Tour de France 2023: discover the probable route of the 110th edition

Will the Tour de France pass in your street, in your city or in your department next summer? The official route of the 110th edition of the Grande Boucle will be unveiled this Thursday, October 27 by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour. You can watch the presentation live on francebleu.fr
from 11:30 a.m. Previously, France Bleu invites you to discover the probable route of the 21 stages which will be held from Saturday July 1 to Sunday July 23, 2023.

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The 21 likely stages

• 1st stage: Bilbao (Spain) – Bilbao (Spain) (Saturday 1 July)
• 2nd stage: Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) – San Sebastian (Spain) (Sunday July 2)
• 3rd stage: Amorebieta-Etxano (Spain) – Bayonne (Monday July 3)
• 4th stage: Dax – Nogaro (Tuesday 4 July)
• 5th stage: Pau – Cauterets (Wednesday 5 July)
• 6th stage: Tarbes (time trial) (Thursday 6 July)
• 7th stage: Mont-de-Marsan – Bordeaux (Friday 7 July)
• 8th stage: Libourne – Limoges (Saturday 8 July)
• 9th stage: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat – puy de Dôme (Sunday 9 July)
• Monday July 10: rest in Clermont-Ferrand
• 10th stage: Vulcania (Saint-Ours-les-Roches) – Issoire (Tuesday 11 July)
• 11th stage: Clermont-Ferrand – Moulins (Wednesday 12 July
• 12th stage: Roanne – Chiroubles or Belleville-en-Beaujolais (Thursday 13 July)
• 13th stage: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne – Grand Colombier (Friday 14 July)
• 14th stage: Annemasse – Morzine (Saturday 15 July)
• 15th stage: Les Gets – Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (Sunday July 16)
• Monday July 17: rest in the Arve valley
• 16th stage: Passy – Combloux (time trial) (Tuesday July 18)
• 17th stage: Sallanches – Courchevel altiport (Wednesday 19 July)
• 18th stage: Moûtiers-Salins-les-Thermes-Brides-les-Bains – Bourg-en-Bresse (Thursday 20 July)
• 19th stage: Moirans-en-Montagne – Poligny (Friday 21 July)
• 20th stage: Belfort – Le Markstein (Saturday 22 July)
• 21st stage: National Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Paris-Champs-Elysées (Sunday July 23)

Grand departure from the Spanish Basque Country

This 110th edition of the Tour de France will once again start from abroad. The Grand Depart will be given Saturday July 1 from Bilbao, in the Spanish Basque Country. This is the second time in the history of the Tour that the start will be given from this region, 31 years after the Grand Start given from San Sebastian near La Concha beach. The peloton will ride on the roads of Spain for three days before returning to France.

The first day will start and end in Bilbao for a 185km long loop stage. The route will cross the wild hills that border the Cantaric Sea and will pass twice through Guernica, a place of memory of the Spanish Civil War. With 3,300 vertical meters, this first day will be demanding and reserved for punchers.

San Sebastian will host the finish of the second stage which will start from Vitoria-Gasteiz. A 210km stage towards the sea with several difficulties on the route, including the Jaizkibel with its 8.1 kilometer climb at 5.1% on average less than 20 kilometers from the finish.

The third stage will mark the last day in Spain of this Tour de France 2023. The riders will start from Amorebieta-Etxano and will ride towards the French border through the lands of Biscay then crisscrossing the seaside. The peloton will again pass through San Sebastian then Irun and should finish in Bayonne according to our information. This third stage should therefore be the first to benefit the sprinters.

The Grande Boucle gets off to a strong start in the South-West

After Spain, the Tour de France is heading towards Bayonne on Monday July 3. The peloton will cross the border at Irun and travel the roads of Labourd. A great reunion with Bayonne is planned since the city had not hosted the Grande Boucle for 20 years. The next day, the Tour should start from Dax (Landes) towards Nogaro. The city of Dax had not hosted a stage since 2006 and this will be a great first for Nogaro, in the Gers. A route designed as a tribute to Louis Ocaña, 50 years after his victory in the Tour de France.

On Wednesday July 5, the Tour will make an obligatory passage through Paulthe city which has most often received the competition since 1947. The stage of the day will therefore start from the city of Pau and will head towards Cauterets and the Pont d’Espagne natural site, in the Hautes-Pyrenees. It will therefore be the time of the first difficulties in the mountains for cyclists.

On Thursday July 6, the general classification will certainly be reshuffled on the occasion of the first time trial of the Tour de France 2023. A loop around Tarbes is anticipated. A consecration for the city of the Hautes-Pyrénées which hosted the Grande Boucle for the last time in 2019.

The peloton will then head north to a seventh stage between Mont-de-Marsan and Bordeaux
July 7. It would therefore be the second stage in the Landes after Dax-Nogaro, two days earlier. The patience of the Bordeaux people finally paid off and the wait lasted 13 years.

On Saturday July 8, the cyclists will leave the South-West with a stage that will start from Libourne towards Limoges
. If this is confirmed on Thursday October 27 during the official presentation of the route, it will be the fourth time that Libourne will be the start city, the last going back to the 2021 time trial. For Limoges, we must go back to 2016 to find the last visit of the Tour.

The Massif Central in the spotlight

After leaving the Pyrenees and the South-West, the Tour de France must head towards another mountainous region: the Massif Central. Auvergne will be particularly well served in 2023 with four stages before heading towards the Alps. The 9th stage promises to be legendary since it would sign the great return of the ascent of the p
uy de Dome
35 years after his last arrival.

From Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat
(Haute-Vienne), city where Raymond Poulidor is buried, this stage will be a beautiful tribute
the mythical duel between Jacques Anquetil and “Poupou” in 1964. Since 1988, the Tour had no longer ventured to the top of the Puy de Dôme, in particular because of the site’s candidacy for Unesco, then for work related to the construction of a rack railway line. In 2023, runners will be able to tackle the 4.5 kilometers of coast with a regular 12% gradient.

The next day, the Grande Boucle will have the right to its first day of rest, probably in Clermont-Ferrand, before hitting the road again for a 10th stage between Vulcania, the volcano theme park, and Issoire.

And it’s still not over for Auvergne since the 11th stage must start from Clermont-Ferrand to reach Moulins. A race profile a priori reserved for sprinters. This would make it possible to repair an injustice since Moulins has never been a stage town since the creation of the Tour.

The Tour attacking the Alps

After the Massif Central, it’s time for serious things. The Grande Boucle takes the road to the Alps with a transition stage which will start from Roanne Thursday, July 13. This stage should take the riders towards Beaujolais with a scheduled finish at Chiroubles or Belleville-en-Beaujolais.

Then, like a taste of the Alps, the Tour should tackle the Grand Colombier for the national holiday of July 14 after a departure from Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne. It would therefore be the second time that a stage ends at the top of this pass at 1,500 meters above sea level.

For the first stage in the Alps, rumors agree on a race linking Annemasse to Morzine, via the Col de Joux-plane
. With its terrible climb and perilous descent, this pass is a usual justice of the peace for mountain stages. The general classification is likely to be greatly upset at the end of this day.

The following stages will take place towards the Arve valley. Some uncertainties remain but there is talk of an arrival or departure at Saint Gervaisas well as a time trial from Passy to Combloux. The peloton will observe a second rest day in the area on Monday 17 July.

On the side of certainties, there is the return of Domancy coastwhich became famous thanks to the title of world champion won by Bernard Hinault in 1980. There will also be the return of the Col de la Lozethe “collar that did not exist
“according to the expression of Christian Prudhomme, the boss of the Tour de France. This climb, which has become legendary, will be on the program for a stage that will end at theCourchevel altiport.

Final Explanation in the East

After the Alps, the Tour de France will head east before reaching the capital. Two stages are planned in Franche-Comté and in the Jura. The 19th stage could start from Moirans-en-Montagne for an arrival in Poligny or Saint-Claude
. If the city of arrival is not certain, the main hotel in the sector, in Poligny, is full for the night of July 20 to 21.

The penultimate stage should start from Belfort
as well as an arrival at the Markstein via the Grand Ballon is strongly anticipated. A nice look at the women’s Tour de France: the penultimate stage ended last year in this mountain resort in the Haut-Rhin, at 1,183 meters above sea level.

Finally, before joining the Champs-Elysées in Paris for the last stage on Sunday July 23, the peloton should start from the national velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.