The 110th edition of Tour de France cyclist will leave on Saturday July 1 from Spain, from Bilbao
before going up through New Aquitaine and switching to Auvergne. The Puys chain will be entitled to a good part of the 21 stages since the peloton will be in Auvergne between Sunday July 9 and Wednesday July 12. According to the latest indiscretions, between Sunday July 9 and Tuesday July 12, the peloton will go from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to the summit of Puy de Dôme on July 9, from Saint-Ours-les-Roches (Vulcania) to Issoire on July 11 and from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins on July 12. On Monday July 10, the runners will spend their first rest day in the Auvergne capital.
In his presentation of the 2023 course this Thursday, ASO, in charge of the Tour de France
should reveal the different stages of the route, but not the details of the route. The final adjustments will be known in the coming weeks.. In 2020, the Tour de France had already taken a liking to Auvergne with arrival at Puy Mary
. The step had marked bodies and mindsshe had above all shown that the difference could be made in this kind of stage, with a terrible chain of mid-mountain passesin this case at the time 4,400 meters of elevation gain.
Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat > Puy de Dôme
Sunday July 9 should be historic with a finish at the top of the Puy de Dôme from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. It’s been 35 years since the Grande Boucle last climbed this mythical summit. The stage should be historic in more ways than onesince the final climb will be without spectators and with a minimum arrival device, the number of followers will be reduced to its minimum.
The Giant of the domes has so far hosted 13 stages of the Tour de France between 1952 and 1988, in particulart the memorable duel between Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor in 1964
. Since then, the Tour has become a business draining thousands of followers and millions of spectators on the side of the roads, in other words reception conditions incompatible with a finish at the top of the Puy de Dôme. ASO will specifically adapt its arrival village and the end of the stage in this year 2023, which will therefore become the 14th in the history of the puy de Dôme.
Rest day in Clermont-Ferrand
Monday July 10 will be the first rest day of the Tour de France, and Clermont-Ferrand should be a stage city, enough to fill the hotels first, but also to offer a new exhibition in the Auvergne capital. The last time the Tour put down its suitcases in Clermont was in 2020, it was then start city of the 14th stage
.
Between 1951 and 2020, Clermont-Ferrand has above all known the joys of being a city of departure, in this case 12 times, for only two arrivals, the last in 1959.
© Radio France
–
E. Le Bihan
Saint-Ours-les-Roches > Issoire
The Tour de France should resume the road on Tuesday July 11 in the heart of the Puys chain, with a departure from Vulcania, the European park of vulcanism. The distance between Saint-Ours-les-Roches and Issoire, on the fastest route via Clermont-Ferrand, is 60 kilometers, but the organizers have in mind to offer a much more hilly course by surveying some of the 80 dormant volcanoes. Once again, Auvergne should highlight the strong men, candidates for the final victory, with sequences of passes.
The last arrival of the Tour de France in Issoire dates back to 1983, the Laurent Fignon years, winner of the 70th edition on the Champs-Elysées that year. The sub-prefecture of Puy-de-Dôme had indeed had three departures in 1983, 2005 and 2011, but nothing beats an arrival. To convince ASO, the city had passed its passing exam, in 2021, with the reception of Dauphiné
.
Clermont-Ferrand > Mills
The Tour de France peloton would return to Clermont-Ferrand on Wednesday July 12, for a fourth and final day of the caravan in Auvergne. The start will be given from Clermont, towards the north of Auvergne, for the prefecture of Allier, never before has Moulins hosted the Grande Boucle. More broadly, the department is the great forgotten of the Tour, since only four cities experienced arrivals or departures from Allier : Cérilly (departure in 2008), Montluçon (arrival in 2001 and 2008), Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule (departure in 2013) and Vichy (departure and arrival in 1952). Moulins will therefore be, in history, the fifth town in the Allier to host the Tour.