July 1, 2023, 18:02 PM
July 1, 2023, 18:02 PM
The 110th edition of the Tour de France set off this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. local time, under the gray skies of Bilbao, in the Spanish Basque Country, for three weeks of racing before arriving in Paris on July 23. The cyclists will cover more than 3,400 km in 21 stages, through the landscapes of France and Spain
The first stage, 182 km long, starting and finishing in Bilbao Passing through the town of Guernica, it promises a battle with five ascents, in which the favorites should already begin to show themselves.
Tens of thousands of fans gathered along the streets of the Basque city, a region passionate about cyclingwhich hosted his second Tour start after San Sebastián in 1992.
The peloton will continue in the Basque Country Spanish on Sunday with a stage between Vitoria and San Sebastián and the next day he will leave for France towards the town of Bayonne, in the French Basque Country.
On the sporting front, everyone expects a duel between vingegaarddefending champion, and pogacarwinner of the two previous editions of the French round.
But uncertainty hangs over the fitness of the Slovenian cannibal who has hardly run since he broke his wrist in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 23, while vingegaard he crushed the competition in the Dauphiné.
This Saturday, the two men could already start their warespecially at the top of Pike (2 km at 10%), located less than ten kilometers from the finish line.
Other big names like Mathieu van der Poel or Wout Van Aert they also dream of wearing their first yellow.
The course will continue to be tough for the rest of the Tour, with a record 30 cols, going through the five French mountain ranges and a single time trial, 22.4 km uphill. The 2023 edition will be a small paradise for climbers.
Marie-Blanque, Aspin and Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, the Puy de Dôme in the Massif Central, which returns 35 years later, the Grand Colombier in the Jura, the Alto de la Loze in the Alps and a stage with five climbs in the Vosges the eve of arrival in Paris: a whole mountain orgy for the runners.
In absence of Geraint Thomas, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, the French David Gaudu and Romain Bardet are among the contenders for the podium along with the Spanish Enric Mas and Mikel Landa, the Australians Ben O’Connor and Jay Hindley, the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz and the Colombians Egan Bernal and Daniel Martínez.
Away from the fight for the general classification, Mark Cavendish will try to beat the record for stage victories that he holds tied with Eddy Merckx (34). At 38, the Briton is no longer the best sprinter in the pelotonbut ‘Cav’ has promised to leave his skin to enter the legend of the Tour.
The Tour de France will also pay tribute to Gino Mäder, who died descending a mountain in the Tour of Switzerland in mid-June, retiring the number 61 this year. “Gino will be with us throughout the Tour,” stressed the Spanish Mikel Landa, the leader of the Bahrain team to which the Swiss rider belonged.
