Tour de France 2023

The route of the 2023 Tour de France is a love letter to the climbers. Although the sprinters will have their share of stages, this year’s course is impressed most deeply by mountain profiles that start early (Stage 5) and end late (Stage 20). The GC winner will emerge out a team that is long on talent domestiques to pull their leader over the peaks and to the finish line.

Stage 1 | Bilbao - Bilbao

7-01 182km

Hilly

As usual the Tour begins outside of France. This year in hills and vales of Bilbao, Spain. No opening time trial here. It’s a course that will keep teams on their toes, fighting for position over a series of low hills that won’t let anyone fall too far behind or get too far ahead.

Stage 2 | Vitoria-Gasteiz - San Sebastian

7-02 209km

Hilly

The Tour remains in Spain, edging towards the hilly outskirts of the higher mountains. After a 50km warmup, the course drops riders into a pinball machine at the foot of the Pyrenees.

Stage 3 | Amorebieta-Etxano - Bayonne

7-03 185km

Flat

The course on Day Three passes from Spain to France, following the coast. Everything is set up for a sprint finish as long as the teams can escort their fastmen over the minor hills.

Stage 4 | Dax - Nogaro

7-04 182km

Flat

Another opportunity for the sprinters before the first mountain day. Enjoy it while you can, fastmen…

Stage 5 | Pau - Laruns

7-05 165km

Mountain

The first mountain stage. Riders will test their legs over the Col de Soudet. The final climb at Col de Marie-Blanque will be decisive, though it’s not all downhill after. Riders will need to have something left to outpace rivals on the slight incline over the last 10k.

Stage 6 | Tarbes - Cauterets-Cambasque

7-06 145km

Mountain

Another mountain day, another hors catégorie. This time sandwiched on either side by category ones. The teams with good climbers can start to make significant time gains on the rest. In a three week race though, nothing will be decided here (barring catastrophe) but the pain bank will start to receive deposits.

Stage 7 | Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux

7-07 170km

Flat

The first of a two day lull in the race to rest the racer’s shocked legs after the mountain suite. Another chance for the sprinters to make their mark. The teams with GC ambitions will be keen to protect their leaders.

Stage 8 | Libourne - Limoges

7-08 201km

Hilly

You might not turn on the race until the final 70km and not miss much. A long prelude is all about tiring the legs to thin the field for a final sprint. But then you’ve got a relentless series of hills that invite constant attacks and counterattacks. Maybe this is not the lull it looks like?

Stage 9 | Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme

7-09 184km

Mountain

170 km and then a race up the Puy de Dôme. This is a course designed to reveal early rivalries among the top contenders. Teams will scramble to deliver their GC leader to the top of the finish. At some point all the matches will be spent, and it will be one of our first looks at who are the real competitors. Still early enough for a dark horse too.

Stage 10 | Vulcania - Issoire

7-11 167km

Hilly

After the first rest day the riders are plunged into a hilly grinder. No major peaks, but constant up and down. No rest for the weary. A chance for the breakaway if the peloton plays it conservative.

Stage 11 | Clermont-Ferrand - Moulins

7-12 180km

Flat

Another opportunity for the sprinters before a major series of mountain stages. Don’t look for any surprise breakaway. The sprint teams will have every chance to line up their fastmen for a fast finish.

Stage 12 | Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais

7-13 169km

Hilly

A relentless course of hill and vale that won’t let teams relax. There will be a lot of work for domestiques to protect their leaders as road weariness begins to set in. The mountains are coming, the mountains are coming! Maybe a stage to steal a breakaway win?

Stage 13 | Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier

7-14 138km

Mountain

It’s Bastille Day! A mountain stage designed for closing drama, like Stage 9. The opening is all flat, which means fast pace, as stronger teams try to tire out weaker teams before the climbs arrive. Watch for a breakaway attempt to try and fail to gain separation by racing up the first lumpy hill. Probably a Frenchman.

Stage 14 | Annemasse - Morzine Les Portes du Soleil

7-15 152km

Mountain

A punishing day in the mountains. This is the 2023 Tour de France firmly planting its hooks in the flesh and willpower of the riders. Significant time gains and losses will become obvious in the GC competition.

Stage 15 | Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc

7-16 180km

Mountain

Another grueling day in the Alps. Peak after peak. The sprinters will be hating life. The stronger teams will be showing off their depth of talent. We will start to see the pretenders as pretenders, and the contenders as contenders.

Stage 16 | Passy - Combloux

7-18 22km

Individual Time Trial

The only time trial of the race comes after the second rest day. But is the peloton rested enough? Time trials love fresh legs, but that’s not what anyone has by the third week of a Grand Tour. GC contenders with strong time trial abilities will have a chance to position themselves well (or gain back time!) before the decisive mountain stages to come.

Stage 17 | Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc - Courchevel

7-19 166km

Mountain

A brutal stage, a lot of climbing. It’s the second-to-last mountain stage. The climber’s jersey will be looking to put the final touches on their placement. But it might have to wait for Stage 20. Watch out for the downhill finish.

Stage 18 | Moûtiers - Bourg-en-Bresse

7-20 186km

Hilly

Sneaky hills make this a non-optimal course for sprinters. But if any of the fastmen survived the recent mountain stages, they’ll want their reward either on this course or the following (or, hey, why not, on the Champs-Élysées).

Stage 19 | Moirans-en-Montagne - Poligny

7-21 173km

Flat

You can call this flat if you want to, but don’t ignore the hills dotting the course all the way through. At this point in a three week race, it might be enough to let a breakaway go for the win. As long as no GC contenders make the break, of course. No one wants to blow a gasket before the decisive Stage 20, unless they’ve got nothing to lose.

Stage 20 | Belfort - Le Markstein Fellering

7-22 133km

Mountain

There are tougher mountain stages in this year’s Tour de France, but what counts as ‘tough’ after three weeks of racing? Plenty tough. And plenty dramatic, as it will be the last opportunity for the GC contenders to make or lose major time. If it’s a close GC battle, it gets decided here.

Stage 21 | Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Paris Champs-Élysées

7-23 115km

Flat stage

A largely ceremonial final promenade into the capital of France. Riders with cause to celebrate (and really just surviving a three week tour is cause enough) will vamp for photos on their bicycles and bubbly will be passed around en route. The route only picks up speed once the riders convert to crit mode, doing laps around the Champs Elysées in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe.