It’s hard to recall the last time there was such a stark difference between the routes for the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. Whereas the organisers of the latter announced there was to be more time trialling of any edition since 2013, the Tour has gone the opposite direction by including just one, 22km-long time trial stage.
Among recent Tours, that makes this year’s edition comparable only to the 2015 edition in terms of the paucity of its time trialling, so will surely attract the pure climbers, and give the GC contenders who rely upon kilometres against the clock to gain an advantage some second thoughts about their participation.
It’s not just time trials that are noticeably absent from the route, but other variations that have also shaped the GC in recent years. There are no cobblestones time, or other varying surfaces like a dirt road stage, nor even a team time trial, despite rumours hinting at one.
Tour de France 2023 map and route
Simply by looking at the map it’s striking just how much of France is left out of the route. The north is bypassed almost entirely, and there are hardly any coastal roads, also limiting the opportunities for crosswinds this year.
Instead, the route is geared towards taking the peloton from one range of mountains to the next, from the Basque Country and Pyrenees in the west to the Alps, Jura and Vosges in the east, via the Massif Central.
All of which is to say that the 2023 edition looks set to be a climber’s paradise, and one where the GC contenders can put most of their focus on the uphills without having to worry about too many other variables.
TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 – STAGE ONE: BILBAO > BILBAO, 182KM
Typical for the Basque Country region that hosts this year’s Grand Depart, stage one is full of short, steep climbs that, despite a flat finish in Bilbao, will rule out the pure sprinters in favour of the puncheurs.
TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 – STAGE TWO: VITORIA-GASTEIZ > SAN SEBASTIEN, 209KM
Featuring some of the same roads that feature in the San Sebastian Classic, including the emblematic Jaizkibel 30km from the finish, and as the longest stage of the whole Tour, this is one for the hilly classics specialists.
TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 – STAGE THREE: AMOREBIETA-ETXANO > BAYONNE, 185KM
The organisers have managed to find some flat roads in the Basque Country, ensuring the riders should find a bunch sprint awaiting them upon crossing the border into France for the first time.