punchers tour de france 2023

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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A Knockout Punch in the Fight for the Tour de France’s Yellow Jersey

Sometimes the Tour becomes a boxing match, and Jonas Vingegaard versus Tadej Pogacar has been a battle for the ages

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You’re likely familiar with the tired sportswriting cliché of comparing an unequivocally non-combat sport to boxing. The Super Bowl is a prize fight. Cavaliers versus Warriors has become a brawl. Grandpa’s bocce ball tournament devolved into Hagler Hearns . 

Journalists covering the Tour de France are hardly immune from this rhetorical trope. But having covered pro cycling for nearly two decades, I will tell you that there are situations during the Tour when the boxing comparison is appropriate. You’ve undoubtedly seen video clips of these moments pop up on social media.

I’ll set the scene: a small group of cyclists pedals up some impossibly long and steep climb at eyeball-bursting pace. Suddenly, one rider stomps on his pedals and accelerates away from the group. The move causes the others to rev up the speed to chase him down. Suddenly, riders are bolting away, one by one, playing a mean game of cat-and-mouse on the climb, until some become exhausted and the group begins to dwindle. After a few minutes, only two riders are left, attacking, chasing, and attacking again all the way to the top.

Froome, Contador, Porte, Alaphilippe and more battle on #Dauphine summit finish! 📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/YHgdqHi9Ld — NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) May 30, 2023

Those fierce accelerations are cycling’s version of an uppercut to the face. The next time you see a scenario like this, I want you imagine that each cyclist has the green health bar from the video game Mortal Kombat (or Street Fighter) above his head. During every speed increase, that health bar quickly drains from green to red. Then, when the rider rests, the health bar recovers. When a rider drops off pace due to too many accelerations, that’s cycling’s version of a knockout.

Cycling writers use various metaphores to describe this dynamic: matches in a matchbook, bullets in a gun, cards to play in a game of poker. I prefer the boxing idiom.

The best Tour riders train their bodies to be able to accelerate, rest, and speed up again for hours on end, day after day. The very best are the riders who can land the most punches—or register the strongest punch—during one of these fights.

Tadej Pogacar crack Jonas Vingegaard on the Grand Colombier! #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/qTGLIdDHYW — NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 14, 2023

I bring all of this up because the 2023 Tour de France in recent days became a thrilling prize fight on the slopes of the Alps. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, the race leader, and two-time winner Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia took turns pummeling each other with searing attacks. It all began on Friday, July 14, on the slopes of the Col du Grand Colombier climb in southern France. Pogacar had his UAE Team Emirates squad drop Vingegaard’s Jumbo Visma teammates on the hulking climb, and then Pogacar landed a mighty punch near the top. He bolted away from Vingegaard inside the final mile to take eight seconds from the Dane’s lead. You can see the move in the above clip.

A true battle at the top of Col de La Joux Plane 🤯⚔️ 🎥 @LeTour pic.twitter.com/wXYW5pHTEz — Velo (@velovelovelo__) July 15, 2023

The next day Pogacar attacked Vingegaard relentlessly on the slopes of the Col de Joux Plane, bolting away again and again. So fast were Pogacar’s accelerations that he caught and nearly collided with a television motorcycle near the summit. He kept the aggression up during the following stage—another mountainous route. But Vingegaard absorbed Pogacar’s punches, like Rocky Balboa t aking haymaker after haymaker from Ivan Drago in Rocky IV . The race remained tight. After Sunday’s stage 15, Vingegaard led Pogacar by just ten seconds.

😱 Así ha sido el ataque de @TamauPogi sobre @j_vingegaard en el ascenso al Joux Plane #EsenciaCiclista #LeTour #TDF2023 #Vingegaard #Pogacar pic.twitter.com/NICJQVV1ut — Esencia Ciclista (@EsenciaCiclista) July 15, 2023

The ferocity of the battle was not lost on longtime followers of the sport. You may have seen headlines about this Tour being one of the best in ages. “I can’t believe how good this Tour de France is,” wrote columnist Jason Gay in Monday’s print edition of The Wall Street Journal. I thought back to Tours of yesteryear to try and remember when two riders threw this many punches without one of them capitulating. I’ve watched the Tour every year since 1999, and for the life of me, I cannot remember a battle quite like this.

Of course all good fights must end, and this one appeared to reach its conclusion over the past two days. On Tuesday, July 18, Vingegaard scored what seemed to be a TKO during the individual time trial: a race against the clock where the riders start one-by-one. He blazed across the hilly 14-mile course in 32 minutes, 36 seconds, a whopping 1:38 faster than Pogacar. Cycling commentators Bridie O’Donnell and Simon Gerrans from Australian broadcaster SBS did a fantastic job analyzing Vingegaard’s time trial win in the following clip.

Where Vingegaard took time on Pogacar during Stage 16 of the Tour de France! @simongerrans and @Bridie_OD break down the Dane's cornering aggression! #sbstdf #TDF2023 #couchpeloton pic.twitter.com/s8BkceMlXT — SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 18, 2023

So massive was Vingegaard’s margin of victory—individual time trials that short are often decided by a few seconds—that several cycling pundits on twitter wondered if the result was too good to be true—code for doping suspicion. How could Pogacar have lost by such a wide margin when the two appeared to be so evenly matched in the previous battles?

The cycling world got its answer a day later, during Wednesday’s mountainous 17 stage across the Alps to the ski town of Corchevel. As the peloton pedaled up the soaring Col de la Loze—a massive, 17-mile ascent—Pogacar drifted off the back and lost contact with the group, long before the fight even started. The TV broadcast aired audio from his team radio. “I’m gone, I’m dead,” he said. Long story short: Pogacar was exhausted, and that gap during the time trial was due to his weakening legs.

🚴Tadej Pogacar: 🗣️ “I'm gone. I'm dead” Así las cosas en el Tour de Francia🤷🏻‍♂️ 🏆Habemus CAMPEÓN de la edición 110 de @LeTour , se llama Jonas Vingegaard🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/X0QaNOeF0Z — Coco Trejo (@CoqueTrejo) July 19, 2023

I have one final boxing comparison for you. Pogacar versus Vingegaard was cycling’s version of the Rumble in the Jungle , the historic 1974 bout in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Contemporary boxing scholars still debate why Ali beat Foreman, but everyone pretty much agrees that Foreman’s aggression in the early rounds left him completely exhausted at the end, when Ali came to life and knocked him out. Foreman “punched himself out” of the fight, as the old adage goes.

I think that’s what happened to Pogacar. He fought hard over the past week of the Tour de France, and was the most aggressive cyclist in the race for several days on end. But it’s a three-week race, and every acceleration hurts. And by Wednesday, Pogacar was simply out of punches.

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VIDEO: Pello Bilbao smacks spectator at Col de la Loze

The Col de la Loze was, as the Col de Joux Plane, flooded with fans. The Tour de France 's crowds are huge but at times can cause problems. Pello Bilbao has had to deal with one with his own hands.

Close to the summit the narrow road and number of fans led the Bahrain - Victorious rider to be blocked behind Chris Harper, as David Gaudu rode on. The Basque country got (understandably) angry at a fan that was running alongside the riders, smacking him as he passed through. Bilbao ultimately rode to third on the day, climbing to sixth in the overall classification.

PREVIEW | Tour de France 2023 stage 18 - Alps over, surviving sprinters have flat day as a reward

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Grand Départ 2023 Pays Basque

To start from the basque country.

• Bilbao , the most populous city in the Basque Country,  will host the start of the 110 th  Tour de France on Saturday 1 July 2023.
• The peloton of the  Grande Boucle  already converged in Spain for the 1992  Grand Départ , which was also held in the Basque Country, specifically in San Sebastián. In addition to the Pyrenean stages that pass through the country now and then, nine Spanish towns and cities have hosted a Tour stage start or finish.  Bilbao will join the club in 2023 as the show gets on the road with a loop stage. The second stage will also take place entirely within the borders of the Basque Country.

HALFWAY BETWEEN THE SKY AND THE SEA,  Christian Prudhomme  

"A Grand Départ became a grand wish. Ever since the Tour de France hit the road in San Sebastián in summer 1992, the authorities and elected representatives of the Basque Country have longed to host the Grande Boucle again. This burning desire, combined with what the region brings to the table, could not be ignored, and this fervent courtship deserved to get a new taste of the three days of the Grand Départ after such a long wait.   We are therefore thrilled to return to these hospitable lands, which have continued to dispatch passionate orange armies to the Pyrenees and far beyond, flying the ikurrina on the roadsides to boost the morale of their riders.   Halfway between the sky and the sea, Biscaye, Alava et Gipuzkoa, the three provinces that make up the autonomous community, are fertile ground for spectacular cycling. I have no doubt that the leaders and punchers, clashing on every single climb, buoyed by the enthusiasm of the crowds, will put on quite a show. A Grand Départ for a grand wish."

WE WELCOME THE TOUR!,  Iñigo Urkullu Renteria,  President of the Basque Government  

"July 2023 will be a momentous occasion for the Basque Country. Fans will turn out in force and pump up the festive atmosphere that Basque supporters are known for on the roads of the Tour de France. The colourful Basque tide that infuses legendary mountains with joy will sweep through our own climbs, coast, towns and villages.   All the Basque institutions have embraced the challenge and are working as a team to seize the opportunity. For us, this is a dream come true. We understand how important this stage is for the Euskadi/Basque Country Strategy for Internationalisation, which aims to raise the profile of our country beyond our borders.   Cycling is a long-standing tradition in the Basque Country. Our goal is to host a flawless Grand Départ to make our lands an even more attractive destination. Our enthusiasm and commitment fill us with a sense of purpose as we prepare to welcome the 110th edition of the Tour de France."

Select the city you wish to visit on the interactive map.

Autonomous Community located in the north of Spain and consisting of three historical territories: Araba-Alava, Biscay et Gipuzkoa  

Lehendakaria (President of the Government): Iñigo Urkullu Renteria  

Area: 7 234 km2  

Population: 2 200 000 inhabitants  

Capital: Vitoria-Gasteiz (253 000 inhabitants)  

Main cities: Bilbao (354 000 inhabitants), Donostia / San Sebastian (188 000 inhabitants)  

Languages: euskara (basque) and spanish   Voltaire defined the Basque Country as " the People who sing and dance on both sides of the Pyrenees ". It shares the Basque language, the oldest language in Europe, with Navarre and with Iparralde, the French Basque Country, forming the " territory of the Basque language " with a unique culture that provides its own identity, personality and sense of belonging.  

Currency: Euro  

Socio-economic situation:   The Basque Autonomous Community is one of the territories with the most advanced social and economic indicators in Europe. It has a high life expectancy, as well as a high rate of academic training and is among the first countries in the world in the Human Development Index. The Basque productive fabric is dynamic and open and aspires to that industry and advanced services represent 40% of the Gross Domestic Product. In addition, the European Union's Regional Innovation Scoreboard places the Basque Country in the group of High Innovation Regions with the consideration of Pole of Excellence.

Basque sports legends:

Women: Maialen Chourraut (whitewater canoeing, gold, silver and  bronze 3 olympic medals 2012-2016-2020), Joane Somarriba (cycling, winner Tour de France 2000, 2001, 2003), Edurne Pasaban (alpinism, the world's first woman to summit the 14 eight-thousanders), Ibone Belaustegigoitia (trampoline jump, the first basque olympic athlete), Maider Unda (wrestling, bronze olympic medal 2012), Josune Bereziartu (climbing, leading the top female difficulty in world sport climbing from 1997 to 2017).

Men: Miguel Indurain (Navarre. Cycling, winner of five Tour de France 1991-1995), Joseba Beloki (Alava. Cycling, second Tour de France 2002 and third 2000 et 2001), Abraham Olano (Gipuzkoa. Cycling, fourth Tour de France 1997 and sixth 1999), Marino Lejarreta (Biscay. Cycling, fifth Tour de France 1989 and 1990), Xabi Alonso (football), Martin Fiz (marathon), Julen Aginagalde (handball), Aritz Aranburu (surf), Jose Maria Olazabal (golf), Jon Rahm (golf), Martin Zabaleta (alpinism, the first basque alpinist in Everest), Jose Angel Iribar (football).

Basque traditional sports : greats champions of basque pelota (“ esku-pilota ”, hand-pelota, and zesta-punta/Jai-Alai), “ harri-jasotzea ” (stone lifting), Iñaki Perurena and “ arrauna” (basque traditional row).

Wednesday 28th June :  Opening of the reception desk and press centre at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Barakaldo. Thursday 29th June :  Presentation of the 2023 Tour de France teams at the Guggenheim museum. Saturday 1st July : STAGE 1 - Bilbao > Bilbao. Sunday 2nd July : STAGE 2 - Vitoria-Gasteiz > Saint-Sébastien. Monday 3rd July : STAGE 3 - Amorebieta-Etxano > Bayonne.

STAGE 1 |  BILBAO > BILBAO  |  1 JULY 2023 |  185 km 

This loop within the borders of Biscay takes the peloton on a roller-coaster ride on the primeval hills that mound the sea, with a double passage through Guernica, a place of remembrance. Boasting an elevation gain of 3,300 metres, this beast of a stage guarantees that the yellow jersey will go to one of the hard men. A succession of climbs will serve as an appetiser before the Pike Bidea, a 2 km climb packing an average gradient of 9%, with sections of up to 15%, coming 10 km before the finish, on the heights above Bilbao. The riders would do well to save some energy for the finish, where the stage will be decided at the top of a 5% ramp. 

STAGE 2 |  VITORIA-GASTEIZ > SAN SEBASTIÁN | 2 JULY 2023 | 210 km 

Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Álava and seat of the Basque institutions, will get the ball rolling on a plateau at 600 masl. The overall profile is that of a stage that rolls down towards the sea, but looks can be deceiving. After their legs have been softened up by the rugged, merciless terrain, the riders will get to grips with the Jaizkibel climb, near the Gipuzkoa capital, in the opposite direction from the Clásica de San Sebastián, which is every bit as tough than the side that often decides the outcome of the one-day race. Expect attacks to come thick and fast!  

STAGE 3 |  AMOREBIETA-ETXANO >  BAYONNE |  3 JULY 2023

The race is going home the long way round. The sprinters could get their first chance… as long as they can navigate such a dicey course. Pedalling their way through Biscaye, the riders will reach the sea in the jaw-dropping port town of Lekeitio. From there, 80 km of coastal roads peppered with little difficulties will be a feast for their eyes and an ordeal for their legs. After bidding farewell to San Sebastián, it will be time to head towards Irun and…

 Federico Ezquerra: Cannes (1936)

Jesús Loroño: Cauterets (1953)

Luis Otaño: Bourg-d'Oisans (1966)

José María Errandonea: Angers (1967)

Aurelio González: Lorient (1968)

Miguel María Lasa: Verviers (1976) and Biarritz (1978)

José Nazabal: Vitoria (1977)

Julián Gorospe: Saint-Étienne (1986)

Pello Ruiz: Évreux (1986)

Federico Echave: Alpe-d'Huez (1987)

Marino Lejarreta: Millau (1990) 

Javier Murguialday: Pau (1992)

Abraham Olano: Disneyland-Paris (1997)

David Etxebarria: Saint-Flour and Pau (1999)

Javier Otxoa: Hautacam (2000)

Roberto Laiseka: Luz-Ardiden (2001)

Iban Mayo: Alpe-d'Huez (2003)

Aitor González: Nîmes (2004)

Juan Manuel Gárate: Mont Ventoux (2009)

Ion Izagirre: Morzine (2016)

Omar Fraile: Mende (2018) 

  1949

Bordeaux > San Sebastián, 228 km: Louis Caput (FRA)

San Sebastián > Pau, 196 km: Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)

Oloron-Sainte-Marie > Vitoria-Gasteiz, 248 km: José Nazabal (ESP)         

 Vitoria-Gasteiz > Seignosse-le-Penon, 256 km: Régis Delépine (FRA)

San Sebastián, 8 km (prologue): Miguel Indurain (ESP)            

San Sebastián > San Sebastián, 194.5 km: Dominique Arnould (FRA)

San Sebastián > Pau, 255 km: Javier Murguialday (ESP)     

Argelès-Gazost > Pamplona, 262 km: Laurent Dufaux (SUI)

Pamplona > Hendaye, 154.5 km: Bart Voskamp (NED) 

THE BASQUE COUNTRY, perfect to be enjoyed at close quarters

You couldn’t fit any more in so little space. Because it’s not easy to find so many wonders so close to each other. The Basque Country is the ideal place to enjoy numerous attractions in a short time: diverse landscapes, a pleasant climate, an age-old culture, renowned gastronomy... What more could you ask for from this unique land? We can sum up the Basque Country with these 10 great icons, but there’s much more:

• Donostia-San Sebastián
• Vitoria-Gasteiz
• Gernika Assembly House
• Biscaye Bridge
• San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
• Balenciaga Museum
• Sanctuary of Loyola

The Basque Country is recognised the world over as a cycling country. Its fans, its great professionals, its events and the brands linked to the cycling industry clearly show the close links between the Basque Country, its people and this most demanding of sports.

If you’re passionate about cycling, the Basque Country offers you endless enjoyable possibilities: MTB centres, green ways, cycle holiday routes, urban routes, or hundreds of kilometres of roads with sparse traffic winding through incredible landscapes, are just some of the most attractive options you’ll find in these guides:

• The Basque Country by Bicycle Guide  https://issuu.com/turismoeuskadi/docs/guia_euskadi_en_bicicleta_en_2019_w
• The Urola Green Way Guide  https://issuu.com/turismoeuskadi/docs/vv_urola_enfr_2019v2_web
• Grand Tour Cycling Route Around the Alavan Plain Guide  https://issuu.com/turismoeuskadi/docs/folleto_cicloturismo_alava_2018_enf

More information at:  Basque Country Tourism

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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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Tour de France 2023: Jonas Vingegaard to win as Pogacar claims stage 20 – as it happened

Despite Thibaut Pinot’s heroics, Tadej Pogacar won the stage while Jonas Vingegaard wrapped up victory barring accident or incident in tomorrow’s final stage

• Read Jeremy Whittle’s stage 20 report
• 22 Jul 2023 Pogacar takes stage while Vingegaard seals win
• 22 Jul 2023 The top five on General Classification
• 22 Jul 2023 The top five on stage 20
• 22 Jul 2023 Tadej Pogacar wins stage 20!
• 22 Jul 2023 Thibaut Pinot is dropped ...
• 22 Jul 2023 Tadej Pogacar attacks!
• 22 Jul 2023 Giulio Ciccone is King of the Mountains
• 22 Jul 2023 Carlos Rodriguez crashes!
• 22 Jul 2023 They're off and racing on stage 20 ...
• 22 Jul 2023 The stage 20 roll-out is under way
• 22 Jul 2023 Now that's what I call humility ...
• 22 Jul 2023 Who's wearing what jersey?
• 22 Jul 2023 Mohoric wins while Vingegaard faces more question
• 22 Jul 2023 Belfort to Le Markstein Fellering (133.5km)

Pogacar takes stage while Vingegaard seals win

Stage 20 report: Tadej Pogacar won the final mountain stage of the 2023 Tour de France to Le Markstein, as Jonas Vingegaard sealed back-to-back wins in the French race, barring accident or illness between now and the end of tomorrow’s stage in Paris.

More from Tadej Pogacar: “Asked what his worst memory of this year’s Tour will be, he laughs. “Probably when [his teammate] Marc Soler kept looking back at me on the Col de la Loze with his scary eyes.”

Tadej Pogacar speaks: “Today I finally feel like myself again and it was just really good from the start to the finish to feel good again after many days suffering,” he says. “To pull if off in the finish line, I am super, super happy.”

Upon being asked if he might like another week added to the Tour he laughs and says “No, let’s go home.” He goes on to thank Adam Yates for his lead-out for the final sprint.

The top five on General Classification

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 79hr 16min 38sec

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +7min 29sec

Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) +10min 56sec

Simon Yates (Jayco-Ulula) +12min 23sec

Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +12min 57sec

The top five on stage 20

Tadaj Pogacar (UAE EMirates) 3hr 27min 18sec

Felix Gall (AG2R-Citreon)

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla))

Adam Yates (UAE Emirates)

Tadej Pogacar wins stage 20!

Vingegaard launchers an attack with 300m to go but Pogacar pulls clear of the man in the yellow jersey and wins by several bike-lengths. Behind him in the yellow jersey, Vingegaard rolls over the line and will be be confirmed a worthy winner of the Tour de France in Paris tomorrow barring serious illness or an accident.

1km to go: You’d fancy Pogacar to win the stage from here but it’s no certainty ...

2km to go: Adam Yates is riding for Pogacar at the front of the lead quintet.

3km to go: Simon and Adam Yates catch up with our lead trio. Four of the top five on GC are also in the top five of this stage. Simon Yates takes over at the front. Barguil and Pinot are 35 seconds back. Rafal Majka, Carlos Rodriguez, Jai Hindley and a few others are 48 seconds back.

6km to go: Gall and Vingegaard are deep in conversation with Pogacar right behind them. Vingegaard keeps peeking over his shoulder to see what the Slovenian is up to. “Do you think he does that when he goes to bed at night?” asks Robbie McEwen on Eurosport. “Behind the door, under the bed … where’s Tadej?”

7km to go: Gall leads the front three over the top of the final climb of this year’s Tour. Vingegaard and Pogacar are keeping tabs on each other while the Yates brothers are just 14 seconds behind. Could one of them nick the stage? Cofidis rider Victor Lafay has abandoned.

9km to go: Our lead trio, Pogacar, Gall and Pogacar, peddle onwards and upwards, with the AG2R-Citreon rider leading the way. Behind them, a gendarme on a motorbike is doing his utmost to control the exuberant crowd with blasts of his siren and an occasional shove.

10km to go: Gall is leading our front trio up the climb, when you could be forgiven for thinking he’d tuck in behind Vingegaard and Pogacar and let them do the donkey work at the front. Adam and Simon Yates are about to pass Pinot, Barguil and Pidcock. Simon Yates has moved up to fourth from fifth on the virtual GC leaderboard. Tom Pidcock is now trying to keep Carlos Rodriguez, fourth overall on GC, in touch with the Yates brothers.

Thibaut Pinot is dropped ...

11km to go: The dream is dead but let the record show that Thibaut Pinot went down swinging haymakers. He’s been dropped along with Pidcock and Barguil. Felix Gall, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar lead the stage.

12km to go: With four kilometres to the top of the climb, we have a lead group of six: Pinot, Gall, Pidcock, Pogacar, Vingegaard and Barguil. The Yates brothers are 20 seconds behind them.

13km to go: Pidcock and Barguil catch Pinot, with Vingegaard, Pogacar and Gall looming in the rear-view mirror.

Tadej Pogacar attacks!

The Slovenian attacks off the front of the yellow jersey group and Jonas Vingegaard latches on to his wheel. They’re joined by Felix Gall.

13km to go: Onwards and upwards goes Pinot, with Tom Pidcock and Warguil just 12 seconds behind him. More worryingly, the yellow jersey group is on the hunt and the gap is down to a minute.

15km to go: Should he make it to the top first, Pinot’s work won’t be finished. There are another 8.2km of knobbly up-and-down to negotiate before the finish line.

17km to go: Pinot puts another 10 seconds into the yellow jersey group on the descent with the final climb of this year’s Tour looming. It’s the brutish category one Col du Platzerwasel: 1,193m high, 7.1km in length and with an average gradient of 8.4%.

“It’s a series of really steep step-ups with gradients in the red zone and gradients in the black zone,” says Robbie McEwen on Eurosport. Pinot hits the climb with an advantage of 1min 10sec over the yellow jersey group.

20km to go: Wearing the same Groupama-FDJ colours as Pinot, David Gaudu crashes on the descent but remounts and continues. Sepp Kuss has lost eight minutes and looks a certainty to exit the top 10 on GC.

21km to go: “It could be his last time around here and it’s Thibaut’s Turbo Time!” writes Bill Preston. “He’s getting a proper stomp on and making a real show of thrilling heroics. A win would make his year, and maybe he won’t retire. I hope he doesn’t.”

24km to go: Jumbo Visma are at the front of the yellow jersey group, with Wilco Kelderman leading the way and Jonas Vingegaard tucked in behind him.

27km to go: Allez Thibaut! Riding on his home roads and fuelled by fan fervour, Pinot maintains his 90-second lead as he crests the top of the Petit Ballon. There are thousands of fans cheering him on as he begins the treacherous descent. How must he be feeling?

28km to go: Pinot has a 20 second lead over Tom Pidcock and Warren Barguil, and a lead of 1min 20sec over the yellow jersey group, who are about to swallow up Giulio Ciccone. Pinot is two kilometres from the top of the climb and a massive, rapturous crowd are showering him with encouragement and … well, love. It’s quite an emotional sight.

29km to go: The yellow jersey group has been obliterated on this climb, while Pinot has a 14-second gap over Tom Pidcock. The French crowd are absolutely loving the sight of their homeboy Pinot in first place on this stage and the rider is approaching the corner named in his honour that is wedged with his fans. The fans are 20 people deep in places on the roadside but everyone is behaving impeccably.

30km to go: Thibaut Pinot strikes out on his own, leaving his fellow escapee in his wake as he continues toi make his way up the mountain. He may not get the fairytale win he hopes for but if it doesn’t happen for him, this warrior will certainly make sure he is carried out on his shield. “I don’t think there’ll be any cadeaux on this stage,” says Sean Kelly on Eurosport. ‘Cadeaux’ being the French word for ‘gifts’.

32km to go: With more than six kilometres of the final climb to go, Jonas Vingegaard is getting isolated in the yellow jersey group as, one by one, his Jumbo-Visma teammates buckle under the pressure being applied by Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Emirates team. They seem desperate to win today’s stage. The gap to the Thibaut quintet is now under a minute.

32km to go: Back in the yellow jersey group, UAE Emirates rider Marc Soler takes up position at the front and is joined by his teammate Rafal Majka. The gap is 1min 27sec.

33km to go: With 8.7km to go up the latest climb, the front group has splintered as Thibaut piles on the pressure. Tom Pidcock, Warren Barguil, Giulio Ciccone and Valentin Madouas are still with him. Madouas is a teammate of Pinot’s.

35km to go: The next climb is the Petit Ballon, which doesn’t look particularly petit from where I’m sitting. It’s 9.3km in length, plateaus at 1,163m and has an average gradient of 8%.

The lead group have a lead of 1min 19sec over the yellow jersey group, while the stragglers in today’s green jersey grupetto are 9min 50sec off the pace. At the roadside, the crowds are out in force to support their local hero Thibaut Pinot, who is among the 10 leaders. There are thousands out to cheer him on at a certain section of the course.

50km to go: “I’ve been thinking about the scepticism surrounding Vingegaard’s dominance and I do wonder whether he’s just head and shoulders above a relatively (and I do mean ‘relatively’) weak group of GC contenders this year,” writes Paul Weir.

“There’s no Froome any more, nor Nibali, Thomas, Quintana, Valverde, Dumoulin or Roglic. Pogacar’s build up was hindered by injury, and Bernal is still a long way short of where he was in 2019.

“Among the rest of the peloton only three other previous podium finishers started the tour: Carapaz and Bardet have abandoned and Uran is over three and a half hours down. Rodriguez and Hindley are racing their first Tour de France and the Yates brothers’ best results here came in 2016 (Adam) and 2017 (Simon): neither were expected to seriously challenge the top two.

“No-one really knew how badly affected Pogacar would be by his injury and it took until the third week for him to fall away. How much of a surprise are the time gaps from Vingegaard to everyone else, really? None of that takes away from what, as you say, has been a brilliantly entertaining race.”

I wouldn’t really disagree with any of that and am more than happy to give Vingegaard the benefit of the doubt for now, but I believe that in terms of average speeds, this has been the fifth fastest Tour de France in the race’s history.

51km to go: Following his crash earlier today, Sepp Kuss has lost four minutes on the yellow jersey group and already dropped a place in the “virtual” GC. Through no fault of his own, his chances of staying in the top 10 are not looking good with back-to-back category one climbs ahoy. Let’s hope he at least gets to finish the race as the American has had a wonderful Tour working on behalf of Jonas Vingegaard.

Giulio Ciccone is King of the Mountains

Resplendent in his polka-dot helmet, shirt, shorts, gloves and socks, the Italian crests the fourth climb of the day and guarantees that he’ll be presented with the King of the Mountains award in Paris tomorrow evening as long as he finishes the race.

He punches the air in delight as he becomes the first Italian to win that particular shirt since Claudio “El Diablo” Chiapucci in 1992. Chapeau!

56km to go: Krists Neilands is passed by a Tour moto and draws an imaginary cross in the air as he glances into the camera. He’s done.

57km to go: The riders are tackling the category three Col de la Schlucht, which is 1,139m high, 4.3km of length and has an average gradient of 5.4%.

60km to go: With their eye on a stage win, wannabe Pinot party-poopers UAE Emirates are doing the donkey work at the front of the yellow jersey group. The gap is only 1min 04sec, far less than Pinot would like.

63km to go: We have a group of 10 riders at the front of the race, Thibaut Pinot among them. He couldn’t? Could he? Fingers and toes crossed for what would be a real fairytale ending to his career.

68km to go: Giulio Ciccone is first over the top again, taking another five KOM points. If he can repeat the feat at the next climb, he is guaranteed to keep the King of the Mountains jersey. He owes his teammates Mads Pedersen and Mattias Skjelmose a big drink for the fine job they did today, helping him keep the jersey with a minimum of amount of fuss or stress.

69km to go: With the gradient at 18% on this short, sharp climb, the Ciccone group is joined by the great Thibaut Pinot, who would be an incredibly popular winner of today’s stage. The yellow jersey group is a minute back.

70km to go: Evidently suffering from the injuries he suffered in his crash, Sepp Kuss is in trouble and has been dropped. His place in the top 10 is at risk but he has over six minutes on Guillaume Martin, who is 11th on GC. “On Peacock, they are saying that Kuss went down and Rodriguez went over him,” writes Joe Pearson.

71km to go: Next up is the category two Col de Grosse Pierre and Giulio Ciccone can all but guarantee himself the polka-dot jersey if he is first over the top. He will absolutely assure himself of the iconic shirt at close of play tomorrow in Paris if he is first over the top of both it and the category three climb that follows.

76km to go: According to Eurosport, Felix Gall said this morning that his priority is to protect his place in the top 10 on General Classification rather than trying to beat Ciccone to the polka-dot jersey, a comment which must have been music to the Italian’s ears. Mind you, Gall was there or thereabouts on the first climb so he could have been bluffing, only to run out of energy since.

77km to go: Ciccone takes the points with an uncontested ride over the top of the Col de la Croix des Moinats.

78km to go: The road is narrow, somewhere between one and two cars wide, and the gap from the leaders to the yellow jersey group is 33 seconds. There are several riders on the road between the two groups. Ciccone looks set fair to take the points at the top of this climb too, to increase his advantage over Felix Gall in the KOM classification to 16 points.

79km to go: The word from the Ineos Grenadiers team car is that Carlos Roriguez is suffering no serious ill-effects following his crash. His many wounds are superficial, it seems, which is good news for him.

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Tour de France 2023: From Bilbao to Paris, our stage-by-stage guide to cycling’s biggest race

First Published Jun 10, 2023

Opening paras changed to reflect recent events since first publishing date.

It’s nearly time for Bilbao to host the start of the 2023 Tour de France on 1 July, marking the second time that Spain’s Basque Region has staged the Grand Départ of the race after it began in San Sebastian in 1992. From the word go there will be some tough racing in prospect as Jonas Vingegaard – who was in imperious form at the Dauphiné – seeks to retain his title. Here’s our stage-by-stage guide to what promises to be three weeks of gripping racing.

Taking in all of France’s mountain ranges, the race kicks off with what is widely seen as the toughest opening week in its history in terms of climbing, with the Grand Départ followed by a pair of flat stages after the race heads into France, then two stages in the High Pyrenees and a summit finish at the Puy de Dôme in the Massif Central ahead of what will be a very welcome first rest day.

The second week sees a pair of hilly stages flank the third one of the race tagged as flat before three days in the mountains from Friday to Sunday, two of those stages ending in a summit finish, the first on the Grand Colombier.

There are three days in the Alps at the start of the final week, the first of those the only individual time trial of the race, and a short one at that, ahead of two transitional stages taking us via the Jura mountains to the penultimate day` and a first-time stage finish at Le Markstein in the Vosges, followed by the traditional final day in Paris.

Along the way, there will be crashes, injuries and illnesses as well as dramatic moments that may shape the eventual destination of the yellow jersey, and which will live long in the memory. Here is the fly through video of the route, together with an overview map of the Grand Départ, followed by all of the 21 stages in detail.

Stage 1 Saturday 1 July Bilbao – Bilbao (182km, hilly)

The 110th edition of the Tour de France gets under way on the race’s 120th birthday with what looks like a cracker of a stage starting and finishing in the largest city in the Basque Country, Bilbao, but also passing twice through its historical capital, Guernika, and with 3,300 metres of climbing today it’s a tough opener to a race in which nerves are typically fraught in the opening days.

Today’s stage, which like tomorrow will be played out in front of huge crowds, is bound to see Basque riders try and get into the early break, and with five categorised climbs and several others that do not count towards the mountains classification, it’s a day for the puncheurs, with the last ascent, the Pike, crested just 9.6km from the finish in back in Bilbao.

Stage 2 Sunday 2 July Vitoria-Gastiez – Saint Sebastien (209km, hilly)

A few weeks after the Giro d’Italia boasted a stage into Bergamo that was in effect a mini-Tour of Lombardy, and a year since the Grand Boucle thundered over the Paris-Roubaix cobbles, Spain’s biggest one-day race gets similar treatment with today’s final featuring the Jaizkibel climb, so often decisive in the Clásica de San Sebastián, typically held the week after the Tour de France ends.

That race, plus the annual Tour of the Basque country, means that the roads featuring in the opening two days will be familiar to many of the riders, and that late 6.4 per cent climb, which has its summit 16.5km from the line, will almost certainly be the springboard for attacks from stage-hunters – you can bet that several local riders will have ringed this one in red as soon as it was announced.

Stage 3 Monday 3 July Amorebieta-Etxano – Bayonne (185km, flat)

Today’s stage sees the race depart Spain, but we are still in the Basque Country on the French side of the border with a finish in the region’s capital, Bayonne. Much of the stage hugs the coast – the last sight of the sea in this year’s race – and if the wind is up, the GC teams will be jostling for position at the front of the bunch in case echelons form, meaning any break may be kept on a tight leash.

There are four categorised climbs on today’s parcours, but the last of those comes just after the halfway point as the race heads towards Saint Sebastien and beyond that, the border towns of Irun and Hendaye. Consequently, this looks very much like the first chance for the sprinters to open their account in this year’s race, with a fast finish in prospect in Bayonne.

Stage 4 Tuesday 4 July Dax – Nogaro (182km, flat)

This sprinter-friendly stage has just one categorised climb, the Category 4 Côte de Dému, which tops out at just 218 metres above sea level with 27.4km remaining to the finish at France’s first purpose-built motor racing venue, the Circuit Paul Armagnac, with the intermediate sprint at 83.8km taking place outside the Notre Dame des Cyclistes church in Labastide-d’Armagnac.

The start in Dax honours one of the peloton’s all-time great fast men, André Derrigade, who was born in nearby Narrosse. Now aged 94, he won 22 stages of the Tour de France, a record for sprint stages that stood until it was eclipsed by Mark Cavendish, who took his 23rd victory at the race on the Champs-Elysées in 2012 and is now seeking a 35th win that would put him ahead of Eddy Merckx.

Stage 5 Wednesday 5 July Pau – Laruns (165km, mountain)

Halfway through the opening week, and we’re already in the Pyrenees for the first mountain test of this year’s race, one that starts in Pau which welcomes the race for the 74th time – more than anywhere else, other than Paris or Bordeaux.

After a flattish opening 70km or so, the riders tackle the hors-categorie Col de Soudet, which has an average gradient of 7.2 per cent over 15.2km, though attacks, if any, are likely to wait until the Col de Marie Blanque, crested 18.5km out from Laruns, which hosts a stage for the fourth time – the last two winners there being Primož Roglič in 2018, and Tadej Pogačar three years ago.

Stage 6 Thursday 6 July Tarbes – Cauterets-Cambasque (145km, mountain)

The second of two days in the Pyrenees sees the first summit finish of the race at Cauterets-Cambasque, though first there is the small matter of two of this area’s most fabled climbs to tackle, the Col d’Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet, the summit of the latter coming with 47km left followed by a long, sweeping descent of 30km or so ahead of the final ascent.

While the race has visited Cauterets four times, only once has the finish line been on the Plateau du Cambasque, where it is today – that was back in 1989, the stage won by a young Miguel Indurain, the first Tour de France stage win for the eventual five-time champion. Today’s final climb, 16km long with an average gradient of 5.4 per cent, could well end with a change in the yellow jersey.

Stage 7 Friday 7 July Mont-de-Marsan – Bordeaux (170km, flat)          

The flattest stage of this year’s race heads north away from the Pyrenees to Bordeaux, which hosts the race for the 81st time – though this is the first time a stage has finished here since 2010, when Mark Cavendish took his fourth victory at that year’s race just two days before adding his fifth as the race ended in Paris.

There’s less than 1,000 metres of climbing today, and the sole categorised climb, the Category 4 Côte de Béguey, stands just 82 metres above sea level. In recent years, we’ve often seen the peloton misjudge catching the break, making for some thrilling will-they-or-won’t-they finishes – though a 2km straight ahead of the line on the vast Place des Quinconces minimises the chances of that today.

Stage 8 Saturday 8 July Libourne – Limoges (201km, hilly)

There’s another bunch finish in prospect today, but the characteristics of the stage are very different to the two that have preceded it as the race heads to Limoges, centre of France’s porcelain industry, which last hosted a stage finish in 2016, the German sprinter Marcel Kittel edging out Frenchman Bryan Coquard for what would prove to be his only win in that year’s race.

The final of today’s stage is much tougher than that one seven years ago, however, with two Category 4 climbs to be tackled inside the closing 18 kilometres, and a 5 per cent uphill drag to the line in the closing 700 metres. If it’s a sprint, it is likely to be a very select one featuring the stronger finishers, but it could also be a day for the break to stay clear or even a late solo attack to prevail.

Stage 9 Sunday 9 July Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat – Puy de Dôme (184km, mountain)

The first week of the race ends with a visit to the Massif Centrale, starting in the adopted hometown of three-time runner-up Raymond Poulidor, who never wore the yellow jersey, his grandson Mathieu van der Poel becoming the first member of the family to do so after winning the second stage of the 2021 edition in Brittany.

Poulidor’s stage-winning battle with eventual overall champion Jacques Anquetil in 1964 is just one of the past visits that has sealed the Puy de Dôme’s place in Tour history, but today is the first summit finish there for 35 years. The climb covers 13.3km at an average gradient of 7.7 per cent – but the real test comes in the final 4.5km, which averages a leg-sapping 12 per cent. There could be some big winners and losers on GC today.

Rest Day Monday 10 July Clermont-Ferrand

Stage 10 Tuesday 11 July Vulcania – Issoire (167km, hilly)

Racing resumes after the rest day with one of two stages this week that pretty much have ‘win from the break’ written all over them, so we’d expect a frantic start as riders try and get off the front of the peloton after leaving the volcano-themed Vulcania amusement park, an intermediate sprint just under 60km in meaning the break could also feature some with designs on the green points jersey.

There are 3,100 metres of climbing today and five categorised climbs the last of those crested with 28.6km still to go and a mainly downhill run to what will be only the second-ever stage finish in Issoire, the last coming 40 years ago. Attacks from the break look likely on that final climb, the Côte de la Chapelle Marcousella, with a select group fighting it out for the win, or even a solo triumph.

Stage 11 Wednesday 12 July Clermont-Ferrand – Moulins (180km, flat)

After four days in the Auvergne, the race heads north-west from Michelin’s home city then east towards Moulins, hosting its first stage finish. Shortly before halfway it goes through Montluçon, home of two-time world champion and former Tour de France yellow jersey Julian Alaphilippe, who is bound to receive a warm welcome from family and friends as the race passes by.

With no significant climbs, on paper it’s a day for the sprinters with a flat, 900-metre run to the finish, but the complexion of the race could change if there is a strong wind blowing from the south-east which would be at the back of the riders for the first 115km before turning into a crosswind, raising the prospect of echelons forming and the frantic racing that invariably ensues.

Stage 12 Thursday 13 July Roanne – Belleville-en-Beaujolais (169km, flat)

Officially, this is a flat stage, but it’s not one that looks likely to end in a bunch sprint, with some tough climbs to be tackled, three of those coming in the final 60km or so, the lats of them the Col de la Croix Rosier which averages 7.6 per cent over its 5.3km, making it a day that looks suited for the break.

A hilly start to the afternoon’s racing means that we’re likely once again to see a big battle to get into the break, and no doubt some of the specialist escape artists will have marked today out as one on which they can go for a stage win, the overall contenders likely to keep their powder dry ahead of some tough days in the Jura mountains followed by the Alps.

Stage 13 Friday 14 July Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne – Grand Colombier (138km, mountain)

With Bastille Day falling on a Friday, the roadsides will be lined with revellers kicking off their long weekend in party mode and hoping to see a home win on the Fête Nationale for the first time since Warren Barguil triumphed in Foix in 2017 – and certainly, there will be no shortage of French riders trying to get into the break during a long, flat opening to the stage which ends in the Jura mountains.

The intermediate sprint comes during a long but uncategorised climb, followed by a descent before the road flattens out ahead of the final ascent, which begins with 17.4km left and averages 7.1 per cent. The Tour first tackled the Grand Colombier in 2012, with the first summit finish in 2020 when Tadej Pogačar prevailed – although today’s tough ascent will be from a different direction.

Stage 14 Saturday 15 July Annemasse – Morzine les Portes du Soleil (152km, mountain)

A weekend in the Alps kicks off with a fairly short but very tough stage in the mountains south of Lake Geneva, the Swiss city that gives the lake its name sitting just across the border from today’s start, with the five categorised climbs in total providing 4,100 metres of vertical ascent during the afternoon.

Those climbs get progressively harder as the stage unfolds, with some steep ramps on the Col de la Ramaz potentially seeing a thinning-out of the GC group ahead of the Hors-Categorie Col du Joux Plane, covering 11.6km at 8.5 per cent. That’s crested with just 12km to go, with a tricky, very fast descent into Morzine likely to prove attractive to some of the peloton’s more fearless descenders.

Stage 15 Sunday 16 July Les Gets les Portes du Soleil – Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc Le Bettex (179km, mountains)

Today’s parcours is a near-loop through the mountains of Haute-Savoie, with racing starting after an unusually long neutralised section that gives the riders 15 minutes to get their legs warmed up. With a rest day tomorrow several, including those with their sights set on the mountains competition, will be tucked in behind the race director’s car, itching to attack the moment the flag drops.

The GC action will come on the day’s final two climbs, which in effect are one long climb with the briefest of descents between them. The first of those, the Côte des Amerands, is only designated Category 2 but averages 10.9 per cent and hits a maximum of 17 per cent, providing a potential launch pad for attacks ahead of the final ascent to Le Bettex, where Romain Bardet won in 2016.

Rest Day Monday 17 July Saint-Gervais – Mont Blanc

Stage 16 Tuesday 18 July Passy – Combloux (22km, individual time trial)

There’s a sharp contrast with the Giro d’Italia this year, which featured 73.2km of riding against the clock split between three stages, including that penultimate day’s thriller in which Primož Roglič snatched the maglia rosa from Geraint Thomas to set up his overall victory. Tour organisers ASO have instead gone for a minimalist approach, with today’s short time trial the only such stage of the race.

On that memorable day in Italy, riders switched from time trial to road bikes ahead of the last climb, but here, the benefits of changing bikes is less cut and dried. There’s a short, punchy climb early on, but most of the stage is on flattish, rolling roads. The Côte de Domancy though hits 15 per cent – could the risk of losing time to change bikes be offset by the potential reward of gaining precious seconds?

Stage 17 Wednesday 19 July Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc – Courchevel (166km, mountain)

A potential cracker of a stage in the Alps, including the Col de la Loze which at 2,304 metres will be the highest point the Tour reaches this year, on a day that begins with the familiar combination of the Col des Saisies and Cormet de Roseland and which will no doubt see a lot of fighting to get into the break, particularly from riders or teams that have had a disappointing race to date.

After the descent from Nôtre-Dame-du-Pré, the road heads upwards again, with the climb to the Col de la Loze covering 28.1km at an average gradient of 6 per cent but hitting a brutal 24 per cent at times. The summit comes with 6.6km to go, followed by a fast descent ahead of a final 18 per cent ramp to the finish. It’s very much a day that could see a big reshuffling of the top 10 on GC.

Stage 18 Thursday 20 July Moûtiers – Bourg-en-Bresse (186km, hilly)

This is one of those intriguing stages that is often thrown into the last week of the Tour, and is consequently a difficult one to call. With rolling terrain and no categorised climbs, it should be one for the sprinters, but the exertions of the past few days in the mountains, plus the reduction of teams to eight riders a few years ago, means sprint trains don’t now dominate as they once did.

Add to that the fact that with the race fast approaching its end, chances to make an impression are running out, which means many riders – including some still looking for a new contract for next year – will try and get in the break and take it all the way to the line. It could very well be one of those days when the bunch tries to reel in the escapees at the death, with a close finish in prospect.

Stage 19 Friday 21 July Moirans-en-Montagne – Poligny (173km, flat)

Another one that should, in theory, end in a bunch finish, but subject to the same caveats that applied yesterday. We’re back in the Jura today, but the two categorised climbs, the second of which has its summit 29.1km from the finish town, shouldn’t prove too taxing for the legs of the fastest men in the peloton.

A finishing straight that is around 8km in length also plays into the hands of the chasers – psychologically, it’s easier to chase down a break when it is within line of sight, and the absence of twists and turns late on, more easily negotiated by individual riders or a small group rather than the peloton, also favours the sprinters who today have their last chance of success before Paris.

Stage 20 Saturday 22 July Belfort – Le Markstein Fellering (133km, mountain)

The final mountain stage is also the shortest road stage of the race, but it is one that certainly packs a punch with six categorised climbs in wait ahead of a first-time finish at Le Markstein Fellering in the Vosges mountains. Quite how the day pans out will depend a lot on the gaps at the top of the GC – if they are small, this will be an explosive stage, and we’d expect a big break to get away eventually.

That could take some time as teams that missed the move counter attack. We should also see GC teams try and get riders up the road to fall back and help their leaders later on. The penultimate climb, the Petit Ballon, averages 8.1 per cent over 9.3km, followed by the Col du Platzerwasel, 7.1km at 8.4 per cent ahead of the finish when we’ll know who is poised to win the 110th Tour de France tomorrow.

Stage 21 Sunday 23 July 2023 Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines – Paris Champs-Elysées (115km, flat)

The traditional procession into Paris will be missing next year, the 2024 Tour concluding with an individual time trial in Nice as the French capital gears up to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are acknowledged by today’s stage starting outside the velodrome that will host the track cycling events a little more than 12 months from now.

It is of course a well-worn script, with the peloton in end-of-term mood as it heads into the heart of Paris, the jersey wearers posing for photographs, before a break that will almost certainly be doomed going clear on the iconic Champs-Elysées circuit ahead of a bunch sprint that is widely acknowledged as the unofficial sprinters’ world championship.

If Mark Cavendish, winner in May of the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in Rome,  makes it to Paris, this will be the 224th and final Tour de France stage (including Prologues) of his career. From 2009-12, he was unbeatable on the Champs-Elysées, his four straight stage wins here coming when he was at his peak, the last of those in the rainbow jersey of world champion on the same day as Sky team-mate Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the yellow jersey.

By tradition, it is the team of the winner in waiting that leads the peloton across the line for the start of the first lap of the closing circuit, but the honour is sometimes given to a rider taking part in the race for the final time – although if Cavendish is here, it will be with the goal of clinching what has proved to be an elusive fifth win on cycling’s most famous finish line, and one which, if he has not yet clinched his 35th stage victory, would be the one that would finally see him pull clear of Eddy Merckx as the rider with the most stage wins in the history of the race.

Whatever happens, for the riders who have made it through the three weeks, reunions with friends and family plus celebrations with team-mates and staff beckon in the evening after the race ends for another year, the baton passing to the cradle of the Renaissance, Florence, with the city next year hosting what will be Italy’s first ever Grand Départ of its neighbouring country’s Grand Tour.

Arrivederci Paris, ed all’anno prossimo in Toscana – Goodbye Paris, and until next year in Tuscany.

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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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Re stage 9, finishing up the Puy de Dôme, you say "Poulidor’s stage-winning battle with eventual overall champion Jacques Anquetil in 1964 is just one of the past visits that has sealed the Puy de Dôme’s place in Tour history." Poulidor dropped Anquetil on the Puy de Dôme, but he didn't win the stage. They were behind the Spanish climbers Bahamontes and Jiménez, with Jiménez being the stage winner.

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A bit pedantic, but your opening paragraph is wrong...it's only three days to go until the 2023 Tour....not three weeks until the 2024 Tour!!

There's more detail here , including a lot about the areas, towns and villages the race passes through on each stage.

Quote: The start in Dax honours one of the peloton’s all-time great fast men, André Derrigade, who was born in nearby Narrosse. Now aged 94, he won 22 stages of the Tour de France, a record that stood until it was eclipsed by Mark Cavendish, who took his 23rd victory at the race on the Champs-Elysées in 2012 

Wasn't it eclipsed earlier by Eddy Merckx?

I think they meant to say sprint stages. Wheras Eddie won a mix of sprint and mountainous stages on his way to winning pretty much anything you can on a bike. 

And so the excitement builds.

Rest day on my birthday, boo.

But I will have that whole week off anyway.

I hope ITV still have the live rights, or I will be riding a lot that week , and trying to be back for 7. DMAX has been alright, apart from the weird cancelled days, and ITV4s Dauphine is good, but I need a bit of live Tour.

ktache wrote: And so the excitement builds. Rest day on my birthday, boo. But I will have that whole week off anyway. I hope ITV still have the live rights, or I will be riding a lot that week , and trying to be back for 7.

ITV only go from 2 pm, about two hours into the stage. However, Discovery+ have flag to flag coverage and there is a seven day free trial available, which would fit nicely into your birthday week!

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Tour de France Guide

Le tour de france.

A stage race

The Tour de France is the most prestigious stage race in the world. Broken down into 21 stages, it attracts the best riders in the world. Depending on their individual speciality (flat, sprint, mountain, etc.) they will vie for stage wins and the honour of wearing distinctive jerseys.

The distinctive jerseys

There are 4 distinctive jerseys:

The Tour de France is broken down into 21 stages of varying profiles. There are 4 main stage types:

22 teams made up of 8 riders compete in the Tour de France. These teams are part of the world's cycling elite. The riders selected by the sports director to take part in the race are generally the best riders in the team.

Riders can be classified according to their strong points:

There is usually a clear hierarchy between riders in a team: leader and team-mates.

Status can evolve from stage to stage: a sprinter could be a leader on a flat stage, but he could be a simple teammate on a mountain stage because he has no chance of winning. In the same way, a rider who is well placed in the overall rankings could become leader.

It's true that a rider must be on form if he wants to win the Tour, or a stage, but it is not always the strongest who comes out on top. He must adapt his strategy as the race evolves, and he must be able to manage moments of both strength and weakness. To make their mark on a Tour, the great champions have always displayed cunning and intelligence, above and beyond their physical prowess, in order to foil the plans of their rivals.

Tour de France 2022 Favourites stage 14: Punchers at the airport

Yet another compelling opening is in the offing. Firstly, the breakaway is likely to succeed. Secondly, the route is challenging from the start.

The route descends from the gun, but only short, and then the Côte de Saint-Juste Malmont is sure to inspire a flurry of attacks. The climb is 7.7 kilometres long and averages 3.9%, which suits the skillset of a wide variety of riders. Following a rolling section, with two short downhills, the next climb appears after 36 kilometres. The Côte de Châtaignier is more punchy – 2.9 kilometres at 7.3%.

The route continues to go either up or down for the rest of the day, although two climbs stand out. The Côte de Grandieu is 6.3 kilometres and averages 4.1% and the Côte de la Fage is 4.2 kilometres and averages 6%. After cresting La Fage the riders plunge down a long descent towards the Grande Finale.

For starters, the riders face the wall-like Côte de la Croix Neuve – 3 kilometres long and ascending at more than 10%. There is still 1.7 kilometres on the flat remaining at the top. The home straight is situated on the runway of Mende Airfield.

Favourites 14th stage 2022 Tour de France

*** Wout van Aert, Maximilian Schachmann, Matej Mohoric ** Michael Matthews, Dylan Teuns, Lennard Kämna, Andreas Kron * Tim Wellens, Jasper Stuyven, Dylan van Baarle, Andrea Pasqualon

Another interesting read: route 14th stage 2022 Tour de France.

Tour de France 2022 stage 14: routes & profiles

Click on the images to zoom

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2023 TOUR DE FRANCE ROUTE REVEALED

             GET READY FOR THE 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE!

Bilbao on July 1  next year is where the Tour de France will celebrate its 120th anniversary. The Grand Départ in the Basque Country precisely offers the kind of scenery and roads that will pay tribute to the pioneers of 1903, because their successors, from the beginning of the race, will be plunged into a Pyrenean sequence with many twists in store, on both the Spanish and French sides of the border.

The punchers will tuck into a menu of their favorite flavors on the roads of the Classica San Sebastian (on stage 2), whilst the sprinters will have a free rein in Bayonne (on stage 3) as well as on the Nogaro circuit (on stage 4) and the climbers will already have to get to grips with the slopes on the stages finishing in Laruns (on stage 5) and on the Cambasque plateau near Cauterets (on stage 6). The rare starts of the Tour that take place in southern climes generally give rise to a dense program, but this time the total of 30 climbs rated category 2 and above is chiefly due to the mountainous grand slam to be tackled this year, because each of France’s five mountain ranges will be visited by the pack.

In this collection of more or less demanding climbs, the one attracting most attention is likely to be the ascension of Puy de Dôme (on stage 9) whose roads will once again be open to the riders on the Tour (but not to their fans), 35 years after the last ascent to overlook Clermont-Ferrand. This reunion with the past, which brings back memories of the duel between Anquetil and Poulidor in 1964 or recalls the victory by Fausto Coppi in 1952 on the edition of the first high-altitude finishes, especially promises an initial and extremely tense battle between the pretenders for the title. The last four kilometers of tarmac before the finishing line, with an average gradient of almost 12%, could be the fuse that awakens the dormant volcano.

The leading lights of the pack will be following in mythical footsteps on the Puy de Dôme, but will also be testing each other’s mettle on peaks that are set to play host to the fiercest contests of the future. For example, an emerging legend will have pride of place on Bastille Day, with the battle taking place on the Grand Colombier (on stage 13), where the finishing line will be set up for the second time in the race’s history. Following the summit of the Jura, the big shots will fight for supremacy on the Col de la Loze, just before soaring down to the high-altitude airstrip in Courchevel (on stage 17), to conclude a sequence in the Alps where the strongest riders will simply become untouchable.

The Col de Joux Plane pass and its subsequent descent before Morzine (on stage 14), the climb up to Le Bettex the following day (on stage 15), as well as the Côte de Domancy slope which is on the program for the sole time-trial of this edition (on stage 16), will in effect make and break the hierarchy between the handful of riders concerned by the Yellow Jersey. The temperament observed among the expected favourites on all the roads of the cycling world suggests that they will not miss any opportunity to go head-to-head.

The same will again be true on the penultimate day of the race, where the relief of the stage through the Vosges Mountains to the ski resort of Le Markstein will include 3,500 metres of climbing over a distance of only 133 km, taking in the Col de la Grosse Pierre and the ascensions of the Petit Ballon and the Platzerwasel (on stage 20). The leader designated in Alsace will be honoured the following day on the Champs-Elysées, where the race will close with a sprint festival that will have also visited Bordeaux, Limoges, Moulins and Poligny, allowing prestigious victories to be enjoyed in all the classifications!

Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency

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RIDERS REACT TO 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE PRESENTATION

A MOMENT IN TIME, 2011: WHEN THE UCI STRIPPED MAVIC AT THE TOUR DE FRANCE

THROWBACK THURSDAY, 2018: FROM THE PRO PELOTON TO SHIMANO TEST RIDER

THROWBACK THURSDAY, 2008: MEMORIES OF TEAM LANCE – BEFORE THE FALL

BREAKING NEWS: CAVENDISH GETS HIS CHANCE TO BEAT MERCKX

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• 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.
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• 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 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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Race information

• Date: 23 July 2023
• Start time: 16:40
• Avg. speed winner: 39.19 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 115.1 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.GT.A.Stage
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• Departure: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
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• Won how: Sprint of large group
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Tour de Romandie: Godon and Vendrame go 1-2 for Decathlon AG2R on stage 1

Gianni Vermeersch takes final podium spot in hectic sprint finish

Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) wove his way through the slim gaps in the final metres of bunch kick with savvy bike handling skills and then carried his sprint across the finish line to win stage 1 and take the overall leader's jersey at the Tour de Romandie .

It was a 1-2 for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale as Andrea Vendrame followed Godon across the line in second place, while Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished in third place.

Godon, who finished fourth in the previous day's prologue, started the day just a fraction of a second down in the overall classification. He now leads the race six seconds ahead of Vermeersch and nine seconds ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep).

How it unfolded

Following the prologue, the Tour de Romandie's first stage was a 165.7km race between Château d'Oex and Fribourg. The lumpy stage included six categorised climbs, a downhill, and a 5km flat run-in to the finish line.

The peloton crested the Sorens (4.2km at 7.5%) before entering the main circuit of the day, which included climbs Arconciel (1.8km at 7.3%) and Lorette (700m at 12.7%). These two ascents were repeated, and then the peloton tackled one last climb over Arconciel before finishing in Fribourg.

Six riders formed a breakaway in the opening kilometres of the stage that included Fausto Masnada (Soudal-QuickStep), Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Patrick Gamper (Bora-Hansgrohe), Raúl García Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Wanty) and Joey Rosskopf (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team).

Tudor Pro Cycling Team quickly pushed to the front of the peloton to manage the gap and protect their prologue winner and overall race leader Maikel Zijlaard.

In the breakaway, Rosskopf picked up the early sprint points in Corbieres while Hollman collected maximum mountain points on the next four categorised ascents as they pushed their gap out to four minutes.

Movistar and EF Education-EasyPost took the reins at the head of the peloton in an attempt to slowly bring the gap down to under two minutes with 30km remaining.

David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) attempted a short-lived chase, but the trio were brought back into the fold by a Visma-Lease a Bike-led peloton.

Rosskopf secured the points at the final intermediate sprint before the gap between the breakaway and the field plummetted to 50 seconds in the last 20km and down to just 30 seconds with 15km to go.

Movistar led the field into the final kilometres of the race into the final climb of the Arconciel, 1.8km at 7.3%. But Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) made good on a pre-race promise to attack on this ascent, launching out of the field on the upper slopes.

Although the Frenchman didn't gain much of a gap, the move shut down the fading breakaway as the dwindled field of about 40 riders raced over the top.

Alaphilippe attacked again inside 7km, setting off a flurry of counter moves on the run-in to the finish line. Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) and Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike) tried late-race fliers, but Movistar held the field together into the last kilometres.

Patrick Gamper (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked out of the field on the far left side of the road with 2km to go, but he perhaps lacked the punch needed to maintain a gap after being in the breakaway all day.

Lidl-Trek, Visma-Lease a Bike, Soudal-QuickStep, and Decathlon AG2R emerged at the front of the field in their respective lead-outs.

Waiting for an opening along the final straightaway, Godon slipped through a gap, unleashed his sprint, and carried on through the finish line to take the win, with his teammate Vendrame on his wheel to take second place.

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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews , overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.

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