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With the Tour de France 2023 upon us, it might be nice to take a look at what this year’s route will likely bring and most importantly, which are the must-watch stages.
Though a lot of people are already calling this a two-horse race – Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard – it’s a good idea to remember that some of the most predictable races at the outset become the most off-the-wall in reality. Just think of the most recent Giro which was supposed to be all about Remco and Roglič. Anything can happen, which is one reason we love the sport so much.
It's worth to mentioned, that Tadej Pogačar is riding Colnago V4Rs Road.
Think back to the 2014 Tour de France. That was supposed to be a showdown between Chris Froome and Alberto Contador. Neither of them made it to Paris. Instead Vincenzo Nibali rode away with the yellow jersey thanks to exceptional form and handling skills.
Have a look at the Tour de France 2023 map and let us give you a mini tour of what to expect from the Tour de France route:
A Tour start in Spain
The fact that the Tour will be starting in Balboa in the heart of the Basque Country, which is renowned for its difficult terrain and unpredictable weather, will help throw numerous curve balls at the riders. As with every Tour, not all GC favorites will make it through the first week unscathed. That’s prediction #1.
If you have never been to the Basque region in northern Spain, it is well worth a visit, especially if you’re packing a bike. That the Tour de France 2023 route starts there means that the spectators can enjoy amazing scenery and out-of-this-world cuisine, while the riders will suffer through some of the toughest climbs and technical descents in Europe. Even if you can’t make the trip to Bilbao, you should make the effort to get up early to watch the stages. Not only will the scenery be spectacular, but the battle for the GC should be all-out already. Gone are the days when the first five or six stages of the Tour would be a flat procession through northern or eastern France. Where the sprint trains controlled the race for snooze-fest stages that came alive only in the final 1500 meters. Since Christophe Prudhomme became director of the Tour de France, he has made a concerted, if not always popular, effort to make the race more exciting, unpredictable, and difficult. There’s seldom the feeling that we are visiting most départements of France.
The 2023 Tour route is an extreme example of that, with a course focused very much in the mountainous regions of the country, completely ignoring France’s northern half and even the oft-visited Provence. Instead, the route cuts across the country, starting in the southwest on the Spanish side of the border, then shoots through Bordeaux across the northern portion of the Massif Central, culminating in the ascent of the Puy de Dôme, before we reach what will probably be the race-deciding showdown in the Alps. That’s a lot of climbing.
And with just one individual time trial that is only 22 km long, this is a perfect race route for riders who climb well but aren’t so super at time trialling. Names like Ben O’Connor, David Gaudu, Jai Hindley, Mikel Landa, Enric Mas, or even Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock spring to mind. These are riders who on their day can pull together a strong enough time trial, but who would inevitably lose minutes to Pogačar, Vingegaard, and even Mattias Skjelmose or Simon Yates over longer TT distances.
Tom Pidcock and Egan Bernal are both riding Pinarello Dogma F Disc Road.
What Tour stages are not-to-be-missed?
Stage 1 Bilbao - Bilbao
The Grand Départ stage is always exciting. Even flat versions or prologues are goose-bump-inducing. But this stage will be a race around the hills of Bilbao. With five categorized climbs, it will give punchy breakaway artists hope that the first yellow jersey of the race can be theirs. Sprinters who can climb really well, or climbers who can sprint will also fancy their chances if it’s a reduced bunch coming to the line together. It’s a flat finish, but it's what comes before that will weed out the wannabes.
Stage 2 Vitoria-Gasteiz - San Sébastián
If you love the Clasica San Sebastian as much as we do, then this stage will look very familiar. And it should see the same type of winner. Points for the King of the Mountains jersey will likely liven up those wanting to get in the breakaway, especially if they took points on one of the several climbs in stage 1. With the fast descent into San Sebastian, look for a rider who can handle his bike after riding full gas for over 200 kilometers. And since Pogačar is living up to his nickname as the new Cannibal, maybe this will be a good time to get the jump and bonus seconds on Vingegaard.
Stage 5 Pau - Laruns
Already the first mountain test of the Tour in the Pyrenees, the stage to Laruns could see the first shakeout of GC pretenders. With an Hors Catégorie climb over the Col de Soudet mid-stage and a tough ascent of the Col de Marie Blanque which features 10% gradients for the last 4 or 5 km, this is a stage where anyone who is not on top form will have to say goodbye to any hopes of overall victory. Not a summit finish, the riders will face an irregular descent followed by nearly 10 km of flat into Laruns. So anyone who escapes at the top of the climb better have very good legs if he wants to hold off the group behind.
Stage 9 Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme
If you are fairly new to cycling, you may not get what the big deal is about the Tour finishing on the Puy de Dôme this year. It hasn’t been used since 1988, largely because the Tour production has gotten so big over the years that the authorities didn’t believe the Puy de Dôme summit could accommodate it. In fact, no spectators will be allowed on the final 4 km of the climb, which will instill an eerie silence on the riders’ suffering. And even the greatest of them will suffer. It is 13.3 km with an average of 7.7%, but the final 4 km average over 11%. It will be brutal and epic.
Stage 13 Châtillon-Sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier
At just 138 km, this stage is one of Prudhomme’s mountain sprints. It is also July 14 and Bastille Day, so expect a lot of French climbers trying to get into the breakaway to win the day. However, it won’t be easy for spindly little climbers since the first half of the stage is quite flat. That means the rouleurs will be powering the break. Any climbers who insert themselves might suffer from dead legs once the climbs arrive. If the GC is still very close, look to UAE to keep the break even closer so that Pogačar can have the chance to take the stage and the bonus seconds with his superior uphill sprint.
Stage 14 Annemasse - Morzine les Portes du Soleil
Unlike the stage yesterday, this one starts going uphill straightaway. And with five categorized climbs, including three Cat 1s and one HC climb, there is not a lot of respite for tired legs. If the GC teams have been weakened by crashes and illness, similar to last year when covid was thinning out the group, then this could be an excellent day for a breakaway of climbers. Think Thibaut Pinot or Romain Bardet. On the other hand, if UAE and Jumbo Visma are still with a full roster of riders at full strength, then this could be a knock-down-drag-out between the GC hopefuls. The downhill finish to Morzine will add to the excitement, even if we’ll have our hearts in our throats the whole way.
Stage 15 Les Gets les Portes du Soleil - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc le Bettex
Another massive day in the mountains. It should prove amazing viewing, since the rest day follows and then the short ITT on Tuesday (which means another semi-rest day for the majority of the peloton). But it’ll be the third massive climbing day in a row, so there will be a lot of tired legs. Look for familiar names in the break. This is the day for the strongest riders to take advantage of the situation. Though there is a ton of climbing, there is a lot of open riding through valleys which means if any of the GC riders have weaker teams, they may be open to attacks, and they just won’t be able to cover them all.
Stage 17 Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc - Courchevel
Even with loads of climbing throughout the 2023 Tour de France, this stage has to be considered the Queen Stage. With over 5000 meters of elevation gain, and featuring some of the most beautiful climbs in the Alps, such as the Col de Saisies and especially the Cormet de Roselend, this will be a brutal day in the saddle. Topping out over the Col de la Loze, the riders will descend into Courchevel via a hair-raising road. There are still some hard stages to come, but in all likelihood, we should know who will win the Tour after today.
Will Mark Cavendish break Eddy Merckx’s record?
If all goes well for the pugnacious sprinter, Cavendish should be at the start of the Tour with a squad committed to his success and even his old lead out man Mark Renshaw (riding Wilier Filante SLR) helping as coach. This is a hilly Tour, and he’s never been one of those sprinters who could cope with the climbs very well. But there are several opportunities for him finally to grab stage #35.
For anyone particularly invested in seeing that happen, or perhaps hoping Merckx and Cav stay equal on 34 wins a piece, be sure to tune in for stages 3, 4, 7, 18 (maybe) and if he hasn’t done it by then, 21 on the Champs. Of those, stage 7 looks like the best bet, except so early in the race, there will still be a lot of other sprinters at full strength, so it will be far from certain. But if you saw how he trudged his way through the Giro, looking like a shadow of his former self only to take a dominating sprint victory in Rome on the final day, then you’ll know Cav definitely has a great chance of holding the record exclusively. It’s hard to imagine anyone breaking it any time soon.
So, there are the Wrench Science predictions for the 2023 Tour de France in a nutshell. It should be an exceptional race with most of the strongest riders in the world present. Though we’re playing no favorites, we would love to see Egan Bernal return to something close to his old form a year and a half after his near-death experience crashing into the back of a bus so that he can help animate the GC race. It will also be interesting to see how Jai Hindley, the 2022 Giro d’Italia champion, handles GC duties now racing against the big boys.
Similarly, AG2R Citroën have been talking up Ben O’Connor’s chances the past two years after he took an unexpected 4th place in the 2021 Tour. He took 3rd place at the Dauphiné recently, but it’s hard seeing him equalling that result at the Tour with riders like Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard as well as Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz, Hindley, and even Romain Bardet with a much more established pedigree of results behind them. Keep an eye out for Felix Gall among the boys in brown shorts. He had a strong Tour de Suisse in spite of appalling time trialling results. He could be much more of a wild card than O’Connor in the right scenario.
And even if we know it’s unlikely all the top GC favs will be making it through the race still in contention, our #1 wish for the race is to see everyone stay healthy and strong throughout the three weeks so that the final winner proves ultimately he was the strongest and smartest.
We’d also like to mention briefly that with the tragic death of Gino Mäder at the recent Tour de Suisse, we hope all the riders get through the Tour – and all races everywhere – safely. These types of tragedies often make us question our love of a sport that demands so much from the riders, both in terms of sacrifices and dangers. But we also believe that the sport is a unifier, opening up the world to all who participate. That’s what makes cycling great and our love of it inevitable.
