What is known so far about the possible route of the 2023 Tour?

The 2023 Tour de Franceon its 120th anniversary, will leave on July 1 from Bilbao Y During three stages, the Basque roads will be the main protagonistsbefore facing the Pyrenees and the rest of the main French massifs early.

We will have to wait until tomorrow the director of the test, Christian Prudhommeannounce the route of the 110 editionof which for now only details of the first three stages are known, all of them in Basque territory.

But the leaks already allow us to predict that the peloton will have to put in light developments, because the mountain will have a great role, with ascents to Pyreneesthe central massifthe swear and the Alps.

The cyclists will start strong, because their time in the Basque Country, which will host the second start of the Tour after the one that took place in 1992 in San Sebastián, will not be a bed of roses.

Five ports for start on July 1 in a loop over Bilbaowith the final ascent to pike10 kilometers from the arrival of a stage that starts next to the Guggenheim and that will have to overcome more than 3,300 meters of positive elevation gain.

Never before has the Tour known such an intense start, which will be repeated the next day on the roads of the Clásica de San Sebastiána city that will experience the arrival of a day that begins in Vitoria-Gasteizafter ascending five ports, the last being Jaizkibel, less than 20 kilometers from the finish.

The time for the sprinters will not sound until the third day, with beginning in Amorebieta-Etxano and ending, presumably, in Baiona (Lapurdi).

TRIBUTE TO OCAÑA

The Tour will pay tribute to Luis Ocanahalf a century after their triumph in the French round, and immediately they will face the Pyrenees, with promotions to Tourmaletwhere the women’s round will have a goal, and probably at Col d’Aspinwhile speculating on a possible time trial in Pau.

The departure from the Pyrenees will be done by Bordeauxto head northeast, with steps by Libourne, Limoges either Saint-Leonard-de-Noblatwhere Raymond Poulidor lived, before facing the central massif, with a possible stage that will have a finish in the Puy de Domeunpublished since 1998.

If confirmed, the route that leads to the mythical port will only be accessible to cyclists, who will face it without an audience.

The Tour will then settle into Auvergne and its famous volcanoes will be the scene of mid-mountain stages before the first day of rest on July 10 in its capital, Clermont-Ferrand.

THE JURA, DEFINITIVE JUDGE

The route to the east will continue through the Boujolais vineyards, where there will be appointments with the mid-mountain, before the ramps of the swearwith a possible goal in the Grand Colombierthe second in this very tough recent port on the Tour after the one in 2020, when the Slovenian won Tadej Pogacar.

Almost without transition, the race will head for the Alpswhere there will be no shortage of high mountains and, possibly, a time trial, which will not take place on the eve of the finish but a week after it, just before the last rest day in sausages.

The col de la Loze, its 2,304 meters of altitude, its ramps at 20%, will return to the 2023 Tour menu for the second time in history, after the victory in 2020 of the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez.

Returning to the Rhône Valley, the peloton will head north to face, once again, the swearthis time in its northernmost part with an eventual arrival at the Grand Ballon, to which perhaps a cycle touring road will be added that will make the ascent to the last pass of the edition even harder, the true final judge of the edition.

The next day, July 23, the substitute for the Danish jonas vingegaard He will walk down the Champs Elysées wearing his yellow jersey.