASO have created what L’Équipe has described as a Liège-Bastogne-Liège as they try to inspire aggressive racing without climbing high into the mountains.

The 133km leg runs through the Vosges between Belfort and Le Markstein ski resort. It starts with the Ballon d’Alsace, includes five mid-stage climbs and then ends with 8.1% Petit Ballon and then the 8.4% Col du Platzerwasel.

“On a constant climb the riders can calculate their watts and control their effort. We are looking for ways to blow up the peloton,” technical director Thierry Gouvenou told L’Équipe , explaining his decision to create such a hard final stage.

Le Markstein hosted the penultimate stage of the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, with Annemiek van Vleuten taking the yellow jersey with an attack. The men will be hoping to repeat her exploit next summer to seal overall victory.

The Tour peloton will then transfer from the Vosges to Paris on the morning of the final stage on July 23. The final 115km parade stage starts at the national velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, which will host the track racing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters , Shift Active Media , and CyclingWeekly , among other publications.

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Mythologies: Queen Stages and Circles of Death – Things Ancient and Modern

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Share All sharing options for: Mythologies: Queen Stages and Circles of Death – Things Ancient and Modern

“ Stage 17 – Wednesday 22 July [2009]: Bourg-Saint-Maurice – Le Grand Bornand, 169.5km Today was what’s known in cycling terms as the ‘Queen Stage’ of the Tour de France. I don’t know where the term originated, but it’s usually given to the hardest day of the race and, with one second-category climb and four first category mountains to be covered on the 170km through the Alps, today was never going to be easy.” ~ Nico Roche, Inside the Tour de France

When did bike races get queen stages? And why are they queen stages in some countries but king stages in others? What even is a queen stage?

The Queen and Me

The very first cycling book I read was The Great Bike Race , a book about the 1976 Tour de France written by the Observer ’s then sports editor, Geoffrey Nicholson . A friend I rode with had found a copy in a second-hand bookshop in Dublin and we devoured it, even though it was already a generation out of date by the time we came to it. Other kids my age, they were sharing copies of Goodbye to the Hill – this is Ireland, we’re literary and even our porn comes in book form – but there we were, noses deep in The Great Bike Race . What can I say, I had a depraved childhood.

Flicking through The Great Bike Race again – I have to flick carefully, half the pages are falling out and it’s in danger of turning into a version of BS Johnson’s book-in-a-box, The Unfortunates – there is a curious absence: there is no queen stage in Nicholson’s account of the 1976 Tour.

Nicholson’s front-of-book glossary – the book was published in the 1970s and the English then hadn’t a clue what even a maillot jaune was (“Yellow jersey worn by the race leader; the term applied to the leader himself. It was introduced in 1919 so that the crowds could identify their hero more easily. It is worth £120 a day to the wearer on stages 1 to 14, £50 a day thereafter.”) – had entries for various kinds of étapes (étape, demi-étape , tiers d’étape ) but no étape reine .

That seemed odd, given the ubiquity of the phrase today. So I turned to Sam Abt, the dean of American cycling journalism, a few of whose books from the 1980s and 1990s I have. And she wasn’t there either. I looked in a few other books. Jeff Connor ’s Wide-Eyed and Legless and it’s up-dated version, Field of Fire : no queen stage. David Walsh ’s Inside the Tour de France : EPO, yes, queen stage, no. I even looked in the fabulist Pierre Chany’s aptly titled Fabuleuse histoire du Tour de France and, even in that collection of made-up nonsense she didn’t put in an appearance.

None of my older books appear to talk of the Tour having a queen stage. How odd is that?

Queen’s Greatest Hits

The earliest reference I can find to the Tour having a queen stage comes from a May 1920 edition of L’Auto, in which Henri Desgrange dubbed the Bayonne-Luchon stage l’étape reine :

“What is the hardest stage? It is indisputable that this is the Bayonne–Luchon stage, and since we are explaining the route to our readers, this is the moment to justify this opinion. Bayonne–Luchon is the queen stage because after 150 kilometres of terrain presenting hardly any difficulties other than the Col d’Osquich, the stage places before the riders – at the moment when the sun is already scorching – nearly 200 kilometres with six formidable cols.”

The cols to be conquered were the mountains we today think of as the Circle of Death: the Col d’Aubisque, the Col du Tourmalet, the Col d’Aspin and the Col de Peyresourde. That’s only four but the Aubisque was a three-for-the-price-of-one bundle that also contained the now disused Col de Tortes along with the Col du Soulor. In this west-to-east passage those two were – despite Desgrange’s hyperbole – just minor rises on the descent off the Aubisque, not formidable in any fashion.

While we today think of these climbs as being the Circle of Death, in the 1920s that was not the case. A decade earlier, while reconning the route of the 1910 Tour, the great directeur sportif Alphonse Baugé had described the descents in the Pyrénées – specifically those off the Col de Port and the Col de Portet d’Aspet – as being like the acrobatic cycling shows ‘Looping the Loop’ and the ‘Circle of Death’ . Baugé used the English name for ‘Looping the Loop, by which this act was universally known, he didn’t Frenchify it.

The French national library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), makes available online a lot of out-of-copyright material, which for newspapers and magazines – including the likes of L’Auto and L’Équipe – takes us up to the early 1950s. Apart from that one usage in L’Auto in 1910, nowhere in the BnF’s corpus can I find the Circle of Death – in French or in English – again being used in connection with the Tour. No one in L’Auto picked up on Baugé’s coinage and ran with the idea of the those Pyrenean climbs being a Circle of Death. Nor did anyone anywhere else pick it up and run with it. It was a one-and-done reference until some point in more recent years – how recent is a question yet to be answered – when it became commonplace. The Circle of Death, it’s a part of our sport’s past, but not in the way we’d like to think it is.

Queen’s Gambit

Desgrange is clear in what he wrote that the queen stage is the hardest stage, a king-sized day of pain and altitude gain. There are, though, people who argue that the queen stage derives from a chess reference. The queen being the most mobile piece on a chessboard, she exerts the most influence on the game, therefore the queen stage is the stage that is expected to exert the most influence on the outcome of the Tour. While undoubtedly cerebral and elegant, this is – to use the academic term – complete bollocks. It’s us trying to fill in the blanks and come up with a pretty explanation but nothing more than that, a pretty explanation. That it befits the Tour more than the way Desgrange used l’étape reine – hardest is just brutish, and cycling is supposed to be chess on wheels – is neither here nor there. It’s wrong.

We have done the same thing with crafting explanations for the origins of the Circle of Death. Graeme Fife, in Tour de France: The History, the Legend, the Riders , says this of its origins:

“In what locals called the ‘Circle of Death’ in the Pyrenees, bears roamed and some riders, finding themselves alone in the remote high places, stopped, fearing attack from the wild creatures.”

According to Rosalie Maggio’s biography Marie Marvingt, Fiancee of Danger (2019) the name arises as a result of “the vicious brown bears that roamed the area. (After riders had been threatened and even hurt by the bears, bikers and fans used to shout “Assassin!” at Desgrange when he appeared in public.)”

Maggio’s shouts of assassin, that’s her being an ass and rewriting the history of the Aubisque and trying to make it relevant to the story of Marie Marvingt (who we fantasise rode the route of the 1908 Tour (despite there being zero evidence supporting this), which was two years before the Tour even added the Aubisque).

Fife and Maggio’s bears, they come from a single reference by Alphonse Steinès in his account of his evening on the Tourmalet in June 1910, a single reference from which some have generated imaginary editorials written by Desgrange warning riders to be on the lookout for ursine predators. The only animals the riders of the 1910 and subsequent Tours were actually warned to be wary of were the cows and the horses that crossed the roads at will, a danger to themselves as well as to people travelling on those roads.

If Fife is to be believed and locals did use the name the Circle of Death, how was that phrased in French? There’s a Cirque de Gavarnie, 40 kilometres south of Argelès-Gazost, down near the Spanish border. And there’s a Cirque du Litor, near the Col du Soulor. Cirque here means not a circus but a natural amphitheatre, a bowl-shaped geographical feature, usually formed by retreating glaciers. So the Circle of Death, if it really was a local name, could it originally have been the c irque de la mort ? Would that it were, for instead of riders scared by bears then we could tell tall tales of riders traumatised by circus clowns. Which would be far more colourful, inventive and downright funnier than anything the fabulist Pierre Chany has ever lied to us about.

Sadly, Giles Belbin in A Year in the Saddle (2015) and again in A Ride Through the Greatest Cycling Stories (2017), bursts that bubble by telling us that locals simply called the Circle of Death le Cercle de la Mort . Oddly, the Pyrénées has fewer cercles than it does cirques. One hundred per cent fewer, by my calculations.

Crossing the streams, you can even find one source claiming that the Circle of Death is not a place at all but is the name given to “ the hardest Tour de France stage in the Pyrenees ”. In other words, the Circle of Death is often the queen stage. I really shouldn’t tell you where that is taking my imagination but it involves teeth and is definitely NSFW .

Queen of the Slipstream

Whether Desgrange coined the phrase himself, or came across it elsewhere and borrowed it, we cannot say. What matters here is how quickly and how widely the phrase was taken up by others. The short answer? Not quickly and not widely.

L’Auto didn’t return to the well until 1924 – the year Albert Londres did not use the phrase forçats de la route to describe the Tour’s riders but L’Auto did con people into believing that he had – when it was said that it was a close call between Nice–Briançon (which included the Col d’Izoard and its lunar-like Casse-Déserte) and Bayonne–Luchon as to which stage was the toughest of the race. The presence of the Tourmalet tipped the hand in favour of the latter being the queen stage.

At the end of that Tour, La Gironde ’s Gaston Bénac – who went to take over the sports pages at Paris Soir and create the GP des Nations – joined the fray in a syndicated report that also appeared in Le Réforme des Charents in which he noted that it was in the queen stage – Bayonne–Luchon – that Ottavio Bottecchia proved himself a great rider and effectively won the Tour.

The following year, 1925, I can find only a single reference to the queen stage – again, Bayonne–Luchon with, again, Nice–Briançon described as a close second – appearing in an uncredited report in L’Évenement .

Two years later, 1927, L’Auto was for only the third time in eight years declaring Bayonne–Luchon l’étape reine . They were again joined in this endeavour by Gaston Bénac, in both La Petite Gironde a nd Le Peitit Marseillais .

The phrase was now also being picked up by others, and can be found appearing in La Presse, Le Courier de Saône-et-Loire , La Croix du Nord , and L’Express de Mulhouse . In La Presse , the queen stage was in one report described as the one in which first place in the Tour was at stake and in another was the hardest stage of the race. In La Croix du Nord it was the stage with the reputation of being the hardest and where the big fight for victory commences.

A year on, 1928, there was once more no mention of l’étape reine in L’Auto but Gaston Bénac was still championing its usage in Le Petite Gironde , where he had Victor Fontan as le Roi de la Montagne, in l’étape reine – King of the Mountains, in the queen stage. Echoing the notion of the Queen getting her King, a report in L’Indépendant des Basse-Pyrénées had Fontan as le Roi des Grimpeurs in l’étape reine – the King of Climbers.

The phrase also appeared in the weekly cycling magazine La Pédale , where the queen stage was the one that “gives us the most beautiful emotions.”

The 1920s ended with Gaston Bénac still the principal champion of the phrase, deploying it in reports in Paris-Midi (where again Fontan was le roi de la montagne ) and in Le Petite Gironde .

It was also in use again in L’Indépendant des Basse-Pyrénées and was also picked up in Le Soir , and appeared in a syndicated report that was reproduced in La Gazette de Biarritz-Bayonne et Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Gazette de Bayonne . The Bordeaux-based weekly sports magazine L’Athlète also ran with it, both in its report and in an ad for Victor Fontan’s bicycles.

A decade after its first appearance in L’Auto , then, it was Gaston Bénac who had done the most to champion the usage of l’étape reine while L’Auto itself wasn’t really getting behind it. A handful of regional papers had picked up on it but its usage wasn’t really widespread.

Ballad of a Teenage Queen

Across the 1930s, use of the phrase waxed and waned: it appeared in some important places, magazines like Le Miroir des Sports , but it was still Bénac and the regional papers who were most getting behind its usage, with L’Auto showing little or no interest.

L’Auto used it a couple of times in November 1931 when looking ahead to the 1932 cycling year. At the other end of the decade, 1939, it was used in passing in a report from the Tour. And in 1935 and 1939 it was used in connection with other races, the Tour of Belgium and the Tour of Morocco. Paris-Soir had actually been first to employ the phrase in connection with other races, in reports from the Giro d’Italia in 1932 filed by Valdo Cottarelli.

Throughout the ‘30s it was again Gaston Bénac who did the most to champion the use of the phrase: in Paris-Midi (1930, 1931, 1933, 1938), Paris-Soir (1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939) and La Petite Gironde (1934). Bénac was also joined in this endeavour by Albert Baker d’Isy, his close associate at Paris-Soir and his partner in the creation of the GP des Nations.

Bénac had also filed reports for L’Indépendant des Basses-Pyrénées in the early 1930s (1930, 1932) and usage of the phrase continued there in later years (1935, 1936, 1937, 1939). Le Patriote des Pyrénées also consistently celebrated the Tour on its doorstep (1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939).

Some titles adopted sporadic usage.

L’Athlète (1930, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939). La Dépêche (1931, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939). Le Miroir des Sports (1931, 1933, 1937). Le Grand Écho du Nord de la France (1930, 1931). L’Intransigeant (1930, 1934, 1935). Match L’Intran (1931, 1932). France Olympique (1932, 1933).

Elsewhere, it can found being used just once across the whole decade.

Les Sports du Nord (1930). Excelsior (1930), Le Journal (1932). Journal de Confolens (1933). La France de Bordeaux et du Sud-Ouest (1934). L’Avenir du Bassin d’Arcachon (1935). Le Populaire (1935). Le Petit Journal (1935). Le Petit Méridional (1936). L’Ouest-Éclair (1936). L’Express de l’Est (1936). Le Bigourdan (1937). Le Bon Sens Pyrénéen (1937). Le Radical de Marseille (1938). La Voix du Bearn (1938). La Dépêche de Brest (1938). Ce Soir (1939).

It was even used once in a kids’ magazine, Benjamin (1938).

While the manner of its usage throughout the decade suggests readers must have been expected to understand what was meant by l’étape reine , by the end of the decade – 20 years after Desgrange used it in 1920 – l’étape reine hadn’t really gained the sort of widespread currency it has in recent years.

Dreaming of the Queen

During the years of the Occupation, Cyclo Magazine indulged in nostalgia and l’étape reine can be found in issues from 1940, 1941, and 1943. Come the various ersatz Tours de France, Le Cri des Travaileurs used it in connection with the Critérium de La Rébublique in 1946 and Liberté-Soir used it for the Course du Tour the same year. In 1947 L’Instransigeant wanted the world to believe that the Tour of Belgium could have une étape reine .

The Return of the Queen

When the Tour returned in 1947 L’Auto ’s successor actually remembered the Tour’s queen stage. The following year, L’Équipe gave both the Tour and the Giro queen stages. Over the next three years – 1949, 1950, 1951 – L’Équipe consistently used the phrase. In 1951 they even had Jacques Augendre giving the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré an étape reine . But the following year, 1952, they dropped it.

The newly launched But et Club found Gaston Bénac once again championing its usage in 1946 and 1952. In the same magazine, Félix Lévitain followed suit in 1947 and Jean Antoine in 1948.

The Tour had been reborn in 1947 and was finding new audiences, and even in the pages Femme Françaises a reference to the queen stage could be found, in a profile of Réne Vietto. Other papers and magazines to use the phrase include:

Alger Républicain (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952), L’Avenir Normand (1947), Le Bourgogne Réublicaine (1952), Ce Soir (1948, 1949, 1950), Cyclo Magazine (1947, 1949), L’Echo d’Alger (1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952), Écho du Centre (1949, 1950, 1951), L’Est Républican (1948), France Tier (1948), L’Humanité (1949, 1952), Paris-Dakar (1947), Le Paysan de Cochinchine (1949), Le Petit Morocain (1949, 1950), Le Populaire du Centre (1948, 1949, 1952), Tunise-France (1952), La Virgie Marocain (1950).

At least a quarter of those appearances came courtesy of one man: Gaston Bénac’s former associate at Paris-Soir , Albert Baker d’Isy. Baker d’Isy was a man who liked a good turn of phrase: in 1949 he was the first person to refer to Paris-Roubaix as a Monument, a concept that was finding its feet and, between its first appearance in 1903 and the end of Gallica’s corpus in the early 1950s, can also be found being used in association with the Tour itself, Bordeaux-Paris and, er, the Tour d’Algérie.

The Queen is Dead

As much as Baker d’Isy – along with Bénac – can be credited with doing the most to promote the idea of an étape reine at the Tour and other stage races, by 1951 he was questioning whether the Tour still had a queen stage. That was Koblet’s year, the year of Brive–Agen . In Le Populaire du Centre Baker d’Isy noted that the Gap–Briançon stage – that year’s queen stage – had eliminated just two riders and caused few changes in the GC. Carcassonne–Montpellier on the other hand had seen the failure of Fausto Coppi and Briançon–Aix-les-Bains had done for Louison Bobet. “It would be fun,” Baker d’Isy suggested, “to hold a referendum among the riders and the fans to find out which is the real queen stage of the Tour.”

The same question could profitably be asked today. Mountains are still a crucial part of the Tour, but dreams get dashed in echelons just as easily as they do on summits. There are no easy days (except for the rolling rest days when a truce is declared). In Netflix’s Ride to Survive series ( Tour de France : Au cœur du peloton / Tour de France: Unchained ) Thibaut Pinot, when asked what is the Tour’s hardest stage, replied ‘all of them’.

Queen of the Savages

Why is it the queen stage, why is it l’étape reine ? One common – quite common, even – answer is that it’s down to grammar. Étape is a feminine noun and therefore, in French, takes only feminine modifiers. It can’t be l’étape roi , it has to be létape reine .

While pedantically on point, that explanation is more than a little misleading, suggesting as it does that it should be king stage but the grammar pedants won’t allow that. That might work if we were dealing with English, where king has become linked with size and means big (see: mattresses ). But while king size has been around since the 1820s – it was first used in the world of art , to denote a size of canvas – it wasn’t really until the 1940s that the world of marketing, in the US , picked up on it and began applying it to everything from cigarettes to cars, sweets to soft drinks. That’s a good two decades after l’étape reine ’s appearance in L’Auto in 1920.

The Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales offers as one definition of reine ‘that which dominates, prevails over others within a group, by its own qualities.’ Which is quite different to the English usage of king size. Add in connotations of beauty and majesty and, perhaps, you can justify Desgrange thinking of a mountain stage in such terms.

But he was also perhaps thinking of another, similar phrase: l’épreuve reine , the queen event. This is used across a range of sports, from horse racing to sailing, motor racing to skiing. Today, the French use it as shorthand for the 100 metres in the Olympics, an event which in English is usually considered the Blue Riband event. L’Épreuve reine had been used before l’étape reine and, when both phrases found champions in the 1920s, its usage took off faster, partly down to it having more uses. The Tour de France was itself l’épreuve reine in the cycling calendar.

God Save the Queen

When the French use l’étape reine , they mean l’étape reine , not l’étape roi . But should we translate that as queen stage in English? Should we have adopted the simple, literal translation or should we have found a phrase that actually means something, as has been done with the 100 metres in the Olympics? In other countries l’étape reine has become the king stage, such as Slovenia and Germany . But not in English. Or, for that matter, Dutch .

In Italy they don’t even bother going with royalty, the Giro’s queen stage is the tappone , the big tappa (stage). Which, for some reason, always reminds me of ‘ Rapper’s Delight ’ or something like that and I imagine the Sugar Hill Gang rapping “ Tappa , tappa , tappa , tappone , if you want to get on then you got to get goin’”, as if running through the Giro’s itinerary and offering advice to would-be champions. Queen stage just doesn’t set any music going in my mind.

Surely we could have done better?

The Queen of Hearts

We know when l’étape reine first appeared in the records available to us today. We can see how it was used over the next three decades. But with the records available to us cutting off in the early 1950s, we cannot say for certain how it was used after that.

We have evidence of it continuing to be used sporadically in French cycling books before gaining wider usage in the 1990s and widespread usage in the 2000s. Ask people who were in and around the Tour 20 or 30 years ago and the answer is generally the same, it’s not something they remember being used, it’s something they’ve only noticed being used in recent years.

Even without the same level of evidence we have available for the first half of the twentieth century, it’s clear that today’s widespread usage of l’étape reine only took off in recent years.

Various reasons can be offered for why this might be so. None of these can be said categorically to be why the usage of l’étape reine took off, but they are possible factors that should be taken into account when considering what has happened here.

First, there’s l’Étape du Tour , which generally follows the route of the queen stage. It may be that people riding l’Étape , and people promoting l’Étape (ASO), like marking that stage of the Tour out from the herd.

Then there’s the age of the Tour: the race celebrated its centenary in 2003 and that led to new ‘historians’ reading old books and writing histories of the race that mixed up things ancient and modern. A lot of nonsense got popularised on the back of that centenary.

There’s also the increase in the Tour’s popularity, a whole new audience coming to the race off the back of new heroes in the 1990s and 2000s: Danes with Riis, Germans with Ullrich and, of course, Americans with Armstrong.

And then there’s the internet . Before, a reference to the Tour having a queen stage in, say, L’Indépendant des Basses-Pyrénées or Le Patriote des Pyrénées , that had a small, local audience. When the internet came along, a reference in a paper like that could be picked up and spread throughout the nascent online cycling community, where it could then spread into offline publications.

The Red Queen

Those are channels by which l’étape reine may have been championed for a modern audience. But, to achieve the widespread take-up it has achieved, something else is needed. And that’s our desire to believe that cycling’s past is still alive in its present, that cycling today and cycling then are unified.

Bikes are lighter and faster, riders are better prepared, the roads are better surfaced, but at heart the Tour today and the Tour yesterday are one and the same. We are attached to the legends of the géants de la route because they help us to bind the past to the present, we are attached to the Tour’s history because that helps us to bind the present to the past.

But in binding the present to the past we do have a tendency to misrepresent cycling’s history. We want to believe that the Circle of Death has ancient heritage even though it is a modern misunderstanding. We want to believe that the big five Classics were celebrated as Monuments long before we started marketing them that way in recent years. And we want to believe that the queen stage has long been a part of the Tour’s lexicon, even though it took more than 80 years for it to be really adopted by more than a small handful of writers.

L’Étape reine , it is part of cycling’s past, a very small part. But in the way we today use it, and other ancient coinages like the Circle of Death, we have gone beyond imitating the past. We aren’t just using the past to shape the present, we reshape the past itself.

In cycling history, we rewrite the past to imitate the present.

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Tour de France 2023: Route, stages and TV

Find out more about the tour de france 2023 with our guide including the routes, stages and how to watch on tv..

We usually start getting excited for the next edition of the Tour de France approximately one hour after the current Tour finishes. This year was no different and we're now eagerly looking ahead to the 2023 Tour de France.

The official route announcement occurs in October every year at the Palais des Congrès convention centre in Paris. Stars of previous editions of the race don their Sunday best to watch the Route Director Christian Prudhomme unveil the next route.

Tour de France 2023 in numbers:

• Total distance: 3404km
• 2 countries
• 25 departments
• 5 mountain ranges (Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura, Alps and Vosges)
• 4 summit finishes
• 30 categorised climbs – a record for the race

When is the Tour de France 2023?

Where is the tour de france grand départ, tour de france route, how to watch the tour de france 2023.

The 2023 Tour de France will take place from Saturday 1 July 2023 until Sunday 23 July 2023.

The first 3 stages of the 2023 Tour de France will take place in the Basque Country of northern Spain.

This isn't the first time the Basque Country has hosted the Tour. The 1992 Tour de France Grand Départ was held in San Sebastián. This time, Bilbao will be the 2023 host of the Grand Départ with the city the backdrop to the opening stage.

The opening 3 stages will be held around Bilbao and its nearby towns and cities.

The Tour de France is made up of 21 stages across 3 weeks of racing. Within those 3 weeks, there are 3 rest days. At the end of the 3 weeks, we'll find out the winners of the prized Tour de France jerseys .

Tour de France 2023: Stage 1

Bilbao - bilbao | 185km | hilly.

The first stage of the Tour de France 2023 takes places along the streets of Bilbao. The 185km street circuit features plenty of signature Basque hills and will suit the more explosive and aggressive riders of the peloton.

Though there are many ramps and peaks that pepper the route, just 5 classified climbs count towards the King of the Mountains (KOM) competition:

• Côte de Laukiz: 2.1km long with an average gradient of 6.6%
• Côte de San Juan de Gaztelungaxte: 3.6km at an average of 7.7%
• Côte de Morga: 3.8km with an average gradient of 4.8%
• Côte de Vivero: 4.3km at 6.9%
• Côte de Pike: 2.2km at 9.9% gradient

Tour de France 2023: Stage 2

Vitoria-gasteiz - san sebastián | 210km | hilly.

A 210km route from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastián awaits riders for the second stage of the 2023 Tour de France. It's yet another route punctuated with hills as is customary for this region of Spain.

Another 5 classified climbs will ensure a busy day for the rider leading the KOM competition:

• Côte d'Udana: 4.7km at 4.7%
• Côte d'Aztiria: 2.8km at 5.9%
• Côte d'Alkiza: 4.1km at 6.1%
• Côte de Gurutze 2.6km at 6.1%
• Jaizkibel: 6.9km at 6.2%

As the summit of the final climb is just 17 kilometres from the finish, we expect the race to light up on the slopes up and down to the finish. If a lone rider attacks on the ascent, this stage could be as good as won at the peak.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 3

Amorebieta-etxano - bayonne | 185km | flat.

Four climbs this side of the Spanish border will sort the best from the rest:

The race crosses on to home soil shortly after these climbs. Once in France, teams will have the chance to assemble their sprint trains ready for a fast finish in Bayonne.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 4

Dax – nogaro | 182km | flat.

The first stage on home soil after the Basque Country Grand Départ will take place between Dax and Nogaro. While the course creates a prime opportunity for a breakaway group, the finish line on the Nogaro motor racing circuit has a sprint finish written all over it. As the 70th anniversary of the green jersey, we expect the sprint competition to be hotly contested through the few stages that allow for fireworks.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 5

Pau – laruns | 165km | mountain.

Both the men’s and women’s race ( Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift ) visit Pau this year. As the first mountain range (Pyrenees) on the menu for the peloton, it’s time for the General Classification riders to make their mark on the race. That said, Stage 5 may be an opportunity for a small breakaway group to put the hammer down. The Col de Soudet and Col de Marie Blanque offer up a tantalising taste of what’s to follow in the days to come.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 6

Tarbes – cautarets-cambasque | 145km | mountain.

While two huge mountain passes lay ahead in the form of Col d’Aspin and Tourmalet, an early unclassified climb gives the possibility for a breakaway to leave the peloton. As the first of 4 summit finishes throughout the race, riders need to set aside some energy for the mighty Cautaret-Cambasque. At a distance of 16km and an average gradient of 5.4%, could we see the Yellow Jersey change shoulders for the first time?

Tour de France 2023: Stage 7

Mont-de-marsin – bordeaux | 170km | flat.

A welcome break from the mountains on Stage 7 gives the climbers chance to recoup. The course profile is an open invitation for the Green Jersey competition to light up once more. Bordeaux has a long history with the Tour de France and many of the world’s greatest sprinters have triumphed here.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 8

Libourne – limoges | 201km | hilly.

Another stage for the sprinters awaits in this long day out on the roads between Libourne and Limoges in the Gironde and Haute-Vienne departments of France respectively. That said, a short but sharp climb at the end of this stage will test the sprinters’ courage and power.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 9

Saint-léonard-de-noblat – puy de dôme | 184km | mountain.

The stage we’ve all been waiting for is here. Tour de France historians will remember the famous duel between Jacques Antequil and Raymond Poulidor (Mathieu van der Poel’s grandfather) on the slopes of the Puy De Dôme back in 1964. Who will battle it out to the summit of the majestic mountain in 2023? At 13.3km and an average gradient of 7.7%, there’ll be a worthy stage winner at the peak.

We welcome the tribute to Poupou. Our team is already looking forward to the summer of 2023. Philip Roodhooft - Alpecin-Deceuninck

Tour de France 2023: Stage 10

Vulcania – issoire | 167km | hilly.

The race has never before started within the boundaries of the Volcanic Park (Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne), so this will be a real highlight for riders and spectators alike. The terrain rarely lets up leaving on the strongest riders at the front of the day’s stage before heading into Issoire.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 11

Clermont-ferrand – moulins | 180km | flat.

Yet another opportunity for the sprinters as the race leaves the Massif Central region. A long 1.3km straight will set the stage for a brilliant bunch sprint before the race turns its focus towards the Alps.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 12

Roanne – belleville-en-beaujolais | 169km | hilly.

Breakaway riders have a chance of victory on this alpine warmup stage. Five climbs will ensure the day is anything but dull ahead of the uphill finale just before the mountains begin once more.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 13

Châtillon-sur-chalaronne – grand colombier | 138km | mountain.

Bastille Day presents the Grand Colombier! Though it’s only been featured in the Tour twice – once in 2012 and again in 2020 – the Grand Colombier is one of the most difficult mountain passes in France. When riders reach Culoz, they’ll have 17.4km of gruelling tarmac to endure at an average gradient of 7.1%. The stage winner will muster any last drops of energy to celebrate their victory at the summit.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 14

Annemasse – morzine | 152km | mountain.

The beauty of Lake Geneva provides a picturesque backdrop to this mountain stage. With 4200 metres of elevation to conquer, riders will be reaching for their easier gears on the slopes of all the climbs which include the Ramaz and Joux Plane.

The region will host this year’s Etape du Tour and the 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 15

Les gets – saint-gervais mont blanc | 180km | mountain.

As the home of the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Les Gets is no stranger to hosting cycling events. A huge day of climbing (4300m) will keep the King of the Mountains and General Classification classifications occupied, while the sprinters will be looking forward to the rest day the following day.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 16

Passy – combloux | 22km | itt.

An short but sharp individual time trial eases the peloton into the final week of the Tour de France 2023. The course profile favours time trialists with a penchant for climbing as they take on the Domancy climb. The current leader of the Yellow Jersey competition may use this stage as an opportunity to put seconds into his rivals.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 17

Saint-gervais mont blanc – courchevel | 166km | mountain.

The queen stage of the Tour de France 2023 is Stage 17. The Col de la Loze is the highest point of the race at 2304m while other nearby mountain passes mean the riders have over 5000m of elevation to endure. The winner will empty their tanks all the way up to the finish line, which happens to be on the local altiport’s 18% runway.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 18

Moûtiers – bourg-en-bresse | 186km | hilly.

It’s been 30 long years since the Tour last visited Moûtiers and with the race now heading out of the mountains, it’s time for the sprinters to get their legs ready. A final straight kilometre offers ample time for the Green Jersey contenders to line up for a bunch sprint.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 19

Moirans-en-montagne – poligny | 173km | flat.

A brief respite from the French hills and mountains means this stage will be a quiet day for the General Classification. Though this stage is set between the many lakes of the Jura, there’s very little climbing involved.

Tour de France 2023: Stage 20

Belfort – le markstein | 133km | mountains.

Just when the riders thought they’d turned their backs on the mountains, they find their tyres rolling along the steep inclines of the Vosges region. The Ballon d’Alsace is the first ascent on which the Yellow Jersey will need to mark his nearest rivals. Fans of the 2022 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will remember Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten winning on the final climb of this stage, Le Markstein. Who will follow in her footsteps for this year’s men’s race?

Tour de France 2023: Stage 21

Saint-quentin-en-yvelines – paris champs-élysées | 115km | flat.

If you’re into track cycling, you may have watched the 2022 UCI Track Cycling World Championships hosted at the velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. As usual, the final stage of the Tour de France heads to the capital for a victory lap of Paris. We can almost hear the rumble of the peloton along the cobbles of the Champs-Élysées already.

What are the teams saying?

Shortly after the Tour de France route presentation concluded, team manager Philip Roodhooft of Alpecin-Deceuninck expressed his excitement for what lies ahead. “The start in the Basque Country, with a real connoisseur crowd will be a hit,” he said afterwards at the Palais des Congrès. “It will be a tough edition with many altimeters and a tough third week.” Asked which stage stood out for him, he continued, “Of course we are delighted with the 9th stage, which will start in Saint-Léonard-De-Noblat, the village that will forever be linked to Raymond Poulidor. We welcome that tribute to Poupou. Our team is already looking forward to the summer of 2023.”

The following broadcasters will be showing the Tour de France from start to finish.

• GCN+ (Europe and South-East Asia)
• NBC Sports (USA)
• SBS (Australia)
• Sky Sports (New Zealand)

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Live coverage of the 110th tour de france continues this weekend on peacock.

Live Coverage of Stage 13 Begins Tomorrow, Friday, July 14, with the Tour de France Pre-Race Show at 7 a.m. ET on Peacock; Live Race Coverage Begins at 7:30 a.m. ET on Peacock

Defending Champion Jonas Vingegaard Leads General Classification; Two-Time Champion Tadej Pogačar in Second Place

Final Round Coverage Concludes Sunday, July 23, at 10 a.m. ET Exclusively on Peacock

Peacock Streams Live Start-to-Finish Coverage of Every Stage, Plus Daily Tour de France Pre-Race Shows

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 13, 2023 – NBC Sports’ live coverage of the 110 th Tour de France continues this weekend live on Peacock as the Tour enters Stage 13 tomorrow, Friday, July 14.

Live coverage of Stage 13, which begins in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne and finishes in Grand Colombier, starts tomorrow at 7 a.m. ET with the Tour de France Pre-Race Show on Peacock. Tomorrow’s live race coverage begins at 7:30 a.m. ET on Peacock.

On Sunday, July 16, live race coverage of Stage 15 begins on Peacock at 6:55 a.m. ET with NBC presenting encore coverage of the stage later that day at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo – Visma) wears the yellow jersey with the general classification lead with two-time champion and 2022 runner-up Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in second place. American Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) heads into Stage 13 wearing the polka dot jersey as the King of the Mountains leader.

Daily live coverage of all 21 stages culminates with final stage coverage on Sunday, July 23, live on Peacock at 10 a.m. ET. NBC will present encore coverage of the final stage at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Peacock streams live start-to-finish coverage of every stage of the 2023 Tour de France , featuring NBC Sports-produced coverage, as well as commentary from the world feed. Peacock will also feature full-stage replays, highlights, stage recaps, rider interviews, and more.

To sign up and watch every minute of live action from the 2023 Tour de France, click here .

Peacock’s expansive programming offers the most live sports of any SVOD service in the United States , including live coverage of Sunday Night Football , Big Ten football (beginning in September), Olympic Games, MLB Sunday Leadoff , Premier League, Notre Dame Football, NASCAR, NTT IndyCar Series, and much more. Peacock also offers daily sports programming on the NBC Sports channel.

COMMENTATORS

NBC Sports’ cycling play-by-play caller Phil Liggett , universally known as the ‘voice of cycling,’ covers his 51st Tour de France alongside analyst Bob Roll . Liggett and Roll are on-site at each stage, along with reporters Steve Porino and former professional cyclist Christian Vande Velde .

Paul Burmeister hosts daily pre-race and post-race studio coverage alongside Sam Bewley and Brent Bookwalter , who make their NBC Sports debuts as cycling analysts .

NBC SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA

Fans can keep up with the Tour de France through NBC Sports’ social media platforms throughout the race, including exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, interviews, video clips, up-to-date news reports and stories from around the cycling world through the NBC Sports Cycling Facebook page and @NBCSNCycling on Twitter. In addition, fans can visit NBCSports.com/cycling for a live stream schedule, stage maps, results, routes and more.

NBC SPORTS’ 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE SCHEDULE

(subject to change, all times ET)***All live coverage on NBC and USA Network is also available on the NBC Sports app:

- NBC SPORTS -

2024 Could Be a Make-Or-Break Year for the Tour de France Femmes

I f there’s one depressing fact I’ve learned in nearly two decades of covering women’s cycling, it’s that, sadly, there’s rarely a moment to rest on one’s laurels in this sport—and that’s particularly true for race organizers, and team owners.

Just because a race does fantastically well one year in terms of unprecedented levels of viewership and media coverage or because a team is arguably the absolute best in the world doesn’t guarantee anything. It’s all easy come, easy go. That’s why I’m nervous about the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and why I believe that this year could be the most pivotal year for the race.

But why am I worried about the Tour de France Femmes in year three? After all, viewership numbers have been high, enthusiasm hasn’t waned, and sports bars are full of fans screaming for Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma. And yet... There are a few important factors to consider.

Last year, Zwift’s Kate Verroneau told me that the second year of the TDFF was scary for her: The first year, you’re riding a wave of hype. In the second year, the race has to stand as a great race, not just a “first.” What about the third year?

“There’s no kind of resting on the fact that last year was really successful,” Veronneau said then. “I look at it and think, ‘Last year was pretty easy sell: It was the first women’s Tour de France in over 30 years. That was easy to get the media on board, easy to get sponsors on board. It was the first time that that huge of an audience watched women’s racing.”

Year two was hugely successful, but what about year three?

The sponsorship dynamics at play

First, there’s the simple fact that this is year three of Zwift’s four-year commitment to the Tour de France Femmes in partnership with ASO. That means if Zwift isn’t planning to continue its support or is going to cut back its sponsorship budget, this is the year the race needs to look for a new sponsor.

Leaving it entirely to next year, the final year in their contract, is foolhardy. So I have to imagine that there’s some buzz happening behind the scenes already. I haven’t heard any scuttlebutt about them giving up their title sponsorship position, to be clear, but considering Zwift just had a round of layoffs and a shuffle in their C-suite , who knows where they’re heading? Hopefully into another lengthy contract, but it’s unclear. My fingers are crossed.

Viewership challenges

Viewership this year will also be more important than ever. High viewership numbers mean a better chance of securing new or renewed sponsorship dollars, and TdFF viewership has been undeniably impressive. But this year is going to make that tricky. The men’s Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes are separated this year by the Olympics. That means three weeks between the races, rather than the men’s race ending on the day the women’s race began.

In the past two years, it was easy to just continue tuning in if you’d been watching the men’s race. This year, viewers will have to actively seek it out starting August 12—the day after the Olympics finish. That is a lot of TV watching for cycling/sports fans to contend with. While serious fans will still tune in, those ‘medium’ fans may not.

The state of the cycling industry

Then, there’s the cycling industry landscape. Brands like Trek and Specialized are slashing budgets , and Shimano is reporting quarter after quarter of losses . To blithely assume that there’s a cycling company capable of taking Zwift’s place as title sponsor in the current landscape is a mistake.

I say all this not to be discouraging. It’s meant to be a rallying cry. What does this all mean for you, the person reading this?

I want to believe that this race will survive and thrive in the same way that Le Tour has for over a century. But I also know that it takes more than love to keep a race of this magnitude running. It takes cold, hard cash. It takes commitment from big businesses that often see women’s cycling as a line item that they can scrap when it’s time to tighten up their belts. It took decades to get back to a point where we have this race. It’s happened before, it’s been lost before. Let’s not let it happen again.

It’s time to get fired up and ensure that the Tour de France Femmes isn’t just a blip in the cycling history books. Mark your calendars, set a Google alert for the Tour de France Femmes, follow racers on social media, and plan watch parties—let’s make this the loudest Tour de France Femmes yet.