best tour de france stages

Watching the Tour de France in person: essential tips for following the Tour de France!

Watching the Tour de France in person is a magical experience. The Tour is the most famous cycling event in the world and you get the chance to experience the electric atmosphere and history being made in front of your eyes.

Yes, the television coverage and aerial shots of chateaus, mountains and charming villages are fantastic, but being on the ground is something else. Following the Tour de France and spectating it live is something special.

Epic Road Rides reader, Ben Davies, knows quite a bit about this – he’s planned trips for him and his friends to spectate the Tour de France every year since 2016. He has kindly written this DIY Tour de France bike tour/spectator guide to help make it easier for anyone wanting to do the same.

Ben says: “My first year following the Tour was spent chasing my tail around France due to being “over enthusiastic” in my estimation of what was involved. I hope my mistakes will help me to assist so you can avoid the same pitfalls!”.

So without further ado, here’s Ben’s Tour de France spectator guide. Enjoy!

If you’re looking for an organised tour to watch the Tour de France, read this in-depth article .

1. How do you decide which stages of the Tour de France to watch in person?

My usual starting point is to look at the route map and the location of the stages.  I look for a number of stages that are close to a central location in order to avoid too much travel.

From there I look for well known places and try and plan a cycle route for us taking in “icons” and as much of each stage as we can get away with (before getting booted off the course – more on that below !).

We’ve watched everything from a Grand Depart to flat sprint stages and stages in the high mountains too – but these days we tend to miss out long flat stages as there’s not a lot of action. The peloton comes past at a rate of knots so you don’t get to see a great deal.

Most week-long trips would allow you to fit in each type of stage, though our favourites are the mountains. You can get close to the action, test yourself out with the riding and get enough time to see the riders pass slowly enough to pick individual favourites out. The publicity caravan also passes slowly enough to give more chance of being able to pick up some Tour souvenirs (AKA “Tour tat”)!

One of my top tips is to think about the riders’ rest days. For example, last year I did a bit of research in the Roadbook (more info below ) and found the various hotels the teams were allocated. I decided Mr Cavendish and team Di Data would benefit from our company the following day.  We got up early and went by the team hotel to check things out.  After a chat with the mechanics, who were busy working on the bikes, we discovered the guys would be setting off around 10:00am on a “spin”.  After some breakfast we made our way back to the hotel car park and joined the team for a ride round Lake Annecy – spectacular!  We also saw Movistar and AG2R out with groups of fans too. This was one of my favourite days ever on a bike!

A note of warning: if you do this, use your common sense. Give the riders room to do what they are there to do – ride.  Don’t get in their group or too close as they don’t want you to be responsible for a crash. Don’t be too pushy and pester them for selfies and autographs. When the moment looks right, then ask, preferably either at the start or end, not whilst they are taking a nature break (as someone did when we were there…)!

2. What’s the best way of getting to the Tour from the UK?

Travelling across the Channel to France can be fairly cheap especially on the more unpopular timed crossings. However, be warned: the ferry companies often seem to raise the prices when the Tour is on as they know more people will want to cross.  Book early!

I use https://www.aferry.com/ to book crossings as soon as the dates/routes/plan becomes clear.

For planning your trip across France, ViaMichelin gives cost options and alternative routes for specific vehicles.

3. How do you find out detailed information on each Tour de France stage?

I always download the “Official Roadbook” (the one issued to the teams) that becomes available on the Velorooms website .

The Roadbook shows profiles, timings, road closures, team hotels – the lot!  It’s a fantastic resource.

I usually print off the pages for the week we’re doing and take the relevant pages each day so I can refer back to them regarding locations and times etc.

4. How do you decide where to stay?

Once I’ve decided how long we’ve got and what area we want to focus on, I try to find a few possible locations spread over a few days of the Tour being in the particular area.

I use Google maps try and make sure the location to park the motorhome and base ourselves in is central to the routes we’re going to watch.  I use www.searchforsites.co.uk which is a specific motorhome parking app to search for recommended parking spots for the motorhome. However, during the Tour, I’ve found most towns and villages are very relaxed about parking presumably as they know you’re not going to be there too long.

I’ve previously parked in sports centres, supermarket and railway station car parks with no problems at all. I’ve been welcomed into strangers’ houses and even joined a village street party (at their request) to celebrate the Tour passing through that day. It was great – we were fed and plied with beer/wine!

Of course, if you’re not in a motorhome it’ll still be a similar process: you’ll be looking for accommodation that’s central to the stages you want to watch.

Example: in 2018, we drove from Calais down to Annecy for the Tour’s rest day there (more on rest days  above !). From there, a central point somewhere near Annecy around Albertville and Bourg St Maurice worked well, giving us opportunities to ride out to each day’s route, take in a climb or two and catch a start and a finish whilst not needing to move the motorhome between stages. It meant we could enjoy cycling each day, usually taking in as much of the route as we could, and avoid too much travelling.

Don’t do what I did in my first year spectating the Tour de France. Due to bad motorhome positioning, we ended up travelling each night until after midnight trying to catch the next day’s stage.  After watching the stage, we had to cycle back, wash, change, load the bikes and travel hundreds of miles plus try and eat somewhere along the way! It wasn’t much fun!

5. How do you find accommodation and bike hire for your Tour de France spectator tour?

If you’re not in a motorhome, be aware that hotels and guest houses will get booked up very quickly once the route details are released by the organisers around October of the preceding year. This is particularly the case in the mountains and especially where the area you want to go is where the Etape du Tour is also being held.

In terms of bike hire, we’ve always taken our own bikes, but I’ve had friends who tried to hire bikes at Mt Ventoux over a Tour de France weekend and found they were sold out until the day after (when there were plenty available!). Admittedly this was an extremely busy location, but I think most places get booked up quickly when the Tour is in town. Again, book early!

6. How do you get to the Tour de France route on the day?

My advice is to cycle to the route and along as much of it as possible in order to scout out the best place to watch from (more on this below ).

I’ve found advertised Tour de France road closures are usually not too strict for cycling to your chosen viewpoint as they are meant for motor vehicles. That said, there are some very over-enthusiastic gendarmes that won’t let you past their posts once the “fermée” or “route barée” time kicks in.  They usually shout “pied” (walk) which we do until out of sight before hopping back on and continuing (if safe to do so) for as far as we can… Obviously we stay vigilant and if we hear any sirens, traffic or the caravan is near we dismount and get out of the way immediately.

7. Do you have any tips for picking your spot to spectate the stage?

Places on iconic climbs such as Mt Ventoux, Alpe d’Huez etc get filled up very quickly, especially near the finish line.

We generally aim to ride as much of the climb/route as possible early on whilst looking for good viewpoints, bars, cafés or any vantage points (rocky outcrops or overlooking gardens etc) that would be good as the peloton passes.

It’s then fairly easy to drop back down to our chosen spot on that day’s route once we’ve completed as much of the route as we can. The beauty of having the bikes is that if our chosen spot turns out not to be good enough then we can move on to another option.

Check the Roadbook. For example, the “feed zone” offers a different experience of the Tour and a chance to chat with soigneurs and watch them interact with their teams. Feed zones also have areas where bidons are to be thrown away by the riders. Sometimes they’re not that busy meaning there’s plenty of bidons to go around.  The soigneurs sometimes have “spare” bidons and musettes that the riders didn’t or couldn’t take whilst in the zone.  Often, they’re not interested in carting them about or won’t get another chance to pass them to their riders, so will hand them out once the peloton has passed.

Another thing to look out for is if the route does a loop and this will allow you to see the peloton in action more than once. For example you watch from point A then as they cycle more of the loop you can use the Roadbook to check the times and cycle to point B to catch them again.

Also look out for large car parks at a depart/arrivee village.  These are often used to stock up the caravan with goodies and provide a great opportunity to blag some swag.

Avoid the crowds.

If a stage finishes on top of a mountain there is sometimes no access for the team coaches/trucks who are left at the foot of the climbs. The riders have to make their own way back down to the coaches by cycle – blowing their whistles so the crowds part – and it’s quite easy to wait a while and join them as they make their way back down.  We’ve ridden down off Planche des Belles Filles chatting with various stars – very memorable!

8. What time should you get in position to watch the Tour come through?

This depends on how busy the location is. For example, Alpe d’Huez fills up from first thing in the morning, whilst lesser known stages are easy to get a spot on up to about an hour before the peloton comes through.

Occasionally we have been blocked by gendarmes and have been made to stay exactly where they say, but even then we’ve managed to move around a bit and found a better spot.

9. What should you take with you each day?

This depends on the length of your ride and what’s on route. Use Google Earth to do a bit of research beforehand and decide on supplies for your day.

There is normally a village of some sorts near to viewpoints where supplies can be bought, as well as local entrepreneurs that set up pop-up snack bars. However obviously they cannot be totally relied upon, so we also usually take some extra sandwiches and a few cans of pop/water in a rucksack which is replaced with Tour stuff (see below ) as the day progresses.

Make sure to take a bag or rucksack to put all your “Tour tat” in! They they throw loads out as the caravan passes through and everybody loves a madeleine or an LCL branded cap, right?!

10. Do you have any tips for how to be a good Tour de France spectator and make the most of your day?!

We’ve all seen the videos and pictures of spectators causing crashes whilst watching the Tour. The following “rules” should help make sure you don’t get caught up in disaster.

• Don’t swing on or lean too far over the barriers. Riders passing close can get caught up in disaster this way.
• Don’t leave it until the last minute to step back from your “brilliant” vantage point directly in front of an approaching rider.  Someone may be stood directly behind you; next thing you’re all on the tarmac. Not the best way to get your face on TV!
• Be careful of camera straps, rucksacks and bags that may get caught, tripping you (and maybe the yellow jersey) up.
• Take all your litter home, including gel wrappers, or find a convenient bin/bag to place them in.
• Smoke bombs and flares… Really. Just don’t even think about it.

On a more positive note, I’d also suggest not spending too much time focusing (get it?!) on your pictures/videos. The peloton passes quickly in most places and if you’re concentrating on getting images then you’ll miss them. There’s always chance for a few snaps, just try not to miss the main event!

Once the peloton, and more specifically the “broom wagon”, has gone through there will be a car with a flashing headboard telling you the road is re-opened. At this point you’re free to cycle away. Beware that the roads can be very busy and there are plenty trying to imitate the descending skills of their heroes, though usually nowhere near as good!

11. Any final thoughts?

Don’t forget that the Tour will only take in certain climbs in certain areas that you may be in too.

For example, it’s a shame to be on the doorstep of the Ballon d’Alsace and only go up Planche des Belles Filles. So do some research in the area you plan to visit and maybe even take a day off from the Tour to tick off some bucket list adventures.

Epic Road Rides gives great information (the France cycling guides are all here ) and suggestions on various routes in your chosen area but www.cyclingcols.com and www.cycling-challenge.com can also be useful resources.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short guide and that it helps you avoid some of our early mistakes.  If you would like any further information, then please just ask in the comments below.  Safe travels and enjoy your trip!

Big thanks to Ben for all his Tour de France tips! There are some really useful pointers in here and we hope you use them to have a fantastic trip!

Have you planned a DIY Tour de France spectator tour?

Have you got some tips for watching the Tour de France in person?

Any questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

And finally, if you want to go on a supported tour to watch the Tour de France, where all the planning is done for you, read this article .

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Ben Davies is an Epic Road Rides reader who also runs Velomoho He got in touch to tell us about his Cinglés du Ventoux trip and his frequent trips to watch the Tour de France (check out the separate article on that here).

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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. 

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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5 BEST STAGES TO WATCH AT THE 2022 TOUR DE FRANCE

The 2022 men’s Tour de France route was unveiled on Thursday, take a look at five of the most challenging stages:

Cobbles risk on stage 5

The Tour runs over 19 kilometres of cobbles on this stage in the region that is usually crossed by the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic. Last visited in 2018 when Geraint Thomas produced a strong performance before going on to win the race, the stage can hamper the chances of any riders who are uncomfortable on cobbles. The cobbles themselves are from old mining roads and cut through beetroot or potato fields. Dusty in dry wether and muddy in the wet, this is one of the early highlights of the race and will see an intense battle for a prestige stage win.

Highest summit stage 11

Only the purest of climbers will thrive here as the Tour climbs way above the treeline to the rarefied oxygen at over 7900 feet. To get there the peloton also has to cross the Col du Galibier at 8600 feet, the highest point on the race with an endurance-sapping 10 mile ascent.

Alpe d’Huez stage 12

Spare a thought for the non-climbers in this race as after stage 11’s 25 mile ascent, the following stage has another 40 miles of them. The day will be dominated by scenes of partying fans on the hillsides as the iconic climb up the Alpe d’Huez returns to the Tour route on the French national holiday of July 14. Stages 11 and 12 could give a clear idea of who could win the race.

Lourdes, stage 18

The stage sets off from the pilgrimage city of Lourdes and heads up the Hautacam climb, with 8 miles at a steep incline on a narrow, winding ascent. We should know at the summit who the champion will be — or at the very least, which names have fallen out of contention.

Final time-trial

In the 2020 Tour de France, the race leader Primoz Roglic was memorably humiliated by his then little know younger Slovenian compatriot Tadej Pogacar, who overhauled him to clinch the title. The 25 mile individual effort provides a final potential banana skin, and will be a test of physical and mental endurance for a tired peloton.

RBA/AFP Photos: Bettini

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• You were presented a video on fashion trends, but you and several other users stopped watching after 30 seconds. This information is then used to evaluate the right length of future videos on fashion trends.
• The owner of an online bookstore wants commercial reporting showing the proportion of visitors who consulted and left its site without buying, or consulted and bought the last celebrity autobiography of the month, as well as the average age and the male/female distribution of each category. Data relating to your navigation on its site and to your personal characteristics is then used and combined with other such data to produce these statistics.
• An advertiser wants to better understand the type of audience interacting with its adverts. It calls upon a research institute to compare the characteristics of users who interacted with the ad with typical attributes of users of similar platforms, across different devices. This comparison reveals to the advertiser that its ad audience is mainly accessing the adverts through mobile devices and is likely in the 45-60 age range.
• A technology platform working with a social media provider notices a growth in mobile app users, and sees based on their profiles that many of them are connecting through mobile connections. It uses a new technology to deliver ads that are formatted for mobile devices and that are low-bandwidth, to improve their performance.
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• A travel magazine has published an article on its website about the new online courses proposed by a language school, to improve travelling experiences abroad. The school’s blog posts are inserted directly at the bottom of the page, and selected on the basis of your non-precise location (for instance, blog posts explaining the course curriculum for different languages than the language of the country you are situated in).
• A sports news mobile app has started a new section of articles covering the most recent football games. Each article includes videos hosted by a separate streaming platform showcasing the highlights of each match. If you fast-forward a video, this information may be used to select a shorter video to play next.
• An advertising intermediary delivers ads from various advertisers to its network of partnering websites. It notices a large increase in clicks on ads relating to one advertiser, and uses data regarding the source of the clicks to determine that 80% of the clicks come from bots rather than humans.
• Clicking on a link in an article might normally send you to another page or part of the article. To achieve this, 1°) your browser sends a request to a server linked to the website, 2°) the server answers back (“here is the article you asked for”), using technical information automatically included in the request sent by your device, to properly display the information / images that are part of the article you asked for. Technically, such exchange of information is necessary to deliver the content that appears on your screen.

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TOTAL: 3492 km

This will be the first Grand Départ in Italy and the 26th that’s taken place abroad  First finale in Nice. Due to the Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in Paris, the race will not finish in the French capital for the first time.

Two time trials. 25 + 34 = 59km in total, the second of them taking place on the final Monaco>Nice stage. This will be the first time the race has seen a finale of this type for 35 years, the last occasion being the famous Fignon - LeMond duel in 1989.

Apennines (Italy), the Italian and French Alps, Massif Central and Pyrenees will be the mountain ranges on the 2024 Tour route.

The number of countries visited in 2024: Italy, San Marino, Monaco and France. Within France, the race will pass through 7 Regions and 30 departments.

The number of bonus points 8, 5 and 2 bonus seconds go to the first three classified riders, featuring at strategic points along the route (subject to approval by the International Cycling Union)these will have no effect on the points classification. Bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds will be awarded to the first three classified riders at road stage finishes.

Out of a total of 39, the locations or stage towns that are appearing on the Tour map for the first time . In order of appearance: Florence, Rimini, Cesenatico, Bologna, Piacenza, Saint-Vulbas, Gevrey-Chambertin, Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, Évaux-les-Bains, Gruissan, Superdévoluy, Col de la Couillole.

The number of sectors on white roads during stage nine, amounting to 32km in total .

The number of stages: 8 flat, 4 hilly, 7 mountain (with 4 summit finishes at Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d’Adet, Plateau de Beille, Isola 2000, Col de la Couillole), 2 time trials and 2 rest days.

The number of riders who will line up at the start of the Tour, divided into 22 teams of 8 riders each.

The height of the summit of the Bonette pass in the Alps, the highest tarmac road in France, which will be the “roof” of the 2024 Tour.

The total vertical gain during the 2024 Tour de France.

PRIZE MONEY

A total of 2,3 million euros will be awarded to the teams and riders including € 500,000 to the final winner of the overall individual classification .

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Tour de France 2023: stage-by-stage guide to this year’s race

The Grand Départ will be in the Basque Country this year before crossing the Pyrenees and then heading across the Massif Central

Stage 1, Saturday 1 July: Bilbao-Bilbao, 182km

The Tour starts in Spain’s foremost cycling heartland, with a stage through the Basque Country hills which will give many the jitters. Four stiff ascents in the final 80km with the Côte de Pike less than 10km from the line means an initial sort-out of the field; at least one favourite could lose the race here. The finish is made for Julian Alaphilippe, so France will expect a win and yellow jersey.

Stage 2, Sunday 2 July: Vitoria Gasteiz-San Sebastián, 209km

More straightforward but still hillier than most early Tour stages, with the Alto de Jaizkibel 16km from the finish; this 8km drag is well known to cycling fans as the key point in the San Sebastián Classic. It will shred the field, so a select group should contest the finish, suiting all rounders such as Wout van Aert or Magnus Cort. For the favourites, it’s about limiting any time loss.

Stage 3, Monday 3 July: Amorebieta-Bayonne, 187.4km

Finally, something resembling a normal stage for the Tour’s opening week. There are several nasty little Basque Country climbs but they come early in the stage and the run-out is downhill. So it’s bunch sprint time, which means British eyes will be on Mark Cavendish, although the chances are it will be last year’s sprint star, Fabio Jakobsen, in the spotlight.

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

Even flatter than Monday, so another bunch sprint day; for the overall contenders it’s again about staying upright. A north wind may liven things up, but it’s more likely to be a slog through the heat before Cavendish, Jakobsen, Caleb Ewan, Dylan Groenewegen and company fight it out. Big question: will Jumbo-Visma let Van Aert join in, or will he save his strength to support Jonas Vingegaard when the race enters the Pyrenees?

Stage 5, Wednesday July 5: Pau-Laruns, 163km

Two super-steep and gratingly long climbs in the Pyrenees will give a real idea of who is in for the win. It’s 44 years since the Tour has had ascents this severe this early in the race, and there could be as few as a dozen riders in the hunt at the finish. A fast-finishing climber who can descend fast will win this stage, someone of the calibre of Matej Mohoric.

Stage 6, Thursday 6 July: Tarbes-Cauterets, 145km

Day two in the Pyrenees with the Col du Tourmalet on the menu before a long, draggy uphill finish. The chances are the contenders who made the grade yesterday will watch each other and probe for any signs of weakness, while a break settles the stage, with pure climbers targeting the win and the King of the Mountains jersey: Giulio Ciccone perhaps, or Neilson Powless.

Stage 7, Friday 7 July: Mont de Marsan-Bordeaux, 170km

A complete contrast: pancake flat and probably grimly hot. Bordeaux used to be a classic sprinter’s finish when the race made regular visits, and this will be a throwback to those days. So it’s the same cast as in Nogaro, minus anyone who’s fallen foul of the mountains. This could be Cavendish’s third chance to eclipse Eddy Merckx’s stage win record and by now it will be clear just how tough an ask this will be.

Stage 8, Saturday 8 July: Libourne-Limoges, 201km

A second bunch sprint on paper, but there’s a twist: this is a long stage, and the final 70km offer little respite, being constantly up and down. It will be a tough one to control, so teams without sprinters will fancy their chances in a break. The tough finale favours a strongman such as Mathieu van der Poel or his Alpecin–Deceuninck teammate Søren Kragh Andersen.

Stage 9, Sunday 9 July: St Léonard de Noblat-Le Puy de Dôme, 182.5km

A stage devoted to the memory of France’s favourite racer, the late Raymond Poulidor, starting in his home town and finishing on the extinct volcano that was the site of his greatest exploit. The finish climb is back after 35 years’ absence and its insanely steep final 4km will force Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar to show precisely how strong they are. Expect a major reshuffle in the standings.

Stage 10, Tuesday 11 July: Vulcania-Issoire, 167km

After a rest day in Clermont-Ferrand, this is a day for the break to contest a stage through sumptuous scenery. The battle on the climb at the start will be intense and a downhill finish means the final four-mile ascent could see drama aplenty, while there is barely a flat stretch of road in between. This stage will be a target for Alaphilippe, Cort or other stage hunters such as Richard Carapaz or Daniel Martínez .

Stage 11, Wednesday 12 July: Clermont Ferrand-Moulins, 180km

A bunch sprint for sure, simply because with so few opportunities the sprinters won’t want to let this one get away. A break will go with riders looking for television time, but they won’t stand a chance. The question here is: which sprinters have survived the Massif Central, and which teams have any firepower left? One thing is certain: we won’t see another mass finish for at least eight days.

Stage 12, Thursday 13 July: Roanne-Belleville en Beaujolais, 169km

This is the sort of stage the Tour organiser, Christian Prudhomme, loves, peppered with medium-difficulty climbs where anything can happen. Stage hunters such as Alaphilippe, Cort and company will love it, and overall contenders who have flopped thus far will see a chance for redemption. But for a team trying to control the race, it will be a nightmare in the Beaujolais vineyards. For fans, it could be grand cru .

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Stage 13, Friday 14 July: Châtillon sur Chalaronne-Grand Colombier, 138km

A very simple stage, with a big (non-classified) climb mid-stage to whittle the field down, and a brutal climb to the finish for Pogacar, Vingegaard and any remaining rivals such as – perhaps – Tom Pidcock to do battle. The finish is a 17km ascent.

Stage 14, Saturday 15 July: Annemasse-Morzine, 152km

The stage 14 battleground, the Col de Joux Plane, is long, and steep, with the final 6km all about 10%; it’s followed by one of the Tour’s trickiest descents to the finish. With climbing right from the start, the break will go early and may well contest the finish. A good chance for riders such as Mikel Landa, but the final descent has Pidcock written all over it.

Stage 15, Sunday 16 July: Les Gets-Saint Gervais Mont Blanc, 179km

Again there is climbing all day; four classified climbs and several unclassified ones, before an uphill finish where France’s Romain Bardet won in 2016, and where most of the damage will be done on the initial kilometres to Les Amerands, where the gradient reaches 18%. David Gaudu is the rider French fans will expect to emulate Bardet, but if the overall contenders get involved that will be a big ask.

Stage 16, Tuesday 18 July: Passy-Combloux, 22.4km ITT

After the second rest day, a time trial! Once a Tour staple, now a relative rarity. This one is short enough that it won’t upset the applecart, but there’s a twist in its flattish route: a short, sharp pull up the Côte de Domancy, or Route Bernard Hinault, where “the Badger” won the 1980 world title. Another reminder that Hinault remains the last French Tour winner, back in 1985. That’s unlikely to change this year.

Stage 17, Wednesday 19 July: Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc-Courchevel, 166km

The final Alpine stage ends over the longest climb of the week, the 28km Col de la Loze, with an unremitting final 6km topping out at 24%, and after the descent into Courchevel there’s a short, stiff pull to the finish line. If an early break gains ground watch out for pure climbers such as Pello Bilbao, otherwise it’s all about Vingegaard and Pogacar, who between them won four mountain stages last year.

Stage 18, Thursday 20 July: Moûtiers-Bourg-en-Bresse, 185km

A long flat run out of the Alps offers respite after the mountains. On paper this is a bunch sprint, but that depends on which sprinters have survived and what state their teammates are in. Last year the Belgian Jasper Philipsen was the pick of the sprinters in the second half of the Tour; if he and his teammate Van der Poel are in form, look no further.

Stage 19, Friday 21 July: Moirans-en-Montagne-Poligny, 173km

Another flat stage, this time out of the Jura and into the Doubs. This should be another bunch sprint, but there’s a stiff little climb 26km out, which could well put the riders who are left in the sprinters’ teams seriously off their stride. So perhaps a reduced bunch sprint for a seasoned warhorse such as Mads Pedersen.

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

A final mountain stage where the organisers will hope for a conclusive showdown between, ideally, Pogacar and Vingegaard. Given this isn’t a million miles from the home of the French chouchou Thibaut Pinot, the home fans and media will be dreaming up a perfect exit for the three-time stage winner in his final Tour over six of the best passes the Vosges can offer.

Stage 21, Sunday 23 July: Saint Quentin en Yvelines-Paris Champs Élysées, 115km

A hint of the Paris 2024 Games with a start at the national velodrome before the run-in to the finish on the Champs Élysées, where the sprinters can strut their stuff. This is the last time we will see the Tour here for a couple of years, as next year’s Olympics mean the finish moves to Nice and a final time trial, the first time the Tour has finished outside the capital since 1905.

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2023 tour de france route: stage profiles, previews, start, finish times.

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A stage-by-stage look at the 2023 Tour de France route with profiles, previews and estimated start and finish times (all times Eastern) ...

Stage 1/July 1: Bilbao-Bilbao (113 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 6:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:15 a.m. Quick Preview: The Grant Départ is held in the Basque Country as the Tour’s first three stages start in Spain. There are five categorized climbs, though none of the highest difficulty, with 21 King of the Mountain points available and 50 green jersey points. An uphill finish could neutralize the top sprinters.

TOUR DE FRANCE: Broadcast Schedule

Stage 2/July 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz-San Sebastián (130 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 6:15 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:04 a.m. Quick Preview: Five more climbs with the toughest coming near the end of the longest stage of the Tour. If no breakaways are successful, the sprinters will be rewarded with a flat finish.

Stage 3/July 3: Amorebieta-Etxano-Bayonne (120 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:27 a.m. Quick Preview: The first flat stage brings the Tour into France along the Bay of Biscay coastline. Could be Mark Cavendish’s first prime opportunity to break the Tour stage wins record he shares with Eddy Merckx.

Stage 4/July 4: Dax-Nogaro (114 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:10 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:12 a.m. Quick Preview: Another flat stage, this one finishing at France’s first purpose-built motor racing venue, the Circuit Paul Armagnac, with the final 1.9 miles taking place on the track.

Stage 5/July 5: Pau-Laruns (103 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:21 a.m. Quick Preview: The first of eight mountain stages that will collectively visit France’s five biggest mountain ranges. This one is in the Pyrenees with three summits in the second half of the day followed by a flat run-in to the finish. Expect the overall standings to shake up.

Stage 6/July 6: Tarbes-Cauterets (90 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:10 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:08 a.m. Quick Preview: The first of four summit finishes of this year’s Tour. Summit finishes are usually where the real yellow jersey contenders separate from the pack. Could be the first duel between 2022 Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard and 2020 and 2021 Tour winner Tadej Pogacar.

Stage 7/July 7: Mont-de-Marsan-Bordeaux (110 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:15 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:07 a.m. Quick Preview: Flattest stage of the Tour with a single fourth-category climb. Cavendish won the last time a Tour stage finished in Bordeaux in 2010.

Stage 8/July 8: Libourne-Limoges (125 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 6:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:07 a.m. Quick Preview: A transition day as the Tour heads to the Massif Central. A 5% uphill in the last 700 meters might mean this is not a sprinters’ day.

Stage 9/July 9: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat-Puy de Dôme (114 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 12:05 p.m. Quick Preview: A summit finish -- to a dormant volcano -- before a rest day is sure to shake up the overall standings. Puy de Dôme returns to the Tour after a 35-year absence.

Stage 10/July 11: Vulcania-Issoire (104 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:19 a.m. Quick Preview: The hilliest day of the Tour. Begins at a volcano-themed amusement park.

Stage 11/July 12: Clermont-Ferrand-Moulins (110 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:19 a.m. Quick Preview: The last flat stage until the 19th stage. If Cavendish hasn’t gotten a stage win yet, the pressure will start to mount.

Stage 12/July 13: Roanne-Belleville-en-Beaujolais (103 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:21 a.m. Quick Preview: Even with three late climbs, don’t expect a yellow jersey battle with back-to-back-to-back mountain stages after this.

Stage 13/July 14: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne-Grand Colombier (86 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:45 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:12 a.m. Quick Preview: On Bastille Day, the second and final beyond-category summit finish of this year’s Tour. The French have incentive to break away on their national holiday, but this is a climb for the yellow jersey contenders. A young Pogacar won here in 2020.

Stage 14/July 15: Annemasse-Morzine (94 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:18 a.m. Quick Preview: Another selective day in the Alps, with each climb seemingly tougher than the last. The downhill into the finish could neutralize attacks from the last ascent.

Stage 15/July 16: Les Gets-Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (110 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 12 p.m. Quick Preview: The last of three consecutive mountain stages features the last summit finish of the Tour. The eventual Tour winner could emerge here given the next stage’s time trial is only 14 miles.

Stage 16/July 18: Passy-Combloux (14 miles) Individual Time Trial First Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:36 a.m. Quick Preview: After a rest day, the Tour’s lone, short time trial will be punctuated by a late climb. Only twice in the last 50 years has there been just one time trial (including team time trials and prologues).

Stage 17/July 19: Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Courchevel (103 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 6:20 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:03 a.m. Quick Preview: The first of two mountain stages in the last week of the Tour. It’s the most difficult of the eight total mountain stages with more than 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) of elevation gain, capped by the beyond category Col de la Loze just before the descent to the finish.

Stage 18/July 20: Moûtiers-Bourg-en-Bresse (116 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:31 a.m. Quick Preview: About as flat of a “hilly” stage as one gets. Should still be a day for the sprinters who made it through the mountains.

Stage 19/July 21: Moirans-en-Montagne-Poligny (107 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:15 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:11 a.m. Quick Preview: An undulating stage with a relieving descent toward the end. The last kilometer goes up a 2.6% incline, which could take the sting out of some sprinters.

Stage 20/July 22: Belfort-Le Markstein (83 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 10:54 a.m. Quick Preview: The last competitive day for the yellow jersey is highlighted by two late category-one climbs that could determine the overall champion should it be close going into the day.

Stage 21/July 23: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines-Paris (71 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 10:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 1:28 p.m. Quick Preview: The ceremonial ride into Paris, almost always a day for the sprinters. Should be the final Tour stage for Cavendish and Peter Sagan, who both plan to retire from road cycling after this season.

These Are the Hardest Climbs in the 2023 Tour de France

The 2023 Tour de France is widely considered to be the most mountainous in decades, with a steady dose of climbing from start to finish. Here’s a look at six of the toughest.

This early Pyrenean sojourn is one of the reasons why the 2023 Tour de France is widely considered to be the most mountainous in decades, with 30 climbs having received Category 2, Category 1, or hors catégorie (“beyond category”) ratings. Of these 30 climbs, here’s a look at the six toughest:

Col du Tourmalet - Stage 6

One of the most famous climbs in Tour de France history, the hors catégorie Col du Tourmalet is truly the stuff of legend. A dirt road used by farmers to travel between high mountain pastures, the climb was first included during the 1910 Tour de France.

But while stage winner Octave Lapize climbed it during Stage 10, he (allegedly) yelled, “Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!” when passing the Tour’s organizers. Whether or not Lapize actually called them “murderers” is up for debate, but the climb’s difficulty is not: no matter from which side the riders climb it, it’s always one of the highlights of the Tour.

On Stage 6 the riders will tackle it from the east, which means they face 17.1km of climbing with an average gradient of 7.3 percent. The second half of the climb is the toughest, with several kilometers of pitches hovering between 9 and 10 percent. And at 2,115m of altitude, the Tourmalet is also the highest climb the riders will summit in the Pyrenees during this year’s Tour, which means the Souvenir Jacques Goddet prize will go to the first rider over the summit.

From the summit, a long downhill ride takes the racers back down to the valley floor, where the “only” obstacle standing between them and the finish line is the Category 1 climb to Cauterets-Cambasque. It’s only the first week, but this stage could blow the race wide open.

Puy de Dôme - Stage 9

An extinct volcano rising above the Massif Central, the Puy de Dôme is one of the most famous climbs in Tour history. First included in 1952–when Italian legend Fausto Coppi was the first to the summit–it’s since been the scene of some of the Tour’s most famous exploits, battles, and controversies .

But it was closed to motorized traffic in the late-80s, making Denmark’s Johnny Weltz the last rider to conquer the volcano’s steep slopes (in 1988). After years of trying, the Tour’s organizers have convinced local officials to let the race return, which means 35 years after its last appearance, the riders will tackle the 13.3km ascent at the end of Stage 9.

The 13.3km hors catégorie climb begins steadily, with an average gradient that hovers around 7 percent for the first 9km. But the pitch steepens significantly once the riders hit the parking lot that’s the last stop for tourists wishing to take the railway to the summit. Here the pitches go above 11 percent, as the riders hit the access road that’s traditionally been closed to them since the railway was constructed. These final 4km average close to 12 percent and the road narrows considerably as the riders wind their way up the treeless summit.

Legends like Fausto Coppi, Federico Bahamontes, Luis Ocaña, and Joop Zoetemelk have won here. Frenchman Raymond Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil waged an epic side-by-side battle to the summit here in 1964.

And sadly, Belgium’s Eddy Merckx was punched in the stomach here in 1975, injuring his kidney and likely ending his career . It’s a perfect climb for a rider like Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), who will certainly do his best to continue his nation’s winning streak.

Grand Colombier - Stage 13

Stage 13 heads into the Jura—the third of the five mountain ranges visited by the 2023 Tour de France—with a summit finish on top of the hors catégorie Grand Colombier, a steep climb with four different—and challenging—roads to the summit. In fact, each year local cyclists organize a ride that loops together all four ascents in a particularly sadistic celebration of the mountain.

There are four routes to the summit, and each year local cyclists organize a ride that loops together all of them in a painful celebration of the mountain. This year the riders will tackle it just once–from Culoz–with an approach offering 17.4km of climbing and an average gradient of 7.4 percent with pitches that hit 12 percent in two places.

The stage itself is relatively short and there are no other categorized climbs on the route, so the riders should hit the bottom of Colombier in one large group, which means we should be treated to a battle among the GC contenders to win the stage. It’s also Bastille Day, which means the roads will be lined with fans and French riders will be exceptionally motivated.

The Tour originally visited the climb in 2012 and again in 2017, with the riders both climbing and descending the col. It was first used as a summit finish in 2020, when Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar won the stage on his way to winning his first Tour.

Col de Joux Plane - Stage 14

The hors catégorie Col de Joux Plane isn’t one of the most famous climbs in the Tour de France, but it should be. 11.6km in length, the Alpine ascent has a rather high average gradient (8.5 percent) most of which comes (aside from a steep ramp right at the base) during the upper half of the climb. It’s rather exposed, and riders have remarked that the road just seems to climb into the sky.

Some of the area’s most stunning views of Mont Blanc can be seen from the summit as the road loops around a lake. A false descent takes the riders over the summit of the nearby Col du Ranfolly at which point the true downhill begins, with the road plunging down toward Morzine via a rather technical descent.

Sandwiched between two other tough days of climbings, the ascent comes at the end of Stage 14 this year, a hard slog through the Alps with four other categorized ascents. And with 8, 5, and 2 bonus seconds available to the first three riders over the summit, we could see the Tour’s GC contenders keep the breakaway close in a bid to claim those bonuses for themselves. The climb–and the descent into Morzine–will be one of the highlights of this challenging mountain weekend.

Col de La Loze - Stage 17

The hors catégorie Col de la Loze (21.5km at 7.8 percent), looms above the Méribel ski resort, which the Tour famously visited in 1973, when Frenchman Bernard Thevenet won the stage but was unable to gain significant time on Spain’s Luis Ocaña, who went on to win the Tour. The race hadn’t been back since, but the construction of a new bike path from the resort to the summit of the nearby Col de la Loze gave the Tour’s organizers a good reason to return in 2020.

Stage 17 takes the Tour back over the hors categorie ascent this year, with the riders facing a 28km climb to the 2,304m summit, with a pitch near the summit that hits 24 percent. This marked the end of the stage in 2020, but this year the riders will crest the summit and descend 6km down the other side, where a steep, 18 percent ramp to the finish line in Courchevel awaits.

One of the highest paved roads in France, the first rider to the Col de la Loze takes home the Souvenir Henri Desgrange cash prize for winning the highest overall summit in the 2023 Tour.

Col du Platzerwasel - Stage 20

The 2023 Tour de France saves its final mountainous punch for Stage 20, a short, explosive stage through the Vosges mountains with a total of 3,600m of elevation gain spread over six categorized climbs. Of these, the Category 1 Col du Platzerwasel is the toughest, with 7.3km of climbing and an average gradient of 8.4 percent. And the road keeps ascending through the official summit, with a few more kilometers of uphill road before the finish at the Le Markstein ski resort.

Overall it’s not the absolute toughest climb in the entire 2023 Tour de France, but at the end of such an intense stage–and at the end of such a mountainous Tour–it will certainly make for an explosive finale. If the climb produces a finish similar to what we saw during Stage 7 of last year’s Tour de France Femmes , when the Netherlands’ Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) used the climb to seize control of the race , fans will be in for a treat.

Since getting hooked on pro cycling while watching Lance Armstrong win the 1993 U.S. Pro Championship in Philadelphia, longtime Bicycling contributor Whit Yost has raced on Belgian cobbles, helped build a European pro team, and piloted that team from Malaysia to Mont Ventoux as an assistant director sportif. These days, he lives with his wife and son in Pennsylvania, spending his days serving as an assistant middle school principal and his nights playing Dungeons & Dragons.

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5 unmissable stages of the 2024 Tour de France

Mountains, gravel, and final-day drama: Here are our pick of the most promising stages of next year's Tour

Patrick Fletcher

Deputy editor.

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The fearsome Col du Galibier appears shockingly early in the 2024 Tour de France

The 2024 Tour de France is a thrill-seeker, seeking to capture the increasingly elusive attention of as broad an audience as possible. We have mountains at the start, mountains at the end, and gravel in the middle. We have the hilliest ever opening stage and we have a real race on the final day for the first time in 35 years.

In short, we have plenty of ammo for this run-down of 'unmissable' stages.

The 2024 Tour de France will, of course, be live in full on GCN+ and while you may well watch every stage from start to finish, these for us are the standout days when you're going to want to clear your calendars.

Stage 4: Why take a tunnel when you can climb a col?

July 2: Pinerolo – Valloire, 138km

The profile for stage 4 of the 2024 Tour de France

“Never before has the Tour been so high, so soon,” said Christian Prudhomme as he unveiled this early foray into the Alps. We knew the race had to get from Italy to France, and that means negotiating the Alps, but doing so in this way was not on many bingo cards.

“We could have passed through some tunnels, but we had no interest in doing that, so we preferred to pass over some cols,” Prudhomme added with a mischievous smile.

This is a proper mountain stage, and even if you look at it and think it’s not the likeliest to generate decisive general classification movement, you then remember it’s only stage 4 and that this sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen this early in a Grand Tour.

A full on mountain stage this early is unprecedented, but it's not the first time the Tour has started with some hills. In some respects the first few stages of this Tour are a natural step up from what we saw last year. We have more elevation gain on the opening day in 2024 (3,600m) than we did in the Basque Country last year, when an early foray into the Pyrenees on stages 5 and 6 – on routes that didn’t look ultra-decisive – ended up seeing Vingegaard and Pogačar trade significant blows.

The same is possible on this route, which effectively climbs from the gun, all the way to Sestrières at 2035m. The race crosses the Italo-French border via the Col de Montgenèvre (8.3km at 5.9%) and then it’s time for the Galibier, one of the most iconic mountains of the Tour de France.

It's the southern side of the mountain in action here, totalling 23km at 5.1%, much of that being a steady plod up the Col du Lauteret, where the prevailing headwind could see a contained race. But things suddenly change when you ignore that left turn and head right onto the upper reaches of the Galibier, as the gradient ramps up dramatically, the mountainside vertiginously falls away, and the altitude starts to bite.

This will be as much about the descent as the ascent, with the route re-tracing the steps that made Tom Pidcock a Netflix star, so we’re in for a spectacular finale, however the Galibier leaves it hanging. The draggy nature of much of the climbing may fail to inspire some fans, but you have a Tour de France icon, altitude, and a stunning descent, and then you remember it’s only stage 4.

Stage 9: Gravel storm incoming

July 7: Troyes – Troyes, 199km

The profile for stage 9 of the 2024 Tour de France

Love gravel, hate gravel, you are not missing this. This could be a massive moment for the race; it could be a massive moment in the history of the Tour de France; it could amount to very little at all; but it’s going to be captivating viewing, either way.

There was a sense of shock after Christian Prudhomme had unveiled the parcours for this stage. The very presence of gravel had been heavily touted in the pre-presentation rumour mill, but, sorry… how much?! No fewer than 14 sectors will line the route of stage 9, totalling more than 32km of the so-called chemins blancs (white tracks). That’s not Strade Bianche territory, but it’s considerably more than the 12.9km used when the Tour de France Femmes visited this area in 2022, the 11.6km on offer at next year’s Giro d’Italia, and any helping of cobblestone sectors we’ve had over the years.

It’s going to kick up a storm of dust on the day but it has already whipped up a stormy debate. “It is not necessary,” said an exasperated Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge, a feeling echoed by his Bora-Hansgrohe counterpart Ralph Denk and in more diplomatic terms by his rider, the defending champion Jonas Vingegaard. Remco Evenepoel has already spoken out against the gravel, while his Soudal Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere has never hidden his own distaste for gravel and cobbles.

The general argument against is that the heightened risk of mechanical problems or crashes could take a leading contender out of contention or out of the race altogether – rather than being decided on strength and tactics, it increased the role of Lady Luck. The argument in favour draws on both the past and future of cycling. Prudhomme pointed out that some of the sport’s legends were making their mark before long before paved roads were the norm, while gravel as a modern discipline is the sport's major growth area.

The Tour de France has made obvious efforts in recent years to appeal to the social media generation, so it’s no surprise to see them jump on the gravel hype train. If nothing goes drastically wrong on stage 9 next July, we can expect to see them lean further into the drama and entertainment angle, with Tour routes veering further away from the traditional. This is part of the testing ground for how a Grand Tour could and should be designed.

As for the day itself, the luck factor will be impossible to predict but in purely racing terms there is plenty of time to be won and lost. Plugge may have underlined Vingegaard’s bike handling skills, but the Jumbo-Visma reaction doesn’t scream confidence, nor does that of Primož Roglič’s future team Bora-Hansgrohe, while Evenepoel will have flashbacks to his nightmare outing on the Tuscan gravel in the 2021 Giro. That’ll be music to the ears of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), a former winner of Strade Bianche and the reigning champion at the Tour of Flanders. He is, quite simply, a more rugged and rounded rider, and he will surely see this not as an obstacle but an opportunity.

However it falls, the sight of the yellow jersey and co. careering onto the gravel – a haze of dust in the dry, or a mudbath in the wet – will be compelling viewing. Even if nothing much happens, you’ll be holding your breath on the edge of your seat for each sector, but there’s every chance this could be one of the most dramatic days of the whole Tour.

Stage 15: A Bastille Day epic

July 14: Loudenvielle – Plateau de Beille, 198km

The profile for stage 15 of the 2024 Tour de France

Bastille Day, and as if the French fans needed any more incentive to get out there and scream their lungs out, we have a crazy day in the Pyrenees.

Let’s start with the stats: 198km, six climbs, 4850m elevation gain. It’s a big, big day and, what’s more, it comes hot on the heels of another big day. Stage 14 might not be quite as heavy, but it still goes over the Tourmalet, Hourquette d’Ancizan and up Pla d’Adet, meaning the legs will already be dulled for this epic.

It’s another summit finish, up at Plateau de Beille, but more on that later. The stage rips out of the traps, climbing the western flank of the Col de Peyresourde from the gun. The ascent from Loudenvielle measures 6.9km at 7.8% and the bunch is going to explode immediately. Breakaway artists will be on the move, pawns will be placed, lower-rung GC riders will be on the hunt, and we could even see a favourite or two looking to take advantage of the chaos. After the descent there are 20km in the valley but then the Col de Menté hits and it’s vicious (9.3km at 9.1%), followed straight away by the Portet d’Aspet (4.3km at 9.7%).

The valley roads in the middle of the stage should be where things settle back into some sort of pattern, but the shake-up will recommence on the Col d’Agnes (10km at 8.2%), and the short hop over to the Port de Lers. A descent and a short valley stretch then lead to the final climb to Plateau de Beille (15.8km at 7.9%), which didn’t see much action on its last appearance in 2015, but then again this is a harder stage in general. The first few kilometres are the hardest, averaging 9%, and it hangs mostly between 7-8% the rest of the way up. For such a long climb, the average gradient is high, and there’ll be guaranteed damage by the top.

The 2024 Tour route seems to have less of a penchant for super-steep climbs than previous years, with a return to more of the traditional steadier efforts, but this stage features the sharpest gradients of the whole Tour, and also the most elevation gain of a single stage. It’s set to be a defining day.

Stage 19: Up in the clouds

July 19: Embrun – Valloire, 145km

The profile for stage 19 of the 2024 Tour de France

Rivalling stage 15 for the honour of the race’s ‘queen stage’ is this trip down the eastern flank of the French Alps, and it offers a real contrast to its Pyrenean counterpart.

For starters, it’s shorter, by 53km, and it contains almost as much elevation gain. Although it doesn’t start uphill, it’s a more intense affair. Secondly, the climbs are less steep, but longer, the Col de Vars and Cime de la Bonette both around the 20km mark.

The most important factor – and the thing that truly sets this stage apart – is the altitude. 2000 metres has become a sort of mythical benchmark, often referred to as 'the barrier'. Above the barrier, things change as the paucity of oxygen dulling both the muscles and the senses. At that height, you can crack and never recover.

The Tour goes above 2000m on the Galibier on stage 4 and the Tourmalet on stage 14, but stage 19 is ‘the altitude stage’ of the 2024 Tour.

The Col de Vars takes us to 2109m with an 18.8km climb at an average gradient of 5.7% that’s heavily mitigated by a 3km plateau in the middle. It’s then over to the Cime de la Bonette, which, at an eye-watering 2802m, is one of the highest paved roads in Europe.

This is extreme altitude, and while the climb, measuring 22.2km at 6.9%, would be hard enough from seal level, half of it is above the 2000m barrier, where the riders will be toiling for more than half an hour.

The long descent to Isola sets us up for another vertical kilometre on the final climb to Isola 2000, which as the name suggests, punctures that 2000m barrier for a third time. It’s another long climb at 16km, and while it’s a steady traditional ski resort seven percent-er, the day’s exertions will start to take their toll.

It’s the sort of stage, heading into the clouds, where the idea of climbers ‘taking flight’ feels very apt indeed.

Stage 21: Drama til the last

July 21: Monaco – Nice, 34km (ITT)

The profile for stage 21 of the 2024 Tour de France

For the first time in the history of the Tour de France, the race will finish away from Paris, and for the first time since 1989, we’ll have a competitive final day.

Those memories from 35 years ago will only whet the appetite for this 35km time trial between Nice and Monaco. The final day of that 1989 edition, concluding with a time trial into Paris, is one of the most memorable day’s in the race’s rich tapestry, with a pioneeringly aerodynamic Greg LeMond snatching the yellow jersey from Laurent Fignon by a mere eight seconds – the tightest ever Tour.

The arrival of the peloton in Paris is, for many, symbolic. However, the champagne-fuelled procession is not to everyone’s taste, and those who prefer the last day of the race to be, well, a race, will delight in the 2024 finale on the Côte d’Azur.

Provided it’s not a complete walkover to that point, the yellow jersey will be in play until the very last metres and moments of the Tour de France.

If the yellow jersey is indeed in play, then even the flattest of time trials would be gripping, but this is a far more interesting route than most, heading into the hills behind Nice to provide an all-round test of climbing, descending, flat power, and also bike handling.

The route starts in Monaco and spends all of 3km on the flat before heading up La Turbie, a well-trodden training climb for the enclave of Principality-based pros. At 8.1km at 5.6%, it’s a solid climb but more of a steady, seated effort. It provides a link to the Col d’Eze, famous from Paris-Nice, so it’s not the full climb but a steep 1.6km kicker at the top, which is followed by a long, fast, sweeping descent into Nice for a flat final 6km.

It’s a stunning route, perched above the glistening blue waters of the Mediterranean, and it should balance things finely between the remaining yellow jersey contenders, coming down to who’s still firing after three weeks. That’s another part of the novelty; the 2024 Tour effectively has one extra day of ‘real’ racing, and this TT comes after two big summit finishes, and five mountain stages in the space of the previous seven days.

If it goes down to the wire, it will live long in the memory.

Tour de France

• Dates 29 Jun - 21 Jul
• Race Length 3,492 kms
• Race Category Elite Men

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Tour de france stage 1: the hilliest-ever opening stage of the tour, a dramatic opener to this year's tour with an elevation gain of 3,800 meters. will the bunch fragment like last year.

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

Stage 1 — Saturday, June 29 Florence-Rimini Distance: 206km (128 miles) Profile: Medium mountain stage

Stage 1: A daunting opener

Last year’s first stage was said by some to be amongst the hardest Tour openers ever; one year later, the organizers have decided to follow the same template.

Indeed they have ramped up the difficulty, with an elevation gain of 3,800 meters, some 500 meters more than last time around. The stage will not so much shake off the cobwebs as evaporate them. Starting in Florence as part of the first-ever Italian Grand Depart in history, the riders will have 30 mainly flat kilometers before the first of seven categorized climbs rear up.

The Col de Valico Tre Faggi is the highest on the stage, peaking at 930 meters altitude after 12.5km of climbing. A breakaway is almost certain to form here and, passing over the subsequent climbs of the Côte des Forche, the Côte de Carnaio and the Colle de Barbotto, should be able to further pad their advantage.

The pendulum may well swing the other way over the three climbs located in the final 50 kms. The last of these, the Côte de Saint-Marino, is followed by 25 downhill and flat roads to the finish in Rimini. Much will depend on how the favorites ride the stage but if the big names and their teams go all in, a very difficult first day is in store.

The stage finish is a poignant location for Italian cycling. The 1998 Tour de France winner Marco Pantani died in Rimini in 2004, with this year’s Tour taking place 20 years after that tragic event.

The view of Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme: “It’s rare for the Tour de France to start with more than 3,600 meters of climbing — in fact it’s never happened before! — and it’s also the first time that the race has visited the home city of Gino Bartali.

“The succession of hills in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna are likely to be the setting for an immediate and testing confrontation between the contenders for the title, particularly the climb into San Marino (7.1km at 4.8 percent), where the race will add a 13th name to its catalogue of foreign visits.”

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Tour de France : Final stage of glory in Paris

Inspiration

Paris Cycling Tourism Sporting Activities

Reading time: 0 min Published on 4 January 2023, updated on 16 April 2024

The final sprint of the Tour de France always takes place on Paris’ famous avenue. On 18 July, as it has every year since 1975, the last stage of the famous cycling race will end on the Champs-Élysées.

With 3,383 kilometres for the legs to tackle and some 403,000 pedal strokes over three weeks, taking part in the Tour de France is no easy task.

In view of the conclusion of the 21st and final stage of the Grand Boucle , the peloton will give it all they’ve got. Before parading in the capital, the riders will have sweated to climb the 30 passes of the 2021 race, rising in their saddles to pick up momentum and clenching their teeth in the vertiginous descents.

The Champs-Élysées in all its majesty

From Brittany to the Alps, from the Occitanie to the Pyrenees, the riders will have been so focused on their performance that they won’t have soaked up much of the photogenic landscapes of France, broadcast across 100 TV channels.

But by the end of the efforts, what a reward: the majestic Champs-Élysées, with the blue-white-red wake of the famous Patrouille de France fly-past. Nobody else has such a claim on the famous avenue except the French football team, winner of the World Cup in 2018.

Standing on the podium at the bottom of the famous Parisian avenue, with the setting sun at the Arc de Triomphe and Grande Arche de la Défense as a backdrop, the winner of the Tour will have – like all his fellow riders – accomplished the Parisian ritual.

Established in 1975, this involves riding up and down the Champs-Élysées eight times, totalling 1,910 legendary metres separating the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde from the star of the Place Charles-de-Gaulle.

A ride beside the Louvre Pyramid

Seen from above, the spectacle of the peloton winding like a long ribbon decorated around the Arc de Triomphe is magical. From the pavements lining the route of this final sprint, the enthusiasm of the public pushes the riders on through the Quai des Tuileries, Place des Pyramides and Rue de Rivoli in Paris.

Will they take a look as they go past? Not sure. Almost lying on their handlebars, they traditionally take this last stage at a crazy pace, overlooking the cobblestones and prestigious landmarks around. Louis Vuitton, Guerlain, Ladurée and even, recently, the Galeries Lafayette, make up the exclusive backdrop of the peloton’s arrival on the Champs-Élysées.

Among the live support or behind your TV screen, it’s you who will enjoy all these beauties... happy as a spectator of the Tour!

View this post on Instagram The Yellow Jersey, a dream for everyone! Le Maillot Jaune, un rêve pour chacun ! #TDF2019 A post shared by Tour de France™ (@letourdefrance) on May 17, 2019 at 3:13am PDT

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Unveiling the High-Octane Riders Set to Dominate the Sprints at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia

[table-of-contents] stripped

As summer grows ever closer, our focus shifts to the emblematic jerseys of the Grand Tours : the maglia rosa , the maillot jaune , and the maillot rojo —and rightly so. After all, we watch bike races in large part to see who’s going to win, especially when we have such riches as we do these days, with some of the most talented GC riders in generations battling it out on the long course of a Grand Tour.

But what about the green and purple jerseys , those awarded to the leaders and winners of the points classifications, often, though not always, noted sprinters?

These are men and women capable of making unfathomable watts, often after four, five, and sometimes six-plus hours of racing, who are held at bay all day, only to unleash their greatest skills for barely a few hundred meters. They’re often the ones who give us the biggest thrills and the narrowest victories (or defeats).

While we focus on the speed and raw power of sprinters, one thing that’s often overlooked is how well they race; how the best sprinters are often the most patient riders, waiting until the perfect moment to launch their attacks. Theirs is often a game of cat-and-mouse, a strategic battle as much as a power-based one. Given the blazing speed at which these riders can sprint, it’s easy to forget that they’re some of the savviest riders in the peloton.

So, who are they? Let’s take a deeper look at the riders going for those green jerseys and points competitions at the Giro d’Italia , Tour de France , and Vuelta a España this summer.

Men’s Top Sprinters

Jasper philipsen – alpecin-deceuninck.

The young Belgian, once derided as “Jasper the Disaster,” is the best sprinter in the world right now. Possessing the perfect combination of strength, racing know-how, and the patience required to win a bunch sprint, he has to be the favorite heading into any stage suited to sprinters. After a second-place finish at Roubaix , the reigning Tour de France green jersey will head into this year’s Grande Boucle as the heavy favorite to repeat.

Mads Pedersen – Lidl-Trek

Unlike most others on this list, Mads Pedersen is hardly a pure sprinter. Rather, the one-day specialist has shown that he’s most at home when launching attacks from a long way out. In fact, just a few weeks ago, he did something most people didn’t think was possible when he stayed with Mathieu van der Poel for some fifty kilometers in Ghent-Wevelgem , only to outsprint the Dutch superstar in the closing meters. There isn’t a team in the men’s peloton looking quite as strong as Lidl-Trek is right now, so expect Mads to compete for at least a few bunch sprint wins in his scheduled Tour and Vuelta appearances.

Tim Merlier – Soudal-Quick-Step

By the metric of the modern peloton, Tim Merlier is getting a bit long in the tooth. The 31-year-old from Flanders only has two Grand Tour stage wins to his name: one in the Giro and one in the Tour . But, as most of Merlier’s early career was focused on cyclocross racing, he very well could just be coming into his prime. In the last three seasons, Merlier has won the Belgian National Road Race and Brugge-De Panne, and, from 2022 to this year, three-peated in Nokere Koerse. Maybe, like a great sprinter does, he’s waiting until the perfect moment to launch.

Sprinters with something to prove

Mark cavendish – astana qazaqstan.

In 2024, Cav is sitting on the precipice between these two categories. The Manx Missile was coaxed out of retirement not once but twice with the promise of nabbing Eddy Merckx’s longstanding record of 34 Tour de France stage wins. And while his early-season returns have been anything but stunning, we’re talking about the greatest sprinter of all time here. And so, for that very reason, we have to consider Cav, a two-time Tour de France green jersey winner, in the upper echelon here.

Dylan Groenewegen – Jayco AlUla

Groenewegen has five Tour de France stage wins. But four of them came before 2020 and one in 2022. Much of that drought likely has to do with the nine-month ban he received from the UCI after it was determined he caused the crash that put Fabio Jakobsen in an induced coma for two days. Still, Groenewegen has shown form early this season with a ninth-place finish in Ghent-Wevelgem and a few strong stages in Paris-Nice and the UAE Tour.

Kaden Groves – Alpecin-Deceuninck

Groves, the four-time Vuelta a España stage winner and reigning green jersey champion of that race, will likely contest again for several of that race’s sprint stages. Groves has shown a predilection for hilly stages that tend to thin the herd over the course of the day, stages that are becoming increasingly common in the modern Grand Tour.

Arnaud Démare – Arkéa–B&B Hotels

Though he didn’t get any last year, Arnaud Démare has won ten Grand Tour stages: eight in the Giro and two in the Tour . He’s also a two-time points champion in the Giro. And though his spring campaign has been nothing to write home about, he’s an expert at positioning when the bunch really starts charging. Given as much, he should have more than a few opportunities to outsprint the bunch in this summer’s Tour.

Fabio Jakobsen – dsm firmenich PostNL

Like a few others on this list, Jakobsen’s results don’t necessarily match his strength. Easily one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton, Jakobsen will definitely find his way to the bunch in this year’s Giro and Tour, where he’ll try to add to his palmarès, which already counts five Vuelta stage wins. Of course, he hasn’t gotten one of those since 2021, so you either think he’s washed or he’s due.

Dark Horses

Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) - Outside of Mark Cavendish, Sam Bennett is the most decorated racer on this list. His palmarès includes five stage wins at the Vuelta , three at the Giro , and two at the Tour . He was also the Tour’s 2020 green jersey. And though his last two seasons have been hardly spectacular, it’s easy to predict that Sam Bennett could be in the mix for stage wins, especially after he was left off AG2R’s Tour roster last year.

Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) - The man who was once a sure-fire bet to take a Grand Tour sprint stage—he’s won ten in his career—has fallen to the bottom of this pack simply because he hasn’t been able to nab a stage win since the 2021 Giro d’Italia . Of course, he’s still one of the strongest sprinters on Earth and always a threat to take a win, which, over the last three years, he’s been ever so close to. Despite his recent cold streak, Ewan is truly one of the riders you can never, ever count out.

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) - After a historic stage win in the 2022 Giro d’Italia and a third-place finish behind Jasper Phillipsen and Mark Cavendish in stage 7 of last’s Tour de France, the Eritrean rider showed a lot of promise as a Grand Tour sprinter. Now confirmed for the Giro, we hope to see Girmay bring on the heat to the favorites.

Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling) - While still early in his professional career, Dainese has already demonstrated his potential as a top-level sprinter and is definitely one to watch. In 2023, the Italian sprinter won two Giro stages and one Vuelta stage.

Women’s Top Sprinters

On the women’s side of the coin, there’s far less separation between the heavy favorites, the maybe-they-could, and the sprinters who might steal a stage here or there. And much of that has to do with the fact that there’s much more parity in general in the women’s WorldTour (which is why we should all be watching a lot more women’s races!). But there is still the cream of the crop and everyone else.

Lotte Kopecky – SD Worx-Protime

You could easily argue that Lotte Kopecky is the strongest bike racer in the world, regardless of gender. Her ability to sustain efforts and grind her opponents into dust behind her is matched only by the likes of Mathieu van der Poel . As she heads into this summer as the reigning Tour de France points champion, all eyes will be on the 28-year-old to rack up more stage wins.

Lorena Wiebes – SD Worx-Protime

It’s no secret that SD Worx is sitting on an embarrassment of riches right now. This is evidenced by the fact that Lotte Kopecky is racing on the same team as Lorena Wiebes , perhaps the strongest pure sprinter in the women’s peloton. The 25-year-old Dutchwoman has won Ronde van Drenthe four years in a row and just added to her palmarès with a Gent-Wevelgem victory last weekend. In a heads-up sprint, Wiebes is as tough as out there is.

Elisa Balsamo – Lidl-Trek

With wins at Brugge-De Panne and Trofeo Alfredo Binda and second-place finishes at Paris-Roubaix , Ronde van Drenthe, and Ghent-Wevelgem , the Italian one-day specialist is having a world-class spring campaign. She’s had a bit of success in stage races, nabbing a pair of wins at the 2022 Giro Donne and another pair at 2023’s Setmana Ciclista Valenciana. But at just 26 years old, Balsamo could be on the precipice of a breakout summer.

Charlotte Kool – dsm firmenich PostNL

At just 24 years old, Charlotte Kool seems to be hitting her prime. She won her first Grand Tour stage in last year’s Vuelta and was fighting for wins in Brugge-De Panne and Ghent-Wevelgem, where she finished second and fourth, respectively. She won the points classification in last year’s UAE Tour and should rack up plenty of points over the course of the summer.

Emma Norsgaard – Movistar

Though Norsgaard’s spring has been inauspicious at best, she’s always a tough out when it comes to sprints. With a pair of stage wins to her name (a Giro stage in 2021 and a Tour stage in 2023), she knows how to win from the bunch. She just needs to find her way to the front and put herself in a position to compete. If she can get there, there’s no doubt she’s got the legs.

Marianne Vos – Visma-Lease a Bike

So long as there’s a bike race, and so long as Marianne Vos is in that bike race, it’s just plain stupid to count her out. To list her palmarès would take all of the space this story has, so just accept the fact that she’s likely to be there at the end, whether the stage calls for a breakaway, a punchy climb, or a bunch sprint. And though she’s one of the women’s peloton’s elder stateswomen at age 36, with recent wins at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Dwars door Vlaanderen , she’s still proving week after week that she can race with—and beat—the best.

Elisa Longo Borghini – Lidl-Trek

Between Mads Pedersen , Elisa Balsamo, and Longo Borghini, Lidl-Trek’s cup runneth over with one-day talent. But to win one-day races, you need to be able to create and sustain attacks, and there are few better in the women’s bunch at that than Longo Borghini. Hardly a pure sprinter, she’ll need to use her well-honed racing acumen if she’s going to take a stage win.

Chloé Dygert – Canyon//SRAM

Dygert is back. After suffering a training setback late last year, stemming from an injury sustained earlier in 2023, Dygert returned to the peloton with a sixth-place finish in Brugge-De Panne. And while she’s known more for her time-trialing acumen than her pure sprint ability, she can put down and sustain boatloads of power. If she and her teammates can put her in the right position, look for the American star to steal a stage here or there.

Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) - This is only Consonni’s second year at the WorldTour level, but she’s shown in recent times that she has the legs and the know-how to go elbow-to-elbow with the best of the bunch. Her best result is arguably a third-place finish in the points classification in this year’s UAE Tour. Look for her to steal a stage win or two (or three) as the summer progresses.

Rachele Barbieri (dsm firmenich PostNL) - For all of the success Rachele Barbieri has enjoyed on the track, she’s had little on the road. Her best finishes in major races are a pair of second-place finishes in stages in the Giro and UAE Tour and two fourth-place finishes in Tour stages. However, anyone who can make the kind of power Babieri is capable of making can and should not be counted out. Look for her to snag a sleeper win at some point this year.

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Tour of Turkey: Frank van den Broek takes Queen stage and overall lead

Dutch Dsm-firmenich PostNL seizes race lead as he beats Merhawi Kudus to the summit win

Frank van den Broek won stage 6 of the Tour of Turkey on the 14km Spil Dağı climb, giving Dsm-firmenich PostNL their fourth stage win of the race and van den Broek the race lead.

The 23-year-old Dutch rider sat behind Paul Double (Polti Kometa) as the British rider led in the final two kilometres and closed down later attacker Merhawi Kudus (Terengganu Cycling Team). Double then faded in sight of the finish line and van den Broek surged to the line to hold off Kudus.

Thanks to time bonuses, Van den Broek also took the overall race lead, four seconds ahead of Kudus and nine seconds ahead of Double, with just two flat stages to race until the finish in Istanbul on Saturday.

Five riders formed the early break of the 160.1km stage, with Negasi Haylu Abreha (Q36.5) the last to be caught as his teammate Filippo Conca attacked and joined him with ten kilometres to climb.

Conca was then joined by Samuele Zoccarato (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) but Harold Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan) soon jumped across and surged then surged away.

Merhawi Kudus (Terengganu Cycling Team) attacked from the reduced front group to catch and pass Lopez on the steepest section of the climb. Britain’s Paul Double (Polti Kometa) led the chase across with Frank van den Broek (Dsm-firmenich PostNL) but generously rode on the front, allowing van den Broek to have his effort for the finish.

Van den Broek is a WorldTour neo-pro but earned his place in Dsm-firmenich PostNL’s squad by winning a stage at the 2023 Tour of Qinghai Lake and impressive rides in other races, including victory in the Ronde de l'Oise stage race in France.

“We’ve already won three stages and now a fourth, it’s amazing,” van den Broek said.

“I didn’t expect to win but the team put a lot of trust in me, they did a lot of work in the beginning of the stage and Julius van den Berg did a lot of work on the front of the peloton, so that gave me a lot of confidence. I’m very happy to win.”

He was confident of his chances after surviving the 10% section of the climb and staying with Double as he chased down Kudus.

I knew I had a chance to win when we went over the steepest part of the climb. It was a kind of flat-run-in and I knew I had an OK sprint,” Van den Broek said.

“The next two days are again a big chance for us with Fabio Jakobsen and our sprint train.

“It should hopefully be pretty easy for me to hold onto the leader’s jersey. I just need to finish in the main bunch. I also think I can even help with the leadouts. We’ll see.”

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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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