tour de link 2023

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(From the left) Link’s Chief Executive Officer George Hongchoy, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho and Hong Kong cycling legend Wong Kam-po kick off the tournament at the ceremony.

(From the right) Link’s Chief Executive Officer George Hongchoy, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho and Hong Kong cycling legend Wong Kam-po join the race at the ceremony.

Tour de Link 2023” will be held from 2 to 27 August at six Link’s malls.

A new team category is introduced this year for riders to team up with their friends and family to compete for the title of "Ace Team".

Performance for each category and district will be displayed on TV leaderboards in the malls on a real-time basis.

To echo the "Sport For All Day 2023" in August, Link Asset Management Limited (Link), the manager of Link Real Estate Investment Trust (Link REIT, stock code: 823), today announced the return of " Tour de Link 2023 " at six Link’s malls from 2 to 27 August, aiming to promote healthy lifestyle while offering an opportunity for people to compete for the honour of the community. 

Now in its third year, the "Tour de Link" has become Link's flagship community engagement event. In anticipation of "Sport For All Day 2023" on 6 August, Link took the lead to host the opening ceremony for the "Tour de Link 2023" at Lok Fu Place today. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho and Hong Kong cycling legend and the three-time Asian Games gold medallist Wong Kam-po joined Link’s Chief Executive Officer George Hongchoy to kick off the tournament at the ceremony.

George Hongchoy said, "Building a sustainable and healthy community, like developing good healthy lifestyle, requires daily and persistent investment. Throughout the years, Link has always spared no effort in investing in the community of Hong Kong. 'Tour de Link' is celebrating its third anniversary this year, and it is the first competition after the city’s returning to normalcy. Riders can now fully participate in our races without wearing masks. Let’s promote healthy lifestyle and challenge for the title of Cycling Champ to bring glory to our community!"

Winnie Ho, Secretary for Housing, said, "Today's event is very meaningful. Everyone gets to ride bicycles with Hong Kong cycling legend Wong Kam-po, which encourages people to exercise more and promotes a healthier, more energetic way of living. This aligns with the 'Well-Being' design guidelines that our Housing Bureau is currently developing, which also emphasises the importance of healthy living in the community. I am pleased to see that Link values corporate social responsibility and has organised this event to encourage residents to be active and to channel this energy towards charity by donating meal coupons to elderly in need. I look forward to Link allocating more resources and organising similar events in the future to build stronger community connections through different forms of interaction among neighbours."

Wong Kam-po, Hong Kong cycling legend, said, "When I was a child, there weren't any activities like the 'Tour de Link'. Being an athlete and coach has taught me the importance of maintaining physical and mental health. All ages should participate in sports more often, relieve the stress of modern life, and find happiness in simple things."

As the first-of-its-kind in-mall cycling league in Hong Kong, the "Tour de Link" attracted more than 16,000 participants in the past two years. The event also won the Bronze Award in the category of Charity Events Communication at "The 18th China Golden Awards for Excellence in Public Relations", in recognition of Link’s excellence in communicating its charity and community engagement.

The "Tour de Link 2023" will be held in two rounds from 2 to 27 August in six of Link’s malls across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Each venue will be equipped with fitness bikes to encourage people of all ages to start their fitness journeys one pedal stroke at a time. The first round will take place from 2 to 13 August at Lok Fu Place , TKO Spot and Wo Che Plaza , and the second round will run from 16 to 27 August at Kai Tin Shopping Centre , T Town and Oi Tung Shopping Centre .

In addition to the existing four categories: Men's, Women's, Children’s and Family, a new Ace Team category is introduced this year for participants to team up with their friends and family to compete for the title of "Hong Kong Ace Team". Participants are free to compete at any location and join different teams, but their mileage will only count for the team they choose at each ride. Performance for each category and district will be displayed on TV leaderboards in the malls, and will be updated on the designated event page on Link’s " Tour de Link 2023" website on a real-time basis.

The collective distance cycled by all participants in the same district will be generated as the total district result. In the name of the participants of the top-scoring district in each round, Link will donate meal coupons at a total value of $100,000 to elderly residents in need through non-government organisations in the winning districts.

Link's malls have always served as community gathering hubs. "Tour de Link 2023" connects everyone in the community and build a healthy community together through physical activity and sports.

For more details, please visit "Tour de Link 2023" website .

To download high resolution photos, please visit here .

Link Real Estate Investment Trust (Hong Kong stock code: 823) is the largest REIT in Asia by market capitalisation. It is managed by Link Asset Management Limited, a leading real estate investor and asset manager in the world. Since its listing in 2005 as the first REIT in Hong Kong, Link REIT has been 100% held by public and institutional investors. It is a constituent of the Hong Kong securities market benchmark Hang Seng Index, as well as a component of the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index, the FTSE4Good Index Series and the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index. From its home in Hong Kong, Link Asset Management Limited owns and manages a diversified portfolio including retail facilities, car parks, offices and logistics assets spanning from China’s Beijing, Greater Bay Area (Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), and Yangtze River Delta centred around Shanghai, to Singapore, Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne and the UK’s London. Link Asset Management Limited seeks to extend its portfolio growth trajectory and grasp expansion opportunities in different markets in pursuit of sustainable growth.

For details, please visit https://www.linkreit.com .

2023 Tour de France Teams: How They Got There

Nearly 200 of the world's best cyclists line up each summer to begin a month-long challenge many consider to be unrivaled in sports.

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The Tour de France is the crown jewel of cycling’s Grand Tours. It pits riders against some of the most difficult terrain on the planet, offering only a couple of days spread throughout the race for riders to rest their utterly exhausted bodies.

Even achieving the honor of riding on a 2023 Tour de France team is a lifelong dream for many cyclists, and only those at the top of the sport — and in the right place at the right time — get the opportunity.

The field of nearly 200 racers is composed of 22 teams that gain entry into the race either by right as a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) WorldTeams-licensed team, by qualification through the UCI ProTeam season, or through a special invitation from the organizers of the race, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).

No individual cyclists can enter the race, and even if they did, they’d have no chance of winning or even doing well. With that in mind, it’s important for world-class riders who hope to compete in the 2023 Tour de France to have earned a spot on a team that has a good chance to participate.

Here is a rundown of how teams qualify for the 2023 Tour de France.

UCI WorldTeams

The most clearcut way to ensure a spot in the Tour de France is to rank among the 18 current UCI WorldTeams. The vast majority of teams in the Tour de France and other UCI WorldTour events come from this category.

For 2023, those teams include:

• AG2R Citroën Team (FRA)
• Alpecin Deceuninck (BEL)
• Astana Qazaqstan Team (KAZ)
• Bora-Hansgrohe (GER)
• EF Education-Easypost (USA)
• Groupama-FDJ (FRA)
• Ineos Grenadiers (GBR)
• Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (BEL)
• Jumbo-Visma (NED)
• Movistar Team (ESP)
• Soudal Quick-Step (BEL)
• Team Arkea-Samsic (FRA)
• Team Bahrain Victorious (BRN)
• Team Cofidis (FRA)
• Team DSM (NED)
• Team Jayco AlUla (AUS)
• Trek-Segafredo (USA)
• UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

These teams represent the cream of the crop in global cycling; they all feature superstars, national champions in various disciplines, and a host of extremely strong riders who can work together to help their teammates win the race.

UCI rules only allow 18 teams to compete in the WorldTeams category, which is the highest category in professional cycling. Teams earn a spot in the WorldTeams field by collecting points in pro races throughout 3 years of racing.

Different types of races come with different point values, and the top 10 riders for each team, and the top eight for women’s teams , have the opportunity to compete in races to bolster overall team stats to get more points. At the end of the years-long cycle of racing, the UCI tallies points and awards WorldTeams licenses for those at the top.

The teams listed above earned their spots in the WorldTeams category in December 2022, so they can rest somewhat easy knowing they all have an assured spot in the Tour de France through 2025.

The Tour de France Femmes uses the same format for its selection. All 15 of the women’s WorldTeams groups are automatically in the race .

The 2023 selection includes:

• Canyon / / SRAM Racing (GER) 
• EF Education-Tibco-SVB (USA) 
• FDJ-Suez (FRA)
• Fenix Deceuninck (BEL)
• Human Powered Health (USA)
• Israel Premier Tech Roland (SUI) 
• Liv Racing Teqfind (NED) 
• Movistar Team Women (ESP) 
• Team DSM (NED) 
• Team Jayco Alula (AUS)
• Jumbo-Visma (NED) 
• Team SD Worx (NED)
• Trek-Segafredo (USA) 
• UAE Team ADQ (UAE) 
• Uno-X Pro Cycling Team (NOR)

For those who do not make the cut, all is not lost.

UCI ProTeams in the Tour de France

The second-highest category in cycling is the ProTeams category. As a complement to the 18 WorldTeams in the 2023 Tour de France, the race also offers spots to four ProTeams.

Those teams include:

• Lotto Dstny (BEL)
• TotalEnergies (FRA)
• Israel-Premier Tech (ISR)

The pathway for these teams to earn a spot in the 2023 Tour de France is not as clear cut. Lotto Dstny earned a spot in all WorldTour races, including the Tour de France, by finishing the latest season with the highest number of points among the ProTeams field, as did TotalEnergies.

Israel-Premier Tech and Uno-X Pro Cycling Team received invitations to compete from race organizer Amaury Sport Organization.

The 2023 Tour de France Femmes offers a few more spots for teams on the bubble.

The two top teams in the UCI Continental ranking in 2022 qualified for the race by right. These include:

• Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team (BEL)
• Lifeplus Wahoo (GBR)

Five additional teams earned invitations from the race organizers, including:

• AG Insurance – Soudal Quick-Step Team (BEL)
• Arkéa-Samsic Pro Cycling Team (FRA)
• Cofidis Women’s Team (FRA)
• St Michel Mavic-Auber93 (FRA)
• Team Coop-Hitec Products (NOR)

For these organizations, being a 2023 Tour de France team offers one of the biggest chances to rack up points that could lead to them promoting back into the WorldTeams category.

This year’s race takes on a particular bit of importance on the women’s side, as these teams will undergo the same selection process that solidified WorldTeams licenses for the men in 2022. For many teams, a strong performance in 2023 could mean the difference between remaining in the WorldTeams category or relegation.

Because only WorldTeam and ProTeam licensees are allowed to compete in World Tour Races, ending up in one of these places is the only way into the 2023 Tour de France. Everyone else will have to settle for spectating, which may be a lot more fun anyway.

Tour de France: 10 Wacky Rules of the Greatest Cycling Race in the World

The Tour de France has some strange rules. Sock height? Yep, that's regulated. Read about this wacky rule and others. Read more…

Mark Wilson is a freelance journalist for GearJunkie and BikeRumor. Mark has been writing about cycling, climbing, outdoor events and gear for more than a year. Before that, he spent more than a decade as a journalist at major daily newspapers in Texas covering crime, public safety and local government. Mark spent every free moment during that time carving up singletrack and gravel, or climbing with friends and family in Texas, Colorado and Mexico. Based in Texas, Mark is always looking for new trails, crags and gear to help navigate the outdoors. As a new dad, he is particularly interested in learning how to share his love of the outdoors with his son.

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Tour de France 2023 live streams: How to watch for free, channels, schedule and more

Is the Tour de France all about Pogačar vs Vingegaard?

FREE Tour de France live streams

Tour de france live streams around the world.

• Start times

You'll be able to watch the Tour de France online, no matter where you go — so you can follow the titans of the tires. Stage 19 just completed, and saw Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) take the win in an amazing phtoo-finish.

Read on and we'll show you how to watch Tour de France from anywhere with a VPN , and potentially for FREE .

Tour de France continues through July 23 — full schedule below ► U.K. — ITVX (FREE) ► Australia — SBS on Demand (FREE) ►  U.S. — Peacock , NBC and USA Network ►  Watch anywhere — Try ExpressVPN 100% risk free

It's the biggest race of them all, but these days, the Tour de France means one thing: Tadej Pogačar vs Jonas Vingegaard. Between them the duo have won the last three editions of the race, with Vingegaard taking the 2022 race for Team Jumbo–Visma and Pogačar winning in 2020 and 2021.

In the most recent action, Vingegaard left Pogačar in the dust, gaining six minutes on his rival in the final climb. Pogačar called it "one of the worst days of my life on the bike."

Vingegaard is still in the lead, and fended off some anti-doping questions at the end of Stage 19. Two more stages remain, and Pogačar is still in second, with Adam Yates is in third.

Here's how to watch Tour de France live streams online, from anywhere.

If you live in the U.K., Australia, France, Italy, Spain or Belgium, then you can look forward to a FREE Tour de France live stream in 2023.

That's because the free-to-air ITV4 and its ITVX streaming service in the U.K., SBS and SBS on Demand streaming service in Australia, France.TV in France, Rai Play in Italy, Teledeporte in Spain, and RTBF in Belgium all have rights to the action. 

But what if you're based in one of those countries but aren't at home to catch that free Tour de France coverage? Maybe you're on holiday and don't want to spend money on pay TV in another country, when you'd usually be able to watch for free at home?

Don't worry — you can watch it via a VPN instead. We'll show you how to do that below.

It's only natural that you might want to watch a Tour de France live stream from your home country, but what if you're not there when the race is on?

Look no further than a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN makes it look as if you're surfing the web from your home country, rather than the one you're in. That means you can access the streaming services you already pay for, from anywhere on Earth. Or anywhere that has an internet connection, at least.

For instance, a Brit who's currently in the U.S. could watch Tour de France live streams on ITVX , even though they're not in the U.K.

They're totally legal, inexpensive and easy to use. We've tested lots of the best VPN services and our favorite right now is ExpressVPN . It's fast, works on loads of devices and even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Safety, speed and simplicity combine to make <a href="https://go.expressvpn.com/c/4550836/1330033/16063?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.expressvpn.com%2Fgo%2Fcycling%2Ftour-de-france" data-link-merchant="expressvpn.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ExpressVPN our favorite VPN service. It's also compatible with loads of devices and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee if you want to try it out.

Using a VPN is incredibly simple.

1. Install the VPN of your choice . As we've said, ExpressVPN is our favorite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance if you're in the U.S. and want to view a British service, you'd select U.K. from the list.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to ITVX or another website and watch Tour de France.

How to watch Tour de France live streams in the US

If you're in the U.S. you have a few options for watching Tour de France. The entire race is on Peacock . However, stage 1 is also on NBC , and stage 3 is on USA Network .

NBC can be accessed with one of the best TV antennas , while USA Network is available in some cable packages. 

If you've cut the cord and don't have cable, you can watch Tour de France via several live TV services, including NBC's own Peacock , plus Sling TV and Fubo .

Of these options, we recommend Peacock: It costs just $4.99/month with ads, or $9.99 without, and includes lots more great content in addition to Tour de France live streams.

If you go the Sling TV route, you'll want Sling Blue, which is $45 per month and comes with more than 40 channels, including NBC (in select regions) and USA Network. And right now, Sling is offering $25 off your first month . 

Fubo, meanwhile, costs $75 per month for 161 channels, including NBC and USA network. Sports fans will find a number of niche sports channels among its lineup. 

In addition to showing Tour de France live streams, <a href="https://imp.i305175.net/c/221109/828265/11640?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peacocktv.com%2F" data-link-merchant="peacocktv.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Peacock also has a huge library of originals and licensed content drawn from various brands. That includes shows like <a href="https://www.tomsguide.com/news/yellowstone-season-5-release-date-and-time-how-to-watch-online" data-link-merchant="tomsguide.com"" data-link-merchant="peacocktv.com"">Yellowstone, Law and Order, the Real Housewives and more.

<a href="https://sling-tv.pxf.io/c/221109/1132376/14334?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2F" data-link-merchant="sling.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Sling TV includes both NBC and USA network in its Blue plan, which comes with 40-plus channels. Right now, <a href="https://sling-tv.pxf.io/c/221109/1132376/14334?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2F" data-link-merchant="sling.com"" data-link-merchant="sling.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">new subscribers get $25 off their first month.

If you love sports, you might want to check out <a href="https://geni.us/YkQAuWd" data-link-merchant="geni.us"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Fubo . It's got dozens of sports channels, including NBC and USA Network. Check it out with their <a href="https://geni.us/YkQAuWd" data-link-merchant="geni.us"" data-link-merchant="geni.us"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">7-day free trial.

If you already use those services but aren't in the U.S. right now, you can watch Tour de France live streams by using a good cycling VPN . And if, for whatever reason, you can't get it working, do remember that you have the comfort of a 30-day money-back guarantee with ExpressVPN.

How to watch Tour de France live streams in the UK

As explained above, every Tour de France stage is being shown for free in the U.K. courtesy of ITV and ITVX  (formerly ITV Hub). 

For those who prefer Welsh-language commentary, S4C is also providing free coverage of the race. This can be accessed for free via BBC iPlayer .

Alternatively, there's Discovery Plus and Eurosport , which have ad-free Tour de France coverage. As Eurosport is part of Discovery Plus, it doesn't matter one which you subscribe to.

Discovery Plus is available for £6.99/month or £59.99/year. You can sign up for Discovery Plus here , or access the service via Amazon Prime Video — and here you can get a seven-day free trial of the service. Plus, if you don't already have Amazon Prime itself, you can get a 30-day free trial of that too. 

On holiday this week? Sign up to ExpressVPN or another VPN service and you'll be able to use the services you already subscribe to.

How to watch Tour de France live streams in Canada

Cycling fans in Canada can watch Tour de France on  FloBikes , which costs US$150 per year.

Not at home right now? Use ExpressVPN or another VPN service to trick your device into thinking you're still in Canada.

How to watch Tour de France live streams in Australia

As you may already be aware, Aussies can watch Tour de France for free on SBS and SBS on Demand .

Not in Australia right now? You can simply use a VPN, such as ExpressVPN , to watch Tour de France on your SBS account, as if you were back home.

Tour de France 2023 route

Tour de France 2023 stages and start times

(All times ET)

Stage 1 – Sat 01/07, Bilbao (182km) – 6.30am Stage 2 – Sun 02/07, Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastián (209km) – 6.15am Stage 3 –  Mon 03/07, Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne (185km) – 7am Stage 4 – Tue 04/07, Dax to Nogaro (182km) – 7.10am Stage 5 – Wed 05/07, Pau to Laruns (165km) – 7.05am Stage 6 – Thu 06/07, Tarbes to Cauterets (145km) – 7.10am Stage 7 – Fri 07/07, Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux (170km) – 7.15am Stage 8 – Sat 08/07, Libourne to Limoges (201km) – 6.30am Stage 9 – Sun 09/07, Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dôme (184km) – 7.30am

Rest day – 10/07

Stage 10 – Tue 11/07, Vulcania to Issoire (167km) – 7.05am Stage 11 – Wed 12/07, Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins (180km) – 7.05am Stage 12 –  Thu 13/07, Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais (166km) – 7.05am Stage 13 – Fri 14/07, Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier (138km) – 7.45am Stage 14 – Sat 15/07, Annemasse to Morzine (152km) – 7.05am Stage 15 – Sun 16/07, Les Gets to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (180km) – 7.05am

Rest day – 17/07

Stage 16 – Tue 18/07, Passy to Combloux (22km ITT) – 7.05am Stage 17 – Wed 19/07, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains to Courchevel (166km) – 6.20am Stage 18 – Thu 20/07, Moûtiers to Bourg-en-Bresse (186km) – 7.05am Stage 19 – Fri 21/07, Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny (173km) – 7.15am Stage 20 – Sat 22/07, Belfort to Le Markstein (133km) – 7.30am Stage 21 – Sun 23/07, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to Paris (115km) – 10.30am

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Tour de France 2023 stage-by-stage guide: Route maps and profiles for all 21 days

The 2023 Tour de France has all the ingredients of a classic: two leading protagonists ready to tear lumps out of each other in reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard and the deposed Tadej Pogacar; entertaining multi-talented stage hunters Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe and Tom Pidcock; the great Mark Cavendish chasing a historic 35th stage win; all facing a brutal route with 56,000m of climbing and four summit finishes.

The Tour begins in the Spanish Basque country on Saturday 1 July, and these hilly routes will throw open the yellow jersey to a wide range of contenders. The race crosses the French border for some flat stages and an early jaunt into the high Pyrenees, where the Col du Tourmalet awaits. The peloton takes on the Puy de Dome volcano on its journey across France towards the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and it is in the mountains that this Tour will ultimately be decided. It all ends on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday 23 July.

Here is a stage-by-stage guide to how the race will unfold.

Stage 1: Bilbao to Bilbao, 182km

The 2023 Tour de France starts outside Bilbao’s iconic Guggenheim Museum, and winds north to the Bay of Biscay coastline before returning to the city where the stage winner will take the yellow jersey. This 182km opening stage is a hilly route with 3,000m of climbing featuring five categorised ascents, of which the final two are sharp and testing: they are tough enough to shake off the dedicated sprinters and open up early glory for the best puncheurs – those riders with the legs to get over short climbs and the power to surge away on the other side.

The profile of this stage is a great choice by organisers as it could suit just about anyone, from the speed of Wout van Aert to the climbing strength Tom Pidcock or Simon Yates – even two-time champion Tadej Pogacar.

Stage 2: Vitoria Gastiez to Saint Sebastian, 209km

The peloton will head east from Bilbao, touching more picturesque Basque coastline before arriving at the finish in San Sebastian. At more than 200km this is the longest stage of the 2023 Tour and, with the sizeable Jaizkibel climb (8.1km, 5.3% average gradient) shortly before the finish, this is even more tough on the legs than the first day. Another puncheur with the climbing strength to get over the steeper hills can capitalise, like two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe.

Stage 3: Amorebieta to Bayonne, 187km

Stage three starts in Spain and ends in France, and the finale in Bayonne is ripe for a bunch sprint. Mark Cavendish will get his first shot of this race at trying to win a historic 35th Tour de France stage, but he will be up against a stacked field including former QuickStep teammate Fabio Jakobsen and the awesome speed of Wout van Aert. It will be fascinating to get a first glimpse of how the power riders stack up.

Stage 4: Dax to Nogaro, 182km

Another flat day and an even faster finish in store on the Circuit Paul Armagnac, a race track in Nogaro. The 800m home straight will almost certainly tee up a showdown between the Tour’s serious fast men.

Stage 5: Pau to Laruns, 163km

The first major mountains of the Tour come a little earlier than usual, as the peloton heads up into the high Pyrenees on day five. The Col de Soudet (15km, 7.2%) is one of the toughest climbs of the race and rears up halfway through this 163km route from Pau to Laruns. The category one Col de Marie Blanque (7.7km, 8.6%) guards the finish 20km out, and holds bonus seconds for those first over the top to incentivise the major contenders to come to the fore and fight it out.

Stage 6: Tarbes to Cauterets, 145km

This has the potential to be a thrilling day: the 145km route takes on the double trouble of the category one Col d’Aspin (12km, 6.5%) followed by the monstrous hors categorie Tourmalet (17.1km, 7.3%), before a fast ascent and a final climb to the summit finish at Cauterets (16km, 5.4%).

It is a day with several possible outcomes. If the yellow jersey is on the shoulders of a fast puncheur at the start then it may well be transferred to one of the general classification contenders by the end, should they decide to fight for the stage win. Then again, a breakaway could be allowed to escape which would open up victory – and perhaps the yellow jersey – to an outsider. The last time the Tour finished in Cauterets in 2015, breakaway specialist Rafal Majka surged clear of his fellow escapers to win. Keep an eye on Ineos’s Tom Pidcock, who could use the long, fast descent from the Tourmalet summit to speed to the front, as he did before winning atop Alpe d’Huez last year.

Stage 7: Mont de Marsan to Bordeaux, 170km

The first week of racing finishes in the Tour’s second most visited city, Bordeaux, and it’s a third flat day for the sprinters to contest. Much will depend on who has best preserved their legs through the high mountains when they come to this tight, technical finish on the banks of the Garonne river in the city centre.

Stage 8: Libourne to Limoges, 201km

A long, hilly day will see the peloton head 201km east from Libourne outside Bordeaux to Limoges. The lumpy stage should suit a puncheur but it is not a particularly taxing set of climbs – only three are categorised and the toughest of those is just 2.8km at 5.2%. So could a determined team carry their sprinter to the finish and the stage win? Look out for Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, superstars with the all-round talent to conquer the climbs and still finish fast.

Stage 9: Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dome, 184km

The final stage before the relief of the first rest day is relatively flat and gentle – until a brutal finish atop the iconic Puy de Dome volcano, a 13.3km drag at a gruelling 7.7% average gradient that last appeared in the Tour in 1988. The summit finish will require a serious climber’s legs to clinch the stage win, and the general classification contenders may well let a breakaway get ahead and fight for that prize.

Rest day: Clermont-Ferrand, Monday 10 July.

Stage 10: Parc Vulcania to Issoire, 167km

The race resumes in the centre of France from Vulcania – a volcano-themed amusement park – where riders will embark on a hilly 167km route through the Volcans d’Auvergne regional park, finishing down in the small town of Issiore. With five categorised climbs, including the sizeable Col de Guery (7.8km at 5%) and the Croix Saint-Robert (6km at 6.3%), it will be a draining ride with virtually no sustained flat sections, and a long descent to the finish town. It looks like a good day to plot something in the breakaway, as the big GC contenders save their legs for bigger challenges to come.

Stage 11: Clermont Ferrand to Moulins, 180km

The final flat stage before the hard Alpine climbs will present an opportunity for those fast men who managed to haul themselves through the Pyrenees to get here – although there is still some climbing to be done including three category-four leg-sappers along the 180km route. The day begins in the university city of Clermont-Ferrand before the riders wind north and then east to Moulins, a small town on the Allier river. Any breakaway is likely to be reeled by those teams with dedicated sprinters eyeing their only opportunity for a stage win between the two rest days.

Stage 12: Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, 169km

The race caravan will shift east to start stage 12 in Roanne in the Loire region, before taking a 169km route to Belleville, situated on the Saone river north of Lyon. This has been categorised as a hilly or medium mountain stage, but it might feel harder than that by the time the peloton reaches the foot of the fifth categorised climb of the day, the Col de la Croix Rosier (5.3km at 7.6%). That should be enough to put off the best puncheurs like Van der Poel and Van Aert, because the stage winner will need strong climbing legs. The GC riders will want to conserve energy, so expect a breakaway to stay clear and fight amongst themselves.

Stage 13: Chatillon-Sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier, 138km

The first of three brutal stages that could decide the destiny of this year’s yellow jersey is only relatively short – 138km – but will provide a stern enough test to reveal any weaknesses in the major contenders. The peloton will enjoy a relatively flat and gentle first 75km from Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne before entering the Jura Mountains. A short climb and fast descent precedes the big climax: all 17.4km (7.1%) of the Grand Colombier providing an epic summit finish. This could be another day for a breakaway away to get free, but the overall contenders like Pogacar and Vingegaard will also fancy stage glory and the chance to stamp their authority on the race.

Stage 14: Annemasse to Morzine, 152km

Part two of this triple header of mountain stages sees the peloton ride into the Alps with a 152km route from Annemasse to Morzine ski resort. Three tough category one climbs line the road to the hors categorie Col de Joux Plane (11.6km at 8.5%), a brutally steep grind where bonus seconds await the first few over the top – and stage victory is the prize at the bottom. This is another potential spot for yellow jersey fireworks.

Stage 15: Les Gets to Saint Gervais, 180km

The last ride before the final rest day will take the peloton further east into the Alps, towards the French border with Italy . The 179km day is almost constantly up and down, with a fast descent before the final two climbs, and the summit finish atop Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc will require strong climbing legs once more.

Rest day: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, Monday 17 July.

Stage 16: Individual time trial from Passy to Combloux, 22km

This year’s home stretch begins with the only time trial of the race: a short, relatively flat 22km from Passy to Combloux in the shadow of Mont Blanc. The route includes one categorised climb, the steep but short Cote de Domancy (2.5km at 9.4%). This stage is unlikely to decide the yellow jersey or podium spots, but there is an opportunity here to make up crucial seconds for those that need them.

Stage 17: Saint Gervais to Courchevel, 166km

Put Wednesday 19 July in the diary: this will surely be the most brutal day of the entire Tour de France and it could be decisive. The 166km route features four big climbs, the last of which offers up this year’s Souvenir Henri Desgrange for the first rider over the highest point of the race. To get there the riders must endure a 28.1km slog averaging 6% gradient to the top of the Col de la Loze, towering in the clouds 2,304m above sea level. There are bonus points seconds up here too, before a short descent down to the finish at Courchevel.

A breakaway will probably form, but can they last the distance? Whatever happens up the road, the fight for the yellow jersey will be fierce – only the strongest handful of riders will be able to stand the pace and this will likely be the day that the 2023 winner is effectively crowned.

Stage 18: Moutiers to Bourg en Bresse, 186km

After a potentially explosive stage 17, stage 18 is classified as “hilly” but is really a relatively sedate 185km which the sprinters are likely to contest if their teams can haul in the inevitable breakaway. The big question is whether there will be many sprinters left in the peloton after such a demanding set of stages in the Alps. For those fast men still in the race, the descent into Bourg-en-Bresse precedes a technical finish, with roundabouts and a sharp corner before a swinging right-hand turn on to the home straight where the stage will be won and lost.

Stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny, 173km

Another flat day gives a further opportunity for those sprinters left in the field, as the peloton travels 173km from Moirans, near Grenoble, north to Poligny. The general classification contenders will be happy to rest their legs before one final push to Paris.

Stage 20: Belfort to Le Markstein, 133km

The final competitive stage of the Tour is a 133km ride from Belfort to Le Markstein ski resort in the Vosges mountains, and it offers just enough for one final attack to steal the yellow jersey, should the overall win still be on the line. The last two climbs of the day are both steep category one ascents: first the Petit Ballon (9.3km, 8.1%) followed by the Col du Platzerwasel (7.1km at 8.4%). Whoever is wearing yellow just needs to hang on to the wheel of their fiercest rival here, and that should be enough to see them home.

Stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to Paris Champs-Elysees, 115km

As is tradition, the peloton will transfer to Paris and ride a truce to the Champs-Elysees. The stage will start at France’s national velodrome, home of cycling for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It will finish with one final sprint: Cavendish has won four times in Paris and it would be a fitting way to end the race that has defined his career if he were to repeat the feat one last time. And once the race is done, the winner of the 2023 Tour de France will be crowned.

• Spring Classics

Tour de France 2023: the great American expectations

Seven Americans who we think will shake up this year’s Tour and spring some surprises

Logan Jones-Wilkins

Junior writer - north america.

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Velo Collection (Tim de Waele) / Getty Images

Sepp Kuss leading Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar on the Hautacam during the 2022 Tour de France

While the number and prominence of Americans at the Tour de France has fluctuated over the past decade, 2023 is set to be an edition where the American contingent will play an important role throughout the three weeks of racing.

America does not yet have a sprinter who can compete for Tour stages, nor a rider with the credentials to fight for a GC podium, yet the riders here are some of the most talented and dynamic racers within the entire peloton. Who are they and what will they be up to? Read on for our predictions.

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) – Durango, Colorado

Sepp Kuss during the Giro d’Italia where he assisted in Primož Roglič’s overall victory

When talking about Americans at the Tour de France, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) is the only name to start with. Not only has he won a Tour stage – which is one more than any other riders on this list – but he was also fundamental in Jonas Vingegaard’s 2022 Tour victory. Furthermore, Kuss is fresh off of pulling Primož Roglič around the mountains of the Giro d’Italia for three weeks, helping the Slovenian win his first pink jersey. By all accounts, and in particular his Strava account, Kuss’ fitness has only grown. The Durango native is, at this point in his career, becoming a signature figure in the Tour. Surely, 2023 will be no different.

What to expect

Sepp Kuss to do his Sepp Kuss thing: ride uphill faster than almost everyone. First in the Jumbo-Visma mountain train will be Christophe Laporte and Nathan van Hooydonck. Then will come Tiesj Benoot, Wout van Aert and Dylan van Baarle. Finally, Wilco Kelderman will raise the pace. Behind him, Kuss will be dancing away with a diminutive Jonas Vingegaard, most likely wearing a slightly more yellow jersey, trailing close behind. It will be, once again, a staggering line-up of talent punctuated by some of the peloton’s strongest pure climbers. In what will be Kuss’ fourth Tour, his MO is clear as day - help his leader win the race.

Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) – Boise, Idaho

Velo Collection (Dario Belingheri) / Getty Images

Matteo Jorgenson during the stage 4 time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné

Beyond Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) is the American who will probably make the biggest dent in the race, if his spring is any indication of where his fitness will be come July. Despite a good spring, though, June has not been kind to Jorgenson. While he started strong in the Critérium du Dauphiné, two hard crashes on the go-slow stage 3 dampened what was looking like an infallible build to the summer.

For those of you who may have missed it, his spring included second overall at the Tour de Romandie, a fourth place behind ‘the big three’ at E3 Harelbeke, and top 10 finishes at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Nice.For that very reason, Jorgenson is one of the most interesting riders in the peloton. He is almost old school in his slow, iterative development. Each year, the American just gets better. While his peers may have been more prodigious out of the junior ranks, Jorgenson had a graft that hasn’t slowed down. But progress at this point in his career seems to be more of a fork in the road – with one hand pointing to a one-day and stage hunting focus, and the other towards a GC focus – than a defined path forward.

Jorgenson is an enigma when it comes to expectations. Will Movistar demand the hearty all-rounder stays by leader Enric Mas? Will Jorgenson have a stage hunting role? Or, with his  burgeoning week-long stage race CV, will the Movistar man try his hand at his first Grand Tour top 10? For the man from Idaho, the Tour seems to be his oyster.

Likely, with the rumours circling overhead of a move to Jumbo-Visma for 2024, Jorgenson will be looking for every chance to grab personal glory. Thus, expect Jorgenson to be dutifully by Mas’ side for some of the days, and far in front of the peloton on others. A high GC place is much more likely to come from a ‘shoots and ladders’ approach and less likely to come from being a sticky mountain domestique.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) – Sacramento, California

Velo Collection (Luc Claessen) / Getty Images

Neilson Powless rolling to the start after the team presentation at the 2023 Fleche Wallonne

Three riders finished in the top 10 of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Nice this spring. One is Tadej Pogačar, and the other two are on this list: Matteo Jorgenson, and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost). In any other year, with any lesser rider than Pogačar steamrolling the early season, Jorgenson and Powless’s exploits would be lauded sky high. But that is not the world we live in and cycling is very much about what one has done lately.

In Powless’s case, that has not been a whole lot. While the American Classics rider was active in the Tour de Suisse, it was a big step down from the competitiveness he showed at last year’s Tour dress rehearsal where he finished 4th overall. Nonetheless, Suisse is small fry compared to July and the American team EF Education-EasyPost will have big designs for their home rider and second-best UCI point-scorer.

What exactly those designs will be, however, is up for discussion. Similar to Jorgenson, Powless is stuck between moments to find his own stage options and in playing a more supportive role in a team that will have a former podium finisher in Richard Carapaz leading the GC charge. While Carapaz, on paper, would be very well suited for this year’s Tour route, the Ecuadorian had a shocker of a Dauphiné after a stop-start spring that has produced more questions than answers when it comes to his Tour form. While Powless may have started the summer Grand Tour season with the perspective of being more of a domestique than he was last year, the recent races suggest things might have to be more fluid in the EF camp.

If the American team was to relinquish its GC ambition with Carapaz, who is as adept as a stage hunter in Grand Tours as a GC man, Powless would be one of five proven winners. Between Carapaz, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Alberto Bettiol, Rigoberto Urán and Powless, EF have multiple options for any stage that doesn’t end in a group gallup. From that perspective, and with the questions around Carapaz, this Tour seems like a fantastic forum for Powless to elevate to Tour de France stage winner.

Quinn Simmons (LIDL Trek) – Durango, Colorado

Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images

Quinn Simmons climbing up Le Tolfe at the 2023 Strade Bianche

Quinn Simmons is back to the Tour de France and will come with a brand new shirt to boot! The American road race champion is coming off of a bit of a resurgence in form after an anonymous couple of months of racing and will be motivated to put on a show with the stars and stripes. That being said, Simmons often seems to prioritise the show and the audacity he is capable of in favour of being a shrewd racer, so on the biggest stages he is often left holding the bag as more experienced riders take the spoils. Yet, as shown by Simmons power file at the recent national championship, he has the power to be in almost any stage winning breakaway at the Tour. The key will be if this is the year his racing nous can translate being there to winning.

What to expect:

With motivation and momentum on his side, this year provides ample opportunities for Simmons to come good from a breakaway. It is his second Tour and only his third Grand Tour, so with some experience under his belt to boot, expect to see the American in better positions to perform at the pointy end of affairs. What might end up foiling him, and foiling any breakaway rider, would be Tadej Pogacar’s need for bonus seconds on the medium mountain days, but that might be premature speculation. There are certainly days that suit the powerhouse from the high mountains of Colorado and you can count on Simmons making a number of successful breakaways, and, possibly, stealing a march on those other top tier stage hunters.

Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan Team) – Marshall, Virginia

Joe Dombrowski during the 2022 Tour de France, his first go at the race

Astana Qazaqstan has a clear objective but an awkward solution. With Mark Cavendish coming on board, and the Manx Missile chasing the all-time stage wins record this year, Astana will have a successful tour if they manage to get one win with one man. But sprinting is never that simple and, to be frank, Astana does not have the depth to field seven domestiques who can all capably support Cavendish in the sprints. Furthermore, Astana has had success with established riders on the roster, namely Alexey Lutsenko, and will be hoping to be competitive beyond the sprint stages.

With those diverse objectives in mind, Astana has tried to create a team with balance, despite their lack in depth, and are calling on Joe Dombrowski to double up this Grand Tour season with his second Tour start in as many years, following a ride at the Giro this May. While Dombrowski has had a subdued year so far, there will be at the very least opportunity to chase breakaways during the climbing stages at this year's Tour.

Unfortunately, the chances for pure climbers outside of the GC battle to win stages is expected to be sparse. Both Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates will have incentives to keep a tight leash on escapees and it seems likely that this will take the win away from potential breakaway riders on the few summit finishes on this year's route. With Dombrowski’s climbing characteristics, this means his chances of taking a stage to match the win he secured in the 2021 Giro are slim. Nevertheless, expect to see him up the road in the Alps and trying to find something special. Dombrowski often comes good in the final week of Grand Tours, so look out for him there especially.

Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM - fermanich) – Orange County, California

(Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Kevin Vermaerke leading Romain Bardet at the recent Tour de Suisse

Kevin Vermaerke is one of Team DSM’s numerous young riders who fit a similar mould. Vermaerke is a good climber, but not a stand out. Vermaerke is a rider who has made strong results at the U23 classics level, but has yet to develop into a rider that can withstand the classics at the World Tour level. Yet, he is starting his second Tour in two consecutive years with a fairly open role outside of duties to protect Romain Bardet. At only age 22, things are still progressing for the man from Southern California and there is a wide open horizon. The question is will this be the Tour where he can elevate his stock through an individual performance or in a supporting role?

Vermaerke’s selection was a bit of a surprise, but with strong climbing performances at the Tour of Suisse it seems as if he earned his way onto the team by being present and able to help Bardet to a top-five overall when the going got tough. In the Tour, where DSM will have the split agenda of a high GC result for Bardet and sprint wins for Sam Welsford, Bardet will need a few riders to be there constantly for the three weeks. In the battle for the Tour GC, little moments of support can pay dividends as contenders rise and fall. For Vermarke, his objective in this tour will be to help manage the falls and springboard the rises.

Lawson Craddock (Team Jayco-AlUla) – Austin, Texas

Lawson Craddock during the stage 3 time trial at the Tour de Romandie

Lawson Craddock has ridden the Tour twice during his career and is best known for the pain he endured to make it through one of them. The Texas native was badly hurt in the early days of the 2018 Tour de France and soldiered on, raising money along the way. It was a fight that drove lots of buzz and goodwill, but ultimately has not been followed by a great deal of further success for Craddock beyond the consecutive US TT championships he won in 2021 and 2022. That being said, Craddock has been a staple of Jayco-AlUla’s roster at important races throughout his two seasons with the Australian outfit, and has the potential to continue to grow into that domestique role.

With a single Grand Tour top three to his name, do not expect Craddock to play a huge role in the fight for stages at the 2023 Tour, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have an impact on the race. It is likely that Craddock will be in a breakaway or two along during the race, but his main role will be to support sprinter Dylan Groenewegen and GC hope Simon Yates. That hierarchy at Jayco seems fairly set in stone, and Craddock will be a key domestique.

A good year for American success

Sepp Kuss’s stage win in the 2021 Tour was only the second American stage win since the ill-fated years of Lance Amstrong and Floyd Landis, but the current generation could change that soon. From the Americans on Tour this year, to the young riders who did not make this year’s cut – namely Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) – there is a sea change in the expectations of Americans on cycling’s biggest stage. These riders are, undeniably, rubbing shoulders with the best riders in the world.

This seven rider line-up illuminates the state of American cycling by providing the perfect contrast between the two generations of the country's cycling talent. On one side are the two relative veterans in their early thirties in Dombrowski and Craddock. Solid riders with solid upside (Dombrowski’s emphatic Giro stage win is still fresh in many American die-hard fans minds), but not world beaters. On the other side are four world-class talents in their twenties who all can win stages. This year it seems increasingly likely that the Americans will go from knocking on the door of Tour success to bursting through the threshold. Expect, as a whole, for this to be the year where Americans win multiple stages at the Tour de France and end up with a rider back in the top 10 in the GC by Paris.

• Team Team Visma | Lease a Bike
• Nationality United States of America
• UCI Wins 10
• Height 1.8m

Matteo Jorgenson

• Height 1.9m

Neilson Powless

• Team EF Education-EasyPost
• UCI Wins 11
• Height 1.83m

Quinn Simmons

• Team Lidl-Trek
• Height 1.82m

Joe Dombrowski

• Team Astana Qazaqstan Team
• Height 1.85m

Kevin Vermaerke

• Team Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
• Height 1.79m

Lawson Craddock

• Team Team Jayco-AlUla
• Height 1.78m

Tour de France

• Dates 1 Jul - 23 Jul
• Race Length 3,401 kms
• Race Category Elite Men

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Logan Jones-Wilkins is GCN’s North American junior writer. From Denver, Colorado, he covers North American and European cycling for the website.

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Tour de France 2023 route: Every stage of the 110th edition in detail

This year's race has kicked off in Bilbao, in Spain's Basque Country. It looks like it'll be a Tour for the climbers, with the Puy de Dôme returning and 56,400 metres of climbing in all

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• Stage summary
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The 2023 men's Tour de France began in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday, July 1, with a route that looks set to be one for the climbers. It features four summit finishes, including a return for the iconic Puy de Dôme climb for the first time since 1988.

There is just one time trial across the three-week event, a short uphill race against the clock from Passy to Combloux over 22km. There are also returns for other epic climbs like the Col de la Loze and the Grand Colombier, with 56,400 metres of climbing on the Tour de France 2023 route.

The race started on foreign soil for the second year in a row, with a Grand Départ in the Spanish Basque Country , the setting for the race's 120th anniversary. There were two hilly stages in Spain, before the peloton crossed the border into France for a stage finish in Bayonne on day three. 

After visiting Pau for the 74th time on stage five, the race's first real mountain test came on stage six, leaving Tarbes and cresting the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet before a summit finish in Cauterets. 

On stage seven, the Tour’s second most visited city, Bordeaux, will welcome its first stage finish since 2010, when Mark Cavendish claimed his 14th of a record 34 stage wins. Leaving nearby Libourne the next day, stage eight will head east on a 201km slog to Limoges. 

Before the first rest day, the riders will wind up to the summit of the Puy de Dôme, a dormant lava dome which hasn’t featured in the Tour for 35 years. They’ll then enjoy a well-earned day off in Clermont-Ferrand before continuing their passage through the Massif Central. 

France’s national holiday, 14 July, will be celebrated next year with a summit finish on the Grand Colombier, the site of Tadej Pogačar ’s second stage win back in 2020. From there, the mountains keep coming. The riders will climb over the Col de Joux Plaine to Morzine on stage 14, before another mountaintop test in Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc the next day. 

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The sole individual time trial of the Tour de Franc route comes on stage 16, when a hilly 22km dash from Passy to Combloux will give the GC contenders a chance to force time gaps. The following day will bring the stage with the highest elevation gain, counting 5000m of climbing en route to the Courchevel altiport, via the Cormet de Roselend and the monstrous Col de la Loze. 

On stages 18 and 19, the sprinters are expected to come to the fore, with flat finishes in Bourg-en-Bresse and Poligny. 

The penultimate stage will play out in the country’s most easterly region, ascending the Petit Ballon, Col du Platzerwasel and finishing in Le Markstein, as the Tour de France Femmes did last year. 

The riders will then undertake a 500km transfer to the outskirts of Paris for the curtain-closing stage. The final day will start at France’s national velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the track cycling venue for the 2024 Olympics, and will conclude with the customary laps of the capital’s Champs-Elysées. 

The 2023 Tour de France will begin on 1 July, with the winner crowned in Paris on 23 July. 

2023 Tour de France stage table

Jonas Vingegaard raced in the Basque Country this year

Tour de France route week summary

Tour de france week one.

The race began in Bilbao, starting in the Basque Country for the first time since 1992, when the Tour started in San Sebastian. The first two stages are packed full of climbs, with ten classified hills in over the opening couple of days, meaning there will be a fierce battle for the polka-dot jersey. Watch out for Basque fans going crazy on the roadside.

Stage three saw the race cross into France, which it will not leave for the rest of the 18 days. As expected we saw a sprint finish in Bayonne, even after four categorised climbs en-route. Nothing is easy this year.

The fourth day was another sprint, on a motor racing circuit in Nogaro, as the race moved, ominously, towards the Pyrenees. The Hors Categorie Col de Soudet on stage five was the first proper mountain of the race, and was followed by the Col de Marie Blanque, which has tough gradients. A GC day early on, although they are all GC days, really.

Stage five was a mountain top finish in Cauterets-Cambasque, but its gradients didn't catch too many out; it is the Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet that will put people through it.

The seventh day of the race was a chance for the riders to relax their legs as the race headed northwest to an almost nailed-on sprint finish, before another opportunity for the the remaining fast men presented itself on stage eight - after two category four climbs towards the end, and an uphill finish.

The long first week of the race - which will have felt longer because last year had a bonus rest day - ended with the mythical Puy de Dôme.

Tour de France week two

Magnus Cort in the breakaway on stage 10 of the Tour de France 2022

The second week begins with a lumpy road stage around Clermont-Ferrand, starting from a volcano-themed theme park. This will surely be a day for the break. The next day could also be one if the sprint teams fail to get their act together, with two early categorised climbs potential ambush points.

Back into the medium mountains on stage 12, with a finish in the wine making heartland of the Beaujolais, Belleville. Another day for the break, probably, but none of the five categorised climbs are easy.

The following day, stage 13, is France's national holiday, 14 Juillet. The Grand Colombier at the end of the day is the big attraction, with its slopes expected to cause shifts on the GC. Stage 14 is yet another mountain stage as the Tour really gets serious, with the Col de la Ramaz followed by the Col de Joux Plane. The latter, 11.6km at 8.5%, will be a real test for a reduced peloton, before a downhill finish into Morzine.

The final day of week two, stage 15, is yet another day in the Alps before a rest day in Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc. There is nothing as fearsome as the previous days, but 4527m of climbing should still be feared.

Tour de France week three

Tadej Pogačar in the final time trial at the 2022 Tour de France

The third and final week begins with the race's only time trial, 22km long and with a lot of uphill. It is not a mountain event, but it is certainly not one for the pure rouleurs .

Stage 17 looks like the race's Queen Stage, with the final climb up to the Col de la Loze looking incredibly tough on paper, and in real life. That follows the Col de Saisies, the Cormet de Roselend and the Côte de Longefoy, adding up to 5,100m of climbing. The race might be decided on this day.

After that, there is a nice day for the sprinters on stage 18, with a flat finish in Bourg-en-Bresse surely one for the fast men. The next day, stage 19 could be a breakaway day or a sprint finish, depending on how desperate teams are feeling, or how powerful the remaining leadout trains are.

The final mountainous day comes on the penultimate stage, with the men following the Femmes lead and finishing in Le Markstein. However, there's no Grand Ballon, just the Petit Ballon, and so unless something chaotic happens, there should not be great time switches on this stage.

Then, at last, there is the usual finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, after the race heads out of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, which has a long-term deal to host the start of Paris-Nice too. ASO country.

Remember, this will be the last time Paris hosts the Tour de France until 2025. So, be prepared.

Tour de France 2023: The stages

Stage one: Bilbao to Bilbao (182km)

The opening stage is very lumpy

There was no easing into the Tour de France for the peloton this year, with a tough, punchy day in the Basque Country. Adam Yates took the first yellow jersey of the 2023 Tour de France after a scintillating stage in the Basque Country that saw the overall battle for the Tour take shape at the earliest opportunity.

The Briton emerged clear over the top of the final climb of the stage, the short and steep Côte de Pike, with his twin brother Simon a few seconds behind him. The pair worked well together to stay clear of the chasing bunch of GC contenders before Adam rode his brother off his wheel inside the final few hundred metres to claim victory.

Stage two: Vitoria-Gasteiz to Saint Sebastian (208.9km)

Still in the Basque Country, there is a Klasikoa theme to stage two

This was the longest stage of the Tour, surprisingly.  Five more categorised climbs meant  it was unlikely to be a sprint stage, including the Jaizkibel, famous from the Clasica San Sebastian, tackled on its eastern side 20km from the finish. This second stage from Vitoria Gasteiz to San Sebastian on the Basque coast followed many of the roads of the San Sebastian Classic, held here every summer.

An early break was soon established in the first 50km and established a three-minute advantage. However, the break was reeled in and a group, including the yellow jersey Adam Yates, pressed towards the finish with Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) clearly hoping it would finish in a sprint. 

Victor Lafay (Cofidis) had other ideas however, and with all and sundry already having attacked Van Aert, Lafay finally made it stick with a kilometre to go, holding off the reduced bunch all the way to the line.

Stage three: Amorebiata-Etxano to Bayonne (187.4km)

Still some hills, but this should be a sprint stage

The third stage took the riders from Amorebieta-Etxano in the Basque Country and back into France, finishing at Bayonne in what was always tipped to be a bunch sprint.  Ultimately, despite a very strong showing in the leadout by Fabio Jakobsen's Soudal-Quick Step team, it was Jasper Philipsen who triumphed , having benefited from a deluxe leadout by team-mate Mathieu Van Der Poel.

Mark Cavendish, who is hunting for a record 35th stage win in what will be his final Tour de France, was sixth.

Stage four: Dax to Nogaro (181.8km)

A nailed on bunch sprint, surely. Surely!

Now this one was always going to be a sprint finish, right? It finished on a motor racing circuit in Nogaro, meaning teams have a long old time to sort their leadout trains.  After a sleepy day out all hell broke lose on the finishing circuit with a series of high speed crashes. Jasper Philipsen was one of the few sprinters to still have a lead-out man at his disposal and when that lead-out man is of the quality of Mathieu van der Poel he was always going to be very difficult to beat. So it proved with Australian Caleb Ewan chasing him down hard but unable to come around him.  Philipsen's win handed him the green jersey too .

Stage five: Pau to Laruns (162.7km)

The first proper mountain, and the first sorting out, as early as stage five

The first Hors Categorie climb of the race came on stage five, the Col de Soudet, which is 15.2km at 7.2%, before the Col de Marie-Blanque and its steep gradients. It certainly ignited the GC battle!  

A break that at one point contained 37 riders was never allowed more than a few minutes, but that proved unwise for Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar behind. Ultimately, with the break already splintering on the final big climb – the Col de Marie-Blanque – Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), riding his first Tour de France, attacked. 

With Hindley time trialling the largely downhill 18km to the finish, Vingegaard attempted to chase him down – and put time into Pogačar as he did so.

Picking up strays from the early break on the way, Vingegaard got to within 34 seconds of Hindley, but it wasn't enough to stop the Australian from taking the stage win, and the yellow jersey .

Stage six: Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque (144.9km)

While in the Pyrenees, why not tackle a few more mountains?

A day of aggressive racing in the Pyrenees towards the first summit finish saw Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) take the yellow jersey but Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) win the stage .

Having had his team set a blistering pace on the Col du Tourmalet, Vingegaard attacked with 4km until the summit. Only Pogačar could follow him as yellow jersey holder Jai Hindley dropped back to the peloton

Having joined up with super domestique Wout van Aert over the top, the group of favourites were towed up the first half of the final climb before Vingegaard attacked. Once again Pogačar followed and with two kilometers to go the Slovenian counter-attacked.

He clawed back nearly half a minute by the line, making the race for yellow a three horse race between those two and Hindley in the process. 

Stage seven: Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux (169.9km)

Bordeaux is always a sprint finish

Renowned as a sprint finish town, Bordeaux didn't disappoint the hopeful fastmen –except perhaps for Mark Cavendish, who had to concede victory to hat-trick man Jasper Philipsen, despite a very strong charge for the line from the Manxman .

With Cavendish hunting that elusive 35th record stage win, and having won here last time the Tour came visiting in 2010, many eyes were on the Astana Qazaqstan rider, with on-form Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who has won twice already, starting as favourite.

The day began with Arkéa-Samsic's Simon Gugliemi forging what turned out to be a solo break that lasted 130 kilometres. He was joined by Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Nans Peters (Ag2r-Citroën) halfway through the stage, the trio forming a purposeful triumvirate of home riders.

However, with the sprinters and their teams on the hunt and few places to hide on what was a hot day crammed with long, straight roads, the break served only as a placeholder for the day's main action in Bordeaux.

A technical finish with roundabouts aplenty, first Jumbo-Visma (in the service of GC leader Jonas Vingegaard) and then Alpecin-Deceuninck took the race by the scruff of the neck in the final. Philipsen enjoyed a marquee leadout from team-mate Mathieu Van Der Poel, but when Cavendish turned on the afterburners at around 150m and leapt forward, the whole cycling world held its breath.

That 35th stage win had to wait for another day though, with Philipsen sweeping past in what was yet another command performance from the Belgian.

Stage eight: Libourne to Limoges (200.7km)

Three categorised climbs in the final 70km could catch people out

Mads Pedersen powered to victory up a punchy finish on stage eight of the  Tour de France , managing to hold off green jersey  Jasper Philipsen  in the process.

Pedersen, the Lidl-Trek rider, now has two Tour stage wins to his name, in a finish which mixed pure sprinters and punchier riders. Alpecin-Deceuninck's Philipsen was third, with Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in third. To prove how mixed the top ten was, however, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) finished behind the likes of Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis).

On a day which could have been one for the breakaway, the race was controlled expertly by Jumbo, Trek and Alpecin for their options, and so the escapees were never allowed much time. Sadly, stage eight turned out to Mark Cavendish's last - the Astana-Qazaqstan rider crashed heavily and was forced to abandon .

Stage nine: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dôme (184km)

The Puy de Dôme is back, and is vicious

In a north American showdown it was Canada that came out on top as  Michael Woods  beat American rival  Matteo Jorgenson  to the win atop the legendary Puy de Dôme.

Jorgenson had gone solo form a breakaway with 40km left to race. However, on the slopes of the Puy de Dôme where the gradient remains over 105 for more than four kilometres, Woods closed the gap and came around Jorgenson with just 600m left to go.

In the final kilometre, of what had been a blisteringly hot day with temperatures north of 30 degree Celsius, Tadej Pogačar managed to drop Jonas Vingegaard but the Jumbo-Visma captain dug deep to minimise his losses and came across the line eight seconds down.

Stage 10: Vulcania to Issoire (162.7km)

Five categorised climbs over this Volcanic stage

The breakaway had its day in Issoire, as Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) won beneath the scorching sun in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. 

After a frantic start, the mood finally settled and a 14-rider move went clear. Krists Neilands (Israel Premier Tech) launched a solo bid with around 30km remaining, but was caught in the closing moments by a chasing group led by Bilbao. The Spaniard then policed attacks in the finale, before sprinting to his team's first victory at this year's race. 

"For Gino," Bilbao said afterwards, dedicating his win to his late teammate, Gino Mäder .  

Stage 11: Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins (179.8km)

The flat finalé hints at a sprint, but it could be a break day

After a difficult previous day that was hot and hilly, the bunch allowed the break to go very quickly, with Andrey Amador, Matis Louvel and Daniel Oss quickly gaining three minutes. They were kept on a tight leash though, with the sprinters' teams eyeing a bunch finish. And this they delivered, with Jasper Philipsen winning a fourth stage after a tricky finale.

Stage 12: Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais (168.8km)

Hills return, with some steep, punchy ones towards the end

Just like stage ten, Thursday's stage 12 was a fast and frenetic affair on the road to Belleville-en-Beaujolais. A strong group of puncheur type riders eventually got up the road after the breakaway took more than 80 kilometres to form. Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) came out on top at the finish, soloing to the line after a big attack on the final climb of the day. 

Stage 13: Châtillon-Sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier (138km)

Welcome to the Alps, here's an hors categorie climb

Michał Kwiatkowski took an impressive solo victory on the summit finish of the Grand Colombier. The Polish rider caught and passed the remnants of the day's breakaway which included Great Britain's James Shaw to grab his second-ever Tour stage win. Behind the Ineos rider, Tadej Pogačar attacked and took eight seconds back on Jonas Vingegaard in the fight for the yellow jersey. 

Stage 14: Annemasse to Morzine Les Portes du Soleil (151.8km)

Five categorised climbs, four of which are one and above. Ouch.

Carlos Rodríguez announced himself on his Tour de France debut on stage 14 with a career-defining victory in Morzine. While all eyes were on Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar, the Spaniard broke free on the descent of the Col de Joux Plane and descended as if on rails to the finish. 

Stage 15: Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc (179km)

Back to a summit finish, there is no escape at this Tour

The breakaway had its day at the summit of Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc. After dedicating his career to domestique duties, the victory went to Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), who launched a late attack on the steepest slopes and held off Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) to the line.

Stage 16: Passy to Combloux ITT (22.4km)

A time trial! But not a flat one

Stage 16 brought the fewest time trial kilometres at the Tour de France in 90 years. On the uphill test to Combloux, Jonas Vingegaard proved the strongest , and by quite a way, too. The Dane's winning margin of 1-38 over Tadej Pogačar left him in the driving seat to taking his second Tour title.

Stage 17: Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc to Courchevel (165.7km)

Back to  the proper mountains, and there will be no let up on the final Wednesday

The Queen stage brought a career-defining victory for Austrian Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën), but all eyes were on the GC battle, and the demise of Tadej Pogačar. The UAE Team Emirates rider cracked on the slopes of the Col de la Loze, losing almost six minutes to Jonas Vingegaard, and slipping to 7-35 in the overall standings.

Stage 18: Moûtiers to Bourg-en-Bresse (184.9km)

Two category four climbs on the road to a chicken-themed sprint

Denmark's Kasper Asgreen put in one of the best performances of the race to grab his first-ever Tour victory . The Soudal Quick-Step rider was part of a four man breakaway that managed to hold on all the way to the line by just a handful of seconds ahead of the peloton.

Stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny (172.8km)

Another sprint, maybe, or a heartbreaking chase which fails to bring the breakaway back

Matej Mohorič of Bahrain Victorious took an emotional victory in Poligny after a chaotic day of racing. The Slovenian rider launched an attack with Kasper Asgreen and Ben O'Connor on the final climb of the hilly stage before beating his breakaway compatriots in a three-up sprint for the line. It was Mohorič's third-ever Tour victory.

Stage 20: Belfort to Le Markstein Fellering (133.5km)

One last chance. Six categorised climbs, will it shake up the GC?

The race might be very near Germany at this point, but Belfort remained French after the Franco-Prussian War, unlike the territory the penultimate stage travels into. 

This is the last chance saloon for all teams and riders who aren’t sprinters, especially those with GC ambitions. However, it is not quite the task of the previous Alpine days, with the six categorised climbs not the most testing. Still, there will be a lot of people trying to make things happen.

Stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to Paris (115.1km)

The classic Parisian sprint. Lovely.

This will be the last time the Tour heads to Paris until at least 2025, so make the most of those shots of the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. The classic procession will happen for the first 55km until the race hits the Champs for the first time 60km in. From that point on, anything goes, although that anything will probably be a bunch sprint.

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Adam is Cycling Weekly ’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.

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Results and Highlights From the 2023 Tour de France

Stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights from this year’s race.

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Read below for stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights from each stage of the 2023 Tour de France

Stage Winner : Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe)

Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) was a surprise winner of Stage 21 of the 2023 Tour de France. Meeus won a sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées over the Tour’s top sprinters, Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, and Mads Pedersen.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) enjoyed some champagne on the ride in and was officially crowned winner of the Tour de France for a second year, winning by 7 minutes, 29 seconds over second place Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)—by the largest margin of victory since 2014.

Final General Classification Standings

• Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): 82:05:42
• Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): -7:29
• Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates): -10:56
• Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla): -12:23
• Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers): -13:17

Stage Winner : Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won Stage 20 of the 2023 Tour de France. Pogačar was able to outsprint Jonas Vingegaard and a few other strong riders at the on the flat drag at the top of the Col du Platzerwasel. The win was Pogačar’s second stage win of the this Tour and his 11th career Tour stage win. Vingegaard was third to Pogačar (Stage 17 winner Felix Gall was second), losing just a few bonus seconds, and maintaining his lead in the yellow jersey competition heading into the mostly ceremonial final Stage 21.

The Winner of the Day

He won’t win the yellow jersey in this year’s Tour de France, but Tadej Pogačar was able to go out with a bang on Saturday. Pogačar won a sprint to the finish on a mountain stage—something he’s done many times in the Tour de France. But this win comes only a few days after Pogačar cracked on Stage 17 and effectively lost the GC to Vingegaard. Pogačar never lost faith, securing his 11th TdF stage win and his fourth white jersey of his still very young career.

The Other Winner of the Day

Of course, we be remiss not to mention Jonas Vingegaard, who did exactly what he needed to do on the penultimate stage to win the 2023 Tour de France—barring a Sunday disaster. Stage 20, in fact, mirrored a lot of what Vingegaard was able to do during the middle portion of the Tour, prior to his big gains on the Stage 16 TT and the Stage 17 mountain stage. He hung right with Pogačar and never let his top rival’s advantage on a given stage swell too much. Vingegaard, of course, is a worthy champion that will enjoy some champagne on the Champs-Élysées.

And One More Winner of the Day

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Lidl) earned maximum points on the first four categorized climbs of the stage, and with it, claimed the King of the Mountains classification at the 2023 Tour de France (as long as he crosses the finish on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday). Ciccone seized the polka dot jersey on Stage 15 and rode brilliantly to pick up points where he could throughout the Tour’s final week. Ciccone becomes the first rider to win the KOM and not win the GC in the same Tour since Romain Bardet in 2019. Sometimes it’s more fun when we spread the wealth.

Best Moment of the Day

It wasn’t a big surprise to see Thibaut Pinot get in the breakaway on the last mountain stage of his storied Tour de France career. And I guess it’s not much of a big surprise that Pinot launched a solo attack with over 30K to go in the stage. The three-time TdF stage winner put on a show for the home fans in France on Stage 20, and what a sight it was to see his supporters on his solo ride up the Petit Ballon. The dream wasn’t to be though, as the yellow jersey group caught Pinot up the Col du Platzerwasel. Merci, Thibaut. Merci.

Stage Winner : Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious)

It doesn’t get any closer than that! Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) took a sprint finish to win Stage 19 of the 2023 Tour de France. Mohorič got in a breakaway that included many of the top sprinters and classics riders. That breakaway included the likes of Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen, so Mohorič knew he had to make a move early and that’s exactly what he did, breaking free, along with Stage 18 winner Kasper Asgreen and Ben O’Connor, of that breakaway with 30K to go in the stage.

Despite a good effort by the chasers—including Philpsen, his Alpecin teammate Mathieu van der Poel, and Pederson—to try and bring back the three attackers, they ultimately couldn’t gain ground and seemed to lack full cooperation. But the pure strength of Mohorič, Asgreen, and O’Connor showed through. Down the final stretch, O’Connor, knowing his speed couldn’t match that of Mohorič or Asgreen, made his move, but that was quickly answered by the pair and it was a drag race between Mohorič and Asgreen, who gapped O’Connor and made their dash for the line. It was a photo finish, but Mohorič narrowly edged out Asgreen for the stage win.

Stage Winner : Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step)

Kasper Asgreen won Stage 18 of the Tour de France in dramatic fashion. Asgreen got in the original breakaway of the day at kilometer zero. On a stage that seemed destined for a sprint finish out of the peloton, Asgreen and the others in the break managed to fend off the hungry peloton. Asgreen outsprinted Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) for the win at line.

The Biggest Winner of the Day

It’s no secret that it’s been a rough Tour de France for the Soudal Quick-Step team. The team’s top sprinter, Fabio Jakobsen, withdrew from the race after Stage 12. The squad’s top stage hunting threat, Julian Alaphilippe, has struggled to be a factor in any stage. But Asgreen got Soudal Quick-Step off the schneid Thursday, winning in the most unlikely of ways. Asgreen got himself in the early break and held out just long enough to claim the Stage 18 victory—the first grand tour stage win of his career.

The Biggest Loss of the Day

This goes to anyone from the peloton that was hoping to get the stage win today. The flat stage was tailor-made for the pure sprinters, but the peloton struggled to pull back the four-man breakaway. It seemed in the last 10K that a catch was inevitable, but the break stayed strong and held out just long enough. Alpecin-Deceuninck, which has already racked up four stage wins this Tour, is the team that loses the most on the day. Their top sprinter Jasper Philipsen—responsible for those four wins—was fourth on the stage and the top finisher from the peloton. It would have been his stage to win—if the peloton caught the break, that is.

Stage Winner: Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën)

Felix Gall won Stage 17 of the Tour de France, a stage that ended up being the craziest of the 2023 Tour so far. Gall made his move from the breakaway and rode away from a talented group of riders to claim the first grand tour stage win of his career.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of fireworks behind Gall. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) cracked on the stage losing well over five minutes to Jonas Vingegaard in the yellow jersey. Vingeagaard placed fourth on the stage and gained a significant amount of time that will likely carry him to Paris in the maillot jaune.

We’ll get to the stage winner shortly, but first we must acknowledge that Vingegaard won the 2023 Tour de France on Wednesday. First, Pogačar massively cracked on the Col de la Loze, then Vingagaard went on the offensive to deliver the dagger. Vingegaard finished fourth on the stage, 1:52 back of the stage winner Gall, but more importantly, he gained 5:45 on the man that was by his side for the first 15 stages of the Tour, Pogačar. With just four stages remaining, Vingegaard now leads by a whopping 7:35 over Pogačar. Assuming he stays upright, Vingegaard will win his second straight Tour de France on Sunday.

The Other Biggest Winner of the Day

Felix Gall has been one of the Tour’s revelations, and on Wednesday he confirmed that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with for the future in the WorldTour. The 25-year-old, who entered the day in 10th place in the GC, conquered the Col de la Loze and rode to the win on the stage that many have called “the hardest of the Tour.” Gall emerged on the radar after he took the polka dot jersey after Stage 5 of this year’s Tour. But now he earned his signature moment, winning on an absolutely brutal day in France. Gall moves up the eighth in the GC, but more importantly, he’s etched his name into TdF history forever.

After losing over a minute and a half to the yellow jersey on Tuesday, Pogačar effectively lost the 2023 Tour de France on Wednesday. Pogačar didn’t ride a bad individual time trial on Tuesday’s Stage 16, despite losing 1:38 to Vingegaard. But on Wednesday’s Stage 17, Pogačar had the worst day we’ve ever seen the 24-year-old have at the Tour de France. “I’m gone. I’m dead,” Pogačar said to his team over the radio during the stage after he cracked and lost over five minutes to Vingegaard ending what was a terrific GC battle through the first 16 stages of the Tour.

Other Notable Gains from a Wild Stage

Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla) made the day’s biggest jump within the top 10 of the GC. While he was second on the stage for the second time this Tour (though this time it was to someone other than his twin brother), Yates moved from eighth to fifth. He’s 12:19 behind the yellow jersey, but just 18 seconds behind Carlos Rodriguez for fourth place in the GC. Simon’s twin brother Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), meanwhile, was able to further solidify his spot on the podium. Adam Yates is in third place with a 1:16 advantage on Rodriguez, who lost time today.

Stage Winner : Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) roared to the Stage 16 win in the 2023 Tour de France’s lone individual time trial. Vingegaard put down an incredible TT over 22.4km and he won the stage by 1:38 over second place Tadej Pogačar, who also happens to be his biggest rival in the GC battle. Vingegaard earned his Jumbo-Visma team its first stage win of the Tour, and more importantly, he made the most significant time gains of the Tour so far.

Jonas Vingegaard is the clear winner of the stage and quite likely the entire 2023 Tour de France after Tuesday. Vingegaard, the defending Tour champion, put down the individual time trial of his life on Tuesday—a day after the rest day—providing further evidence of the Magic of the Yellow Jersey. Vingegaard’s hold on the yellow jersey was just 10 seconds entering Stage 16, but it ballooned all the way to 1:48 after the time trial—a margin that will most likely prove decisive in the battle for the maillot jaune. After a lot of back and forth between Vingegaard and Pogačar in the mountains during the first 15 stages, Vingegaard dealt Pogačar the first major blow of this Tour.

Tadej Pogačar had the second best time of the day on Stage 16—a minute and 13 seconds ahead of Wout Van Aert!—but he may have lost the 2023 Tour de France Tuesday. Very little has separated Vingegaard and Pogačar during the first two weeks of the Tour, but Vingegaard tacking 1:38 in addition to his 10-second advantage on the individual time trial may prove to be decisive in the GC battle. It’s, of course, never over until it’s over. Pogačar will have two significant mountain stages before the Tour reaches Paris on Sunday, so the chances are there. But psychologically, it will be tough for Pogačar to regroup after Tuesday’s time trial.

While it’s clear that Jumbo-Visma’s energy at the 2023 Tour de France has been focused on helping Vingegaard win the yellow jersey—something they’ve been very successful at!—it was still surprising to see the Dutch superteam without a stage win through the first two weeks of the Tour. That changed on Tuesday, thanks to the maillot jaune himself. Vingegaard rode an unbelievable TT to Stage 16 to claim the stage win by 1:38. Surely, the GC gains are the most important, but Jumbo-Visma won’t be too upset to finally snag a TdF stage win in 2023.

Stage Winner : Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious)

Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) won Stage 15 of the 2023 Tour de France, capturing the win from the breakaway and beating a talented group to claim the first TdF stage victory of his career.

Poels spent a lot of time in the breakaway on Sunday, but his strength showed throughout the entire day. He stayed patient in the break and joined an attacking group with around 35K to go in the stage. That quartet included Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates). In the early parts of the final climb of the day—Mont Blanc—Poels made his move on Van Aert and extended his lead from there.

The Biggest Loser of the Day

Normally we call this section”The Biggest Loss of the Day” because it sounds nicer. But we’ll throw that out of the window for this one. The biggest loser of the day on Sunday was the fan that interfered with the peloton early in Stage 15, causing a massive crash.

It’s got to be the fans! Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) battled up the Mont Blanc and finished together at the finish of Stage 15. Vingegaard’s yellow jersey advantage remains at 10 seconds as we enter the rest day on Monday before the final week of the Tour de France. The margins couldn’t be closer, and who doesn’t love a tremendously close GC battle in the Tour de France? Fans will enjoy an action-packed—and surely attack-filled—final week of this Tour.

Stage Winner : Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers)

Spain’s Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) won Stage 14 of the 2023 Tour de France during a wild day in the GC. Rodriguez was dropped on the final climb up the Joux Plane, but he was able to return on the ensuing descent, and gap the two GC leaders and ride to the stage win—the second in as many days for INEOS—and improve his own GC positioning.

We expected to see GC fireworks on Stage 14 and we got exactly that. But at the end of the stage, there ultimately wasn’t a ton of change at least as far as the top two in the Tour were concerned. So therefore, the biggest winner of the day is Carlos Rodriguez and his INEOS Grenadiers team. Rodriguez capitalized on Pogačar and Vingegaard focusing on the overall GC situation. He seized his opportunity on the descent in the run-in to the finish and claimed victory on the day and moved into the podium, now sitting in third place overall in the GC, 4:43 back of the yellow jersey.

As we watched the absolute most thrilling stage of the 2023 Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar had Jonas Vingegaard on the ropes and was ready to launch an attack as they approached the top of the Col de Joux Plane. But that plan was foiled. Pogačar attacked, but was forced to stop his acceleration when the motorbikes got in the way. Eventually, Vingegaard was the one to attack and gain the time bonuses on offer at the top of the climb. You can blame the fans. You can blame the motorbikes. But maybe your blame should go to the race organizers, who should have had barrier set up to remove the chance of any interference with the battling riders.

The Other Biggest Loss of the Day

With 146K to go in Stage 14, a massive crash involved a majority of the peloton, leading to the abandonment of five riders. The race was also neutralized—a good decision by the race officials given that there wasn’t even a breakaway formed at the time of the crash. After losing GC hope Richard Carapaz, EF Education EasyPost’s Esteban Chaves and James Shaw were caught up in the crash and forced to abandon the Tour. Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar) and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) also abandoned.

And How About One More Winner of the Day

Despite the motorbikes/fans/race organizers spoiling what could have been a perfect day for Pogačar, the Solvenian’s ability to withstand the torrid pace set all day long by the Jumbo-Visma squad is a big win. Ultimately, Pogačar lost one second to Vingegaard and now trails by 10 seconds in the GC standings, but he’s shown that he may hold a slight advantage in form over Vingegaard. It’s going to be a wild last week of racing.

Stage Winner

Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) won Stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France, The 33-year-old won the stage atop the “Beyond Category” Grand Colombier after spending all day in the breakaway and then attacking what was left of it on the lower slopes of the final climb. It was clear throughout most of the 137.8km ride from Châtillon-Sur-Chalaronne to the summit of the Grand Colombier that UAE Team Emirates wanted to set-up Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar for the win. But Kwiatokoski, a super-domestique with an impressive resume of his own, proved too strong to catch, holding-off Belgium’s Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Soudal) and then Pogačar to take the second Tour de France stage victory of his career.

Biggest Winner of the Day

While they didn’t win the stage, UAE Team Emirates has to be feeling good about its chances of winning its third Tour de France in four years. The team rode an impressive race from start to finish, lined-up at the front of the peloton throughout much of the day and setting a ferocious pace on the final climb to whittle down the yellow jersey group. But that was just an amuse bouche, as Great Britain’s Adam Yates attacked the group about 2 kilometers from the summit, drawing out Vingegaard’s teammate Sepp Kuss, and then Vingegaard and Pogačar themselves. Pogačar saved his own attack for the final ramp to the finish line, and while Vingegaard was able to follow at first he soon succumbed to the Slovenian’s acceleration. Jumbo-Visma clearly thinks the Alps will prove to be the Tour’s most important battlegrounds, but UAE is confident, strong, and looks to have all the firepower they need to win the Tour.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day

Kwiatkowski seems to have been given a free role at INEOS, chasing breakaways despite the fact that the team has two riders, Spain’s Carlos Rodríguez and Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock, in the top-10 overall. The 33-year-old rewarded the team’s faith today, ensuring that no matter what happens with its young GC riders, the team won’t go home from the Tour empty-handed.

Unsung Hero/Head-Scratcher

If you watched earlier seasons of the Movistar documentary “The Least Expected Day” on Netflix, then Spain’s Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) should be a familiar name to you. (And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?) The mercurial rider is immensely talented, but he often gave his directors and teammates headaches by making some bone-headed decisions from time to time. After transferring to UAE Team Emirates after the 2021 season, the 29-year-old is now one of Pogačar’s most important domestiques, which he showed with his pace-setting midway up the Grand Colombier. But just for good measure, he also showed why Movistar found him so frustrating: once he pulled off from the yellow jersey group, he caught back on to the back of it, which meant he must have had a little left in the tank that he could have given while he was on the front. His directors will certainly discuss this with him before tomorrow’s stage.

What Were They Thinking?

Intermediate sprints are usually designed for, um, sprinters. But today’s came in the town of Hauteville-Lompnes, midway up a long, gradual climb. We get that these are business decisions (towns pay lots of money to host the Tour’s intermediate sprints), but we can’t help but wonder what the Tour organizers were thinking today. Our best guess is that there were few bidders to host the sprint, leaving ASO with no other choice but to put it on a plateau.

Biggest Loser of the Day

Today was Bastille Day and the French were out in force on the Grand Colombier–so much so that the ascent was closed to anyone hoping to climb it early in the morning. But they had little to cheer for thanks to a lackluster showing from the Tour’s French riders. Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) did his best, attacking on the lower slopes of the Grand Colombier only to be caught by Kwiatkoski and others a little while later.To make matters worse, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Romain Bardet (DSM-firmenich) were both dropped from the yellow jersey group thanks to the pace set by UAE Team Emirates, leaving David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) as the home nation’s best chance for a high finish in Paris (although that’s a bit of stretch given the fact that he’s ninth overall and almost 7 minutes beyond Vingegaard).

Best North American

Sepp Kuss rode valiantly on behalf of Vingegaard, covering Yates’ attack near the top of the Colombier and then hanging on to finish twelfth on the stage. He’s now back into the Tour’s top-10 overall, but will likely sacrifice himself for the sake of Vingegaard in the Alps, where his team thinks the race will be decided.

Rookie of the Day

Riding his first Tour de France and only his second grand tour, Rodríguez maintained his position on the Tour’s General Classification, ending the day fourth overall, 4:48 behind Vingegaard. INEOS is happy to let the 22-year-old (and Pidcock) follow wheels in the yellow jersey group, giving them the space and the freedom to ride their best Tours possible without any pressure from the team.

There’s still a lot of race left, but Rodríguez looks to be a true podium contender–if he can somehow overcome the nearly two minutes that separate him from Australia’s Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe), who currently sits third overall.

Another Two Bite the Dust

Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan (Lotto Destny) was dropped about 55km from the end of the stage and abandoned the Tour soon after. Ewan barely survived the time cut on Stage 13 and was seen clutching his abdomen after getting dropped. Once thought to be a rider who would dominate Tour field sprints for years, Ewan now hasn’t won a stage at the Tour since 2020. INEOS also lost one its domestiques: Great Britain’s Ben Turner. It’s a good thing Kwiatkowski won a stage today, because without Turner, the team will need him to stay back and support Rodríguez and Pidcock in the Alps.

Stage Winner : Ion Izagirre (Cofidis)

Make it two stage wins for the Cofidis team in the 2023 Tour de France. That’s thanks to a brilliant Stage 12 ride by Ion Izagirre. With 30K to go on the final climb of the day, Izagirre broke free of the breakaway that included the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, riding to the day’s stage win. For Izagirre, it’s his second career stage win—he won

Let’s hear it again for Cofidis! The French team ended a 15-year Tour de France stage win drought on Stage 2 when Victor Lafay rode to the victory. But they weren’t finished there. Izagirre made his move on the Mathieu van der Poel and the rest of the breakaway at the perfect time and rode clear to the win. Cofidis also had Gui Martin positioned nicely in that select breakaway as a backup plan. It was terrific execution on the day during what has been a dream Tour for Cofidis.

Thibaut Pinot was surely going for a stage win on Thursday; it was not to be. But the 33-year-old from Groupama-FDJ, riding in his final Tour de France, made the move into the top ten of GC. He shot up from 15th overall, 9:36 behind the yellow jersey to tenth overall, 6:30 down. It’s likely not the last we’ve seen of Pinot’s stage win attempts in this year’s Tour, but regardless, it’s cool to see the veteran in the top ten overall.

The Heartbreak of the Day—and the Whole Tour (So Far)

It’s been a strong couple weeks for American Matteo Jorgensen. But unfortunately for the Movistar rider, he doesn’t have a stage win to show for it. Few riders—if any—have spent more time in the breakaway during the first 12 stages of the Tour, but the big win has been just out of his grasp. No defeat was more heartbreaking than Sunday’s Stage 9 on the Puy de Dôme. On Stage 12, Jorgensen appeared to be the strongest rider in the group chasing Izagirre, but he left it too late. He launched a number of (ultimately futile) attempts to try and bridge the gap, but it wasn’t to be. The good news for the American is that there are plenty of pro-breakaway stages remaining for him to try and claim his well-deserved glory.

Stage Winner : Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Jasper Philipsen won Stage 11 of the 2023 Tour de France, picking up his fourth stage win so far and continuing to assert his dominance in the sprints. It was a wet and technical finish in Moulins on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop Philipsen, who sprinted past Dylan Groenewegen in the closing meters to claim win No. 4 of the Tour.

Philipsen has proven himself to be the king of the sprints in this year’s Tour de France, capturing his fourth stage victory in the first 11 stages. Additionally, he improved upon his lead in the green jersey points competition. He now leads that by a staggering 145 points. What’s perhaps most impressive about his Stage 11 victory was that he did it without the aid of his top Alpecin-Deceuninck comrade Mathieu van der Poel, who was not spotted up front in the run in to the finish. Philipsen has proven that he can win in multiple different ways and he could be well on his way to a second straight Stage 21 victory in Paris.

Another day, another goose egg in the stage win column for Soudal-QuickStep. The QuickStep team was right at the head of the peloton for much of the ride into the finish in Moulins, working for Fabio Jakobsen, but in the final sprint, Jakobsen was a non-factor sitting on the back of the bunch and ultimately finishing 16th on the day. Jakobsen crashed during the tricky Stage 4 finish, and it appears the sprinter hasn’t fully recovered from those injuries.

The Close Call of the Day

Well, that could have been bad. As the pace ramped up with just over 5K to go in the stage, the Jumbo-Visma train was at the front with Soudal Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe sandwiched in between then. The yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard made his way along the edge of the road next to Alaphilippe and—perhaps not noticing him—Alaphilippe drifted towards Vingegaard and the pair nearly collided. Thankfully, nothing happened and Alaphilippe gave the maillot jaune an apologetic tap of the back and the run into the finish continued.

Stage Winner : Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)

Pello Bilbao won a sprint out of the breakaway to claim the Stage 10 victory after a thrilling of racing.

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) takes his first Tour de France stage win at 33-years-old. This is the first win by a Spanish rider in 100 stages. He also slides into the top 5 for the overall standings. Bilbao rode an incredibly smart sprint, shielding himself with Zimmermann and O’Connor as long as possible before throwing the hammer down. Bilbao becomes the 5th first-time stage winner of the tour. In his post-ride interview he dedicated his ride to Gino Mäder, who died recently after suffering a terrible crash in the Tour de Suisse.

Krists Neilands (Israel–Premier Tech) rode a perfectly aggressive race, earned the KOM points on Côte de la Chapelle-Marcousse (Cat 3), and just kept building his lead in front of the two chase groups. With 10 km to go, the team radio told him, “It’s the day of your life, the day of your life, let’s go.” But with less than a kilometer to go, he couldn’t hold off the chasers. He put up an incredible battle and came away with 4th place.

Biggest Villain(s) of the Day

The road and the heat. Man-eating speed bumps, loads of gravel, and chipped pavement all made fast descents even more dangerous than usual. And by the end of the race, temperatures soared to 97-degrees and riders had a hard time staying hydrated. Groups of 4-5 stuck together just to survive.

Newest Race Strategy?

Sometimes race leaders wait until the last mile to make their move. And sometimes they do it with 100 miles to go. Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard went on the attack early in the race to split the peloton. That set the pace for an aggressive day. Still with 48 miles to go there was a 14-man breakaway that took off. The pace throughout the stage was bonkers, making it difficult for such riders as Wout van Aert, who always wants to be the one to set an ambitious pace. Riders started dropping like flies with 30 km to go.

The peloton eventually calmed down and came together, led entirely by Jumbo-Visma.

Cutest Couple

Frenemies and cyclocross stars Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert worked together for a bit to attack out of the peloton with 40 km to go. They broke up after 10 km of riding together as Wout dropped Mathieu to ride on. They proved that when conditions are tough, working with anyone is better than no one.

Stage Winner: Mike Woods (Israel-PremierTech)

Canada’s Mike Woods (Israel-PremierTech) won Stage 9 atop the Hors Categorie (“Beyond Category”) Puy de Dôme, one of the most famous climbs in Tour history. The 36-year-old from Toronto paced himself from the base of the climb, catching four riders on his way to his first Tour de France stage victory.

France’s Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) finished second and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) finished third. After an aggressive day of racing from the breakaway, American Neilson Powless held on to finish sixth on the Puy de Dôme, extending his lead in the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. He’ll wear the polka dot jersey into the first rest day and to start the Tour’s second week

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) clawed back 8 more seconds, and now sits just 17 seconds behind Denmarks’ Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on the Tour’s General Classification. It seems like an eternity since the two-time Tour winner lost over a minute to Vingegaard at the end of Stage 5, and he’s now regained almost all the time he conceded. More importantly, after gapping the Dane on Stage 6 and Stage 9’s summit finishes, he clearly has a mental edge of his biggest rival to win the Tour.

American Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) attacked the 14-rider breakaway with about 40km to go, heading up the road on his own and slowly extending his lead. Helped by the fact that the four riders chasing him weren’t working well together, it looked for a while as if the 24-year-old from Boise, Idaho was about to take his first Tour de France stage win.

But as the climb steepened, word came that Woods was steadily closing the gap from further down the mountain, and before we knew it, there he was. Jorgenson was clearly running on fumes as first Woods and then France’s Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) caught the American. He ended the day one spot away from the podium, a painful result considering how close he came to winning–and his two fourth-place finishes in last year’s Tour.

Best Mathlete

American Neilson Powless went on the attack again today, joining the breakaway in an attempt to pad his lead in the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. Well, Powless needs to send a thank you note to his elementary school math teacher (or at least his director sportif): by winning each of categorized climbs in the middle of the stage, Powless ensured that he had enough points to keep the polka dot jersey–no matter what happened on the Puy de Dôme, which awarded 20 points to the rider who was first to the summit. Powless’ sixth-place finish on the stage earned him another six KOM points, extending his lead even more.

Powless now leads Austria’s Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) by 18 points and with only 16 points available between Stages 10 and 11, the American is guaranteed to wear the jersey through Thursday. Look for him to continue his polka dot assault: Gall might be given more freedom to fight for the jersey himself after his captain, Australia’s Ben O’Connor, lost more time at the end of Stage 9, meaning his team might be shifting its goals to fight for stage wins–and the King of Mountains prize.

Unsung Hero

American Sepp Kuss and Belgian Wout van Aert get all the prestige as Vingeggard’s top two domestiques (deservedly so), but let’s take a minute to recognize the pace-setting done by Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma). Today he took over after van Aert pulled off and before Kuss took his turn, shedding more riders from the GC group. It’s too bad that Pogačar seems to be profiting from the hard work being done by Vingegaard’s team. Perhaps we won’t see so much of Kelderman, Kuss, van Aert, and co. at the front during the Tour’s second week.

Eeriest Moment

One of the conditions of the agreement that allowed the Tour to revisit the Puy de Dôme was that fans would not be allowed to line the climb’s upper slopes, which meant an eerie almost awkward silence as the riders tackled the final portion of the ascent. In a Tour that’s already seen overzealous fans cause some mayhem, the silence was likely a welcome treat for riders annoyed by fans getting in their faces during the Tour’s most important–and painful–moments.

Worst Luck?

Jorgenson needed a bottle at about 33km to go, but was unable to get one because the cars and motorbikes had been moved out of the gap as his pursuers dangled close behind. On a sweltering day that asked a lot of the riders in terms of hydrating and fueling, those few minutes without a bottle–and without his team car–might have made the difference between winning and losing the stage.

A day after they won Stage 8, today could have been another chance for Lidl-Trek, with Denmark’s Martin Skjelmose and Italy’s Giulio Ciccone contenders to win on the Puy de Dôme. But the team missed the move, a tactical blunder that cost them a chance to take a historic victory. To his credit, Skjelmose tried to bridge up to the move after it escaped, but he was joined by Italy’s Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), who already had Powless up the road and was ordered not to work with the Dane.

And to the idiot gentleman who brought a clothesline to the roadside of the Tour de France: Please leave your laundry at home!

Stage Winner : Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won a Stage 8 sprint, holding off Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to win his first stage of the 2023 Tour de France. The run-in to the finish saw some punchy climbs, but the top sprinters were all there and Pedersen took the win in the end.

Pedersen claimed his second career Tour de France stage win. It was stage that was designed nicely for his strengths with some climbs near the end and a technical finish. The Lidl-Trek team was perfectly positioned to springboard Pedersen to the finish. Alpecin-Deceuninck had a strong leadout train as well, putting Philipsen in good position to win his fourth stage of the Tour. But Pedersen had the advantage from the start of the sprint and was able to hold off Philipsen in what seemed like an impossibly long final stretch to the line.

Stage 8 saw the withdrawal of Mark Cavendish, one of the all-time great Tour de France riders. Cav suffered a collarbone injury and was forced to abandon , ruining his chance of breaking the all-time TdF stage wins record. It’s an especially hard pill to swallow for Cavendish and cycling fans alike, with the crash coming a day after the Manx Missile nearly captured his record-breaking stage win were it not for a mechanical issue in the closing meters. Although he announced his retirement at the end of the season in May, maybe there’s a chance

Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla) was the lone GC rider to lose time on Saturday, crashing with about 6K to go in the stage—outside of the 3K safe zone where riders don’t lose any time for crashes.. Simon Yates entered the stage in fourth place in the GC, 3:14 off the yellow jersey and now he sits in sixth place, 4:01 back and now behind Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) and his twin brother Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates).

The Run-Through-A-Brick-Wall Moment of the Day

How about the reaction from the Lidl-Trek team car after Pedersen’s epic Stage 8 win? Listen for yourself and get pumped up on this Saturday.

This was a stage that had cycling fans screaming at the top of their lungs at the finish. After a long, sleepy, and mostly flat stage, all the action was crammed into the last 3K. Why all the screaming? Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) came this close to winning the stage and breaking the TdF stage wins record, only to be passed by the seemingly unstoppable Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) with 500 meters to go.

Philipsen was once again positioned perfectly for the win by his leadout ace during this year’s Tour, Mathieu van der Poel, in what he referred to as the team’s “dream Tour” during post race interviews. Cavendish, however, made it very clear that he is more than capable of winning a stage this year, with a second place finish being his best one yet. If Cav keeps getting stronger as he seems to be, there will very likely be more screaming fans tomorrow.

Biggest Winners of the Day

The Alpecin lead out train offered another masterclass in how to win stages in this year’s Tour, with Mathieu van der Poel delivering Jasper Philipsen to another stage win. The other big winner for us during this stage was the one and only Mark Cavendish, who almost made it to the line first before Philipsen overtook him at the last moment. The fact that the Manx Missile’s finish position has come closer and closer to number one with every sprint stage, we think he has the power and form necessary to win number 35 this year. For today, Philipsen keeps the green jersey for another day.

Biggest Surprise of the Day

On a stage that often resembled a recovery ride until the last 10km as the riders gave their legs a bit of a break after two stages in the Pyrenees, the commentary surrounding Wout van Aert and whether he’s on the wrong team was loud and impossible to miss. Christian Vande Velde openly questioned on air what Wout would be able to do if he were on a team he could lead during the Tour instead of having to work for Jonas Vingegaard. With persistent media speculations about tension between Van Aert and Vingegaard on the Jumbo-Visma squad, the riders have routinely denied that anything is amiss, but the questions about whether that’s true have never been this blunt.

Gutsiest—Erm, or Maybe Stupidest—Ride of the Day

With approximately 20K to go, French riders Pierre Latour, the white jersey winner of 2018, and Nans Peters, a 2020 Tour stage winner, took off, working together in an attack that it seemed impossible to hold to the line. This didn’t seem to phase these two, as they spiced up an otherwise sleepy stage, putting up to 40 seconds on the peloton. Eventually Latour went solo in an all out effort, putting the sprinters on notice before blowing up with 3.5K to go.

Strongest American Rider of the Day - Nielsen Powless

Polka Dot Powless kept the King of the Mountains jersey for another day after recapturing it yesterday. The California native has become the de facto team leader for EF Education-EasyPost after Richard Carapaz crashed during Stage 1 and was forced by his injuries to leave the race. Powless went after the KOM competition right out of the gate during this year’s Tour, and so far he’s worn polka dots six out of the seven stages.

Tadej Pogačar won Stage 6 of the 2023 Tour de France, and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) took the yellow leader's jersey during an busy day in the Pyranees. While Vingegaard took over the GC lead, Pogačar made the biggest statement of the day, passing and gapping Vingegaard on the final climb of the day. Pogačar won the stage and narrowed the gap to Vingegaard.

Tadej Pogačar, who made us think that maybe he was playing with us all day. He saved it all for the last 2 km. taking even Jonas Vingegaard by surprise. He took back much of his deficit on the yellow jersey today. He put himself back in the race.

With 2.5K to go on the climb to Cauterets up the Plateau du Cambasque, Tadej Pogačar attacked Vingegaard with a huge surge. Today’s final stretch hints that this whole tour might come down to seconds. Pogačar ended up 24 seconds ahead of Vingegaard on the stage.

Wout van Aert can lead a race forever. The super-domestique did so much work to set the pace for this entire stage. The pacemaking was literally perfect, many times looking like the only one working. With 4.4 km. to go he finally pulled over and left it up to Vingegaard looking like he had given it every ounce of his being.

Strongest American Rider(s) of the Day

Neilson Powless (EF Education–EasyPost) had a very strong day earning the overall KOM on the climbs.

And Sepp Kuss has been wildly consistent through the tour so far. Today, as usual, he dropped every one of his competitors to bring Jonas Vingegaard up the climbs. He’s easily one of the most valuable riders for Vingegaard.

Stage Winner : Jai Hindley (Bora–Hansgrohe)

Jai Hindley won Stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France, claiming the yellow leader’s jersey along with it. It was an eventful first day in the Pyrenees as the top climbers in the world shined and shook up the GC in a big way. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek) was second in the stage and Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) came across third on the day. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora–Hansgrohe) was fourth and Jonas Vingegaard was fifth on the stage. Ciccone, Gall, and Buchmann were all 32 seconds behind Hindley and Vingegaard was 34 seconds behind the stage winner.

Jai Hindley put himself in the right breakaway and made all the correct moves on Stage 5 to rocket himself to the stage victory and the yellow jersey. It was an absolutely brilliant day in the saddle for the Australian, who said after the race that he was merely “improvising.” Hindley is no stranger to wearing the leader’s jersey at a Grand Tour; he won the 2022 Giro d’Italia. This may not necessarily be just one quick day in yellow tomorrow for Hindley. More on that in a bit.

When Jonas Vingegaard attacked off the wheels of his teammate Sepp Kuss on the Col de Marie Blanque with 19K to go in the stage, it was our first opportunity of the Tour to see if co-favorite Tadej Pogačar had the legs to match him. He did not. Vingegaard blazed ahead up the climb and maintained that advantage even on the descent of the Col de Marie Blanque. All told, Vingegaard finished 1:04 ahead of Pogačar on the stage, and is 53 seconds up on him in the GC.

Pogačar is in a tough position after Stage 5, now 53 seconds behind the reigning Tour champion Vingegaard. Pogačar, who won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, has a lot of work to do over the next few weeks to attempt a comeback on Vingegaard. Pogačar suffered a fractured wrist in April and lost some time on the bike while he recovered. Is that lost fitness the difference maker here?

Could it be the 47 seconds that Vingegaard surrendered to Hindley? Hindley is, of course, a former Grand Tour winner and not a rider to be taken lightly. It may have been a bit surprising that the Bora–Hansgrohe rider was allowed to get in the breakaway that eventually launched Hindley to the win. But that was the calculation that the Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates squads made. It’s possible that Thursday’s stage—once again in the Pyranees— is Hindley’s lone day in the yellow jersey. It’s also possible that Hindley is in yellow for much longer than that. Never doubt the power of the maillot jaune.

The Moment of the Day

The official Tour de France YouTube has made some great highlight videos. But they’ve also been great about showing fans the terrific raw—erm, unedited—emotion that the Tour brings out. Take the above video of Hindley after the stage as evidence.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed his second stage win of the 2023 Tour de France, sprinting to the Stage 4 victory on Tuesday. It was a crash-marred last 5K after a very slow day in the peloton. Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck team once again delivered a great leadout and Philipsen had the legs at the end to hold off a hard-charging Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny). Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) was third across the line to make for the same three men on the podium as Stage 3 (just flip Ewan and Bauhaus).

Alpecin-Deceuninck continued to assert its dominance, claiming the stage win for a second straight day. But Stage 4 was a lot different than Stage 3, despite both days being relatively flat stages. The Stage 4 finish on the motorsport track, Circuit Paul Armagnac created plenty of chaos, which saw three different crashes in the final 2K. But the Alpecin team once again held strong and Mathieu van der Poel emerged at just the right moment to deliver Philipsen to his second win in as many days.

Jasper Philipsen won Stage 3 of the Tour de France, capturing a sprint victory over Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny). Philipsen received a terrific leadout from his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Mathieu van der Poel and was delivered to the finish in great position to use his power to take the stage win.

It was a bit of a controversial finish, as race organizers took a little while after the finish before declaring Philipsen as the stage winner officially. There was some question about whether Philipsen drifted into Wout Van Aert’s line in the closing meters of the finish. Ultimately, there would be no relegation and Philipsen was given the stage victory.

Winner of the Day

It’s Alpecin-Deceuninck. Who is going to be able to beat this team when Mathieu freakin’ van der Poel is providing a picture perfect leadout? Meanwhile, Philipsen’s speed these days seems to be the best in the world. Between Philipsen and MVDP, we likely haven’t seen the last stage win for Alpecin in this Tour.

Biggest Loss of the Day

This goes to Wout Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma for a second straight day . After a miscalculation in the sprint finish on Sunday’s Stage 2, Van Aert missed out on another good opportunity to grab a stage win on Monday’s Stage 3. This sprint, however, was a little different—and maybe he has a complaint for the ASO. Neck and neck with Philipsen in the closing meters, Van Aert looked to be running out of room between Philipsen and the barriers. Van Aert let up—possibly to avoid a crash?—and Philipsen rode to the stage win (though there was a fairly lengthy delay before race officials declared Philipsen the winner). Did Philipsen impede Van Aert? Watch for yourself and you be the judge.

Touching Moment of the Day

This came from the Arkéa–Samsic team car as the lone holdout of the breakaway, Laurent Pichon, rode solo through the streets of Spain. Over the radio the team told Pichon: “I’m so proud of you. You are a warrior. You give us so much great emotion. Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! I love you very much.”

Pinchon, for his efforts on the day, was given the combativity award—and rightfully so. How can you not get emotional about the Tour de France?

Celebration(s) of the Day

Nothing against Philipsen’s fist pump as he crossed the finish line of Stage 3, but let’s give it up for Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost). The American, once again, spent the majority of the day in the breakaway to gain precious King of the Mountains points to retain his polka dot jersey. He summiting all four climbs first and gave the fans a nice waving of his arms at the top—a rare mid-race celebration that we can all appreciate! Powless claimed the maximum seven KOM points on offer on Stage 3 and extended his lead in the competition as we head into another sprint stage on Tuesday.

Stage Winner : Victor Lafay (Cofidis)

Victor Lafay won Stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de France. The Cofidis rider broke free of the lead group of riders that included many of the race favorites with 1K to go in the Tour’s longest stage (208.9K). It was a surprise victory for Lafay, who managed to hold off a hard-charging Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar in the waning meters to capture his first-career stage win.

Victor Lafay and the whole Cofidis team are easily the biggest winners of the day. It’s been 15 years since the French team has won a stage in the Tour de France, and on Sunday, Lafay came through in thrilling fashion to get Cofidis the win on the day. With Van Aert in the reduced peloton coming to the finish, Lafay knew his only shot of taking the stage would be by launching an early attack. He went with 1K to go, and thanks to a bit of misjudgement on Van Aert’s part and some pure guts on Lafay’s part, he won the sprint and earned the first stage win for Cofidis since Sylvain Chavanel in 2008.

It’s unquestionably Wout Van Aert and the Jumbo-Visma squad for missing a surefire opportunity at a stage win. Jumbo had both the numbers and the speed in the reduced peloton for the bunch sprint at the end. But the tactics just weren’t there for the Dutch superteam. Van Aert made his emotions known just as he crossed the finish line, slamming his handlebars, knowing full well he left it too late to take his tenth career TdF stage win.

Another Big Day for the American

Neilson Powless will keep the polka dot jersey for another day—and it’s been well-earned. The American riding for EF Education-EasyPost got himself in the break and banked key King of the Mountains points. Powless was first over four climbs that offered points and he now holds a four-point lead over Tadej Pogačar in the KOM competition. It looked for a time that Powless might be able to hold out for the stage win—and perhaps a shot at the yellow jersey. But a motivated peloton brought him back on the last major climb of the day.

Carapaz Abandons

After a Stage 1 crash involving Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) forced Mas to abandon the 2023 Tour de France, Carapaz was able to limp to the finish of the opening stage. But unfortunately for the Ecuadorian national champion, he wouldn’t start Sunday’s second stage, suffering a fractured kneecap. It’s never fun to see two of the peloton’s top stars leave the Tour after just one stage.

Stage Winner : Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates)

Adam Yates (UAE team Emirates) claimed Stage 1 of the 2023 Tour de France, winning an unusually difficult opening stage and claiming the race’s first yellow jersey. Adam Yates outlasted his twin brother, Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla), as the two riders broke free after the final climb of the day.

It’s gotta be the Yates family, right? There simply cannot be a better feeling for Adam and Simon’s loved ones than watching the two twin brothers battle it out for not only a stage win in the Tour de France, but also the maillot jaune.

Who Was the Other Biggest Winner of the Day?

We’ve never seen a Grand Départ this tough before—and we’re better for it. An opening stage prologue or short time trial always felt like a bit of a tease. It was always the Tour, but was it really the Tour?

Instead this year, we didn’t have to wait too long for the fireworks. There was a nervousness in the peloton that is normally reserved for later in the race. With the prize of a guaranteed yellow jersey for the stage winner at the end, anything could happen. The punchy climbs of the Basque region of Spain—particularly the last three—provided some terrific Stage 1 excitement.

The downside of an action-packed first stage is the inevitability of a crash and that’s just what we saw on the descent of the Côte de Vivero. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) went down with around 23K to go in the stage. Mas entered the Tour as a top podium threat and was ultimately forced to abandon, while Carapaz managed to get back on his bike and finish the stage, but lost enough time to take him out of podium contention.

Top American of the Day

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) will become the first American to wear the polka dot jersey since Nate Brown in 2017. Powless, who very nearly claimed the yellow jersey at the Tour last year, was first across the top of the second category Côte de Vivero. Powless figures to be a major player in the mountains classification—and Saturday marks a strong start for him.

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Tour de France 2023: How to watch, storylines, teams, and results

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The 2023 Tour de France has reached its final week.

But with two pivotal mountain stages remaining, as well as the only time trial stage of the 2023 Tour de France, everything is on the line as the riders prepare for the final week.

Following the last rest day of the 2023 Tour on Monday, riders will take on the 2023 Tour’s sole time trial on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday the peloton will take on the second-to-last mountain stage of this year’s Tour, which features the final uncategorized mountain climb of the 2023 Tour de France: Col de la Loze . This climb covers 28.4 kilometers and riders will gain over 1,800 meters of elevation, at a gradient of 6%.

Currently, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard has a ten-second lead over Tadej Pogacar, the winner in both 2020 and 2021. But with a difficult week in front of the peloton, everything is on the line.

Read on for more on this year’s Tour de France, including broadcast information, stage information, a summary of each stage to date, and more.

Previous updates: Cycling’s most prestigious event is about to get underway.

Starting on Sunday, nearly 200 riders from 22 teams will embark on a 2,115-mile journey from Bilbao, Spain into the heart of Paris. Riders will endure 21 stages over 23 days — meaning just two rest days — as they tackle France’s five biggest mountain ranges.

This year’s event has no shortage of storylines, starting with the battle between Dane Jonas Vingegaard, riding for UCI WorldTeam Jumbo–Visma, and Slovenian Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates.

Vingegaard is the reigning Tour de France champion, winning the 2022 version ahead of his rival Pogačar. The two previous years, the Slovenian was the one to earn the prestigious yellow jersey, the maillot jaune; his victory in 2020 at the age of 21 made him the second-youngest winner in race history. The two are the odds-on favorites to compete for the top spot on the podium again in 2023.

Vingegaard is arguably the best pure climber in the world and he impressed during the lead-up races to the Tour de France. Pogačar, meanwhile, has been ranked the No. 1 rider in the world for a record 92 straight weeks but had only two race days since late April, when he suffered a broken wrist in a crash. Despite their difference in preparation, their expected three-week fight for the victory projects to be an entertaining one — if Pogačar is on form.

The 2023 Tour de France will also have the last three champions in the field for the first time since 2009. That includes Vingegaard and Pogačar, as well as Colombia’s Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers. The winner of the 2019 edition, Bernal became the first South American to finish the race in first place.

There are also some tweaks to the race itself. The opening stage, which is usually either a time trial or flat stage, is on hilly terrain this time around and will likely be a chance for general classification riders to get an early jump on their opponents. In addition, the penultimate 20th stage will not be a time trial this year. Instead, it is now a mountain stage, taking riders from Belfort to Le Markstein, covering 82.9 miles with almost 12,000 feet of climbing.

Another major storyline to watch? British cyclist Mark Cavendish. Cavendish is tied with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx for 34 Tour stage wins, the current record.

Cavendish stated back in May during the Giro d’Italia that he was retiring at the end of this year. A year ago Cavendish was a Tour de France reserve for his previous team, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl. Cavendish was announced as a team member by his current team, Astana Qazaqstan.

There are two teams from the United States in the field: EF Education-Easypost and Lidl-Trek. While none of the individual American riders are considered among the favorites for general classification, you could see a United States cyclist secure a stage win or two. Neilson Powless, riding for EF Education-Easypost, finished 13th overall in last year’s Tour de France, has two wins and three top-tens this year, and could secure a stage victory early.

Matteo Jorgenson, who rides for Movistar Team, nearly won Stage 16 last year in his Tour de France debut. He could push for a stage win this year. Another American, Sepp Kuss with Jumbo–Visma, is always strong in the mountains. While his main role with the team is to aid Vingegaard, he has won a Tour stage before.

For more on the Tour de France in general, we would strongly recommend this piece looking at the new Netflix docuseries “Unchained,” which looks at the 2022 Tour de France.

Here is how to watch, a look at each stage, and more.

How to watch the 2023 Tour de France

NBC Sports is your home for every stage of the 110th Tour de France, with the bulk of the coverage airing live each day on Peacock. NBC and USA Network will also air live coverage during the first week of the 2023 Tour de France, along with encores of each stage on USA at 2 a.m. ET most days.

All NBC and USA Network coverage also streams on NBCSports.com/live, as well as the NBC Sports app.

Here is the full broadcast schedule:

2023 Tour de France Broadcast Information

What teams are competing in the 2023 tour de france.

22 teams are competing in the 2023 Tour de France: That includes all 18 UCI WorldTeams, and 4 UCI ProTeams.

18 UCI WorldTeams

AG2R Citroën Team Alpecin-Deceuninck Arkéa-Samsic Astana Qazaqstan Team Bora-Hansgrohe Cofidis EF Education-EasyPost Groupama-FDJ Ineos Grenadiers Intermarché-Circus-Wanty Lidl-Trek Movistar Team Soudal—Quick-Step Team Bahrain Victorious Team dsm-firmenich Team Jayco-AlUla Team Jumbo-Visma UAE Team Emirates

UCI ProTeams

Israel—Premier Tech Lotto—Dstny Team TotalEnergies Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

The 2023 Tour de France map

Here is the official map of the 2023 Tour de France:

You can also view the map on the official Tour de France website.

Stages, dates, and distances for the 2023 Tour de France

Here are the stages for the 2023 Tour de France. There are eight stages considered “flat,” four hill stages, eight mountain stages, and one time trial stage this year.

2023 Tour de France Stages

The toughest stretch of the 2023 Tour de France looks to be Stages 13 through 16. Over three straight days riders will be tested by the French Alps, with a summit finish on both Stage 13 and Stage 15.

Stage 17, another mountain stage, might be the toughest individual test of the 2023 Tour de France. Riders will tackle a 103.1 mile stage with over 16,000 feet of elevation climb. Stage 17 also features a climb to the top of the 7,559-feet Col de la Loze, the highest point in this year’s Tour and one of the summits considered “ beyond category .”

If Stage 17 is not the toughest stage, Stage 6 might be. Another mountain stage, this includes the 6,939-foot Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, and features the first of the summit finishes in the 2023 Tour de France.

2023 Tour de France results

Stage 1: Bilabo to Bilabo

Stage Winner: Adam Yates, UAE Team Emirates Overall Leader: Adam Yates, UAE Team Emirates Yates holds off his twin brother Simon Yates to win Stage 1 of the 2023 Tour de France. It is Yates’ first ever stage win at the Tour de France. Tadej Pogacar comes across the line third, giving UAE a first-third start to the 2023 TDF.

Stage 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz to Saint-Sébastien

Stage Winner: Victor Lafay, Cofidis Overall Leader: Adam Yates, UAE Team Emirates. Lafay notched the first stage win for Cofidis in 15 years with an impressive showing, breaking clear of the pack in the closing kilometer for his first stage victory. Lafay now sits fourth in the general classification. Adam Yates retained the yellow jersey, with his twin brother Simon six seconds behind him, tied with Pogacar for second in the general classification.

Stage 3: Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne

Stage Winner: Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin-Deceuninck Overall Leader: Adam Yates, UAE Team Emirates The first flat stage of the Tour de France offered the first chance for a true sprint finish. Laurent Pichon of Arkéa–Samsic broke away from the peloton early, but the pack slowly reeled him in ahead of the finish. With five kilometers to go, Team Jumbo-Visma made their way to the front, with Vingegaard and Wout van Aert — who was reportedly frustrated after how Stage 2 ended — among those pushing hard. It all set the stage for a high-speed finish that saw Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck secure his first stage win of the 2023 Tour de France. Philipsen won two stages a year ago. Phil Bauhaus, Caleb Ewan, Fabio Jakobsen, and Van Aert round out the top five of the stage. Adam Yates retains the yellow jersey as the overall leader.

Stage 4: Dax to Nogaro

Stage Winner: Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin-Deceuninck Overall Leader: Adam Yates, UAE Team Emirates The fourth day of the Tour de France featured a second-straight flat stage, culminating in a wide-open finish at the Paul-Armagnac auto racing track in Nogaro with a 700-meter straight. With just under five miles remaining, the peloton cranked up the pace, pushing upwards of 37 mph as the pack closed in on Paul-Armagnac. When the peloton arrived at the race track, the finish was marred by three different crashes before coming down to a photo-finish between Philipsen and Caleb Ewan of ProTeam Lotto–Dstny. In the end it was Philipsen by half a wheel over Ewan for his second-straight stage victory. Cavendish, seeking his record 35th-stage win, finished fifth. Adam Yates holds onto the yellow jersey as the overall leader.

Stage 5: Pau to Laruns

Stage Winner: Jai Hindley, Bora-Hansgrohe Overall Leader: Jai Hindley, Bora-Hansgrohe We have a new leader at the Tour de France. After two-straight flat stages, the peloton returned to the mountains, winding from Pau to Laruns. The stage included some difficult climbs, including Col de Soudet, Col d’Ichère, and Col de Marie-Blanque. It was Hindley who ultimately broke away, securing his first-ever Tour de France stage victory. His strong ride also saw him take over as the overall leader in the general classification. Jonas Vingegaard pushed hard in the end, and now sits fifth in the general classification. Pogacar, however, struggled on Wednesday and now sits eighth in the general classification, more than 90 seconds behind Hindley.

Stage 6: Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque

Stage Winner: Tadej Pogacar, UAE Team Emirates Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma Thursday delivered the first true duel between the heavyweights, Pogacar and Vingegaard. For the second day in a row the riders tackled a mountain stage, complete with a climb up Col du Tourmalet, a 6,939-foot climb in the Pyrenees. A group of about 20 riders broke away early, but in the closing kilometers it was down to Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers). Kwiatkowski eventually sat up before the finish, leaving just Pogacar and Vingegaard to battle it out over the final three kilometers. Pogacar attacked with 2.7 kilometers to go, and eventually came across with his first stage win of the 2023 Tour. However, it was Vingegaard who took over as the leader for the general classification, with Pogacar just 25 seconds behind.

Stage 7: Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux

Stage Winner: Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin-Deceuninck Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma After two mountain stages, the 2023 Tour de France returned to more flat terrain, offering up another potential sprint. That opened the door for Mark Cavendish to set the all-time mark for stage wins, and the Astana rider made a push in the closing kilometers. But he was not alone, and at the end Jasper Philipsen nipped him for his third stage win of the 2023 Tour, denying Cavendish his record. Vingegaard finished 22nd, but retained the yellow jersey.

Stage 8: Libourne to Limoges

Stage Winner: Mads Pedersen, Lidl-Trek Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma Mads Pedersen won his second-career stage at the Tour de France, and Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey. But the big story from Stage 8 is the bitter end of the 2023 Tour de France — and likely career — for Mark Cavendish. Cavendish entered the 2023 TDF hoping to set the career mark with his 35th stage victory, and Stage 8 offered another chance for him after being nipped at the line on Friday. But an early crash in the middle of the peloton saw Cavendish land hard, and retire to the medical tent. A broken collarbone has ended his 2023 Tour de France, and likely his career, as he was set to retire at the end of the year.

Stage 9: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dôme

Stage Winner: Michael Woods, Israel Premier-Tech Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma Stage 9, ending at the iconic Puy de Dôme, was conquered by Michael Woods of Israel Premier-Tech. Woods was part of an initial group of 14 riders that broke away from the peloton, and while various riders made their attacks, it was Matteo Jorgensen from Movistar whose attack with 50 kilometers remaining posed the biggest threat. But Woods was able to chase him down in the final 500 meters of the summit finish to claim the stage. Behind them a battle between Vingegaard and Pogacar for the yellow jersey was heating up. Pogacar went on the offensive with over a kilometer remaining, and while Vingegaard fought back, Pogacar shaved eight seconds off Vingegaard’s lead. Up next? A day of rest for the riders before Stage 10.

Stage 10: Vulcania to Issoire

Stage Winner: Pello Bilbao, Team Bahrain Victorious Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma For the first time since 2018, a Spanish rider has won a stage at the Tour de France. Pello Bilbao secured his first-ever stage victory, first reeling in Krists Neilands who had broken away from the field, and then topping Georg Zimmermann from Intermarché–Circus–Wanty over the final two kilometers to secure the win. Following his victory, Bilbao dedicated his stage win to former teammate Gino Mäder, who tragically passed away at the Tour de Suisse last month. As for the general classification, Vingegaard and Pogacar were part of an initial breakaway at the start of the stage, but they settled in and finished three minutes behind Bilbao. Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey, with Pogacar now 17 seconds behind his rival.

Stage 11: Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins

Stage Winner: Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin-Deceuninck Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma History was made at the Tour de France on Wednesday. Philipsen secured his fourth stage of the 2023 Tour, edging past Dylan Groenewegen and Phil Bauhaus in the Tour’s final flat stage until Stage 19. That makes Philipsen just one of two active riders with four stage wins in a single Tour de France, joining Mark Cavendish. Regarding the general classification, Vingegaard maintained his yellow jersey, thanks to a strong effort from his Jumbo-Visma teammates to protect him until the final few kilometers. That opened the door for a charge from Wout Van Aert, but the Jumbo-Visma rider could not catch Philipsen.

Stage 12: Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais

Stage Winner: Ion Izagirre, Cofidis Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma Seven years after his first-ever Tour de France stage win, Ion Izagirre from Cofidis claimed his second. It was also the second stage victory in as many days for a Spanish rider. After an early breakaway from Mads Pedersen, a group reeled him in at the front which included Izagirre. Izagirre then broke away from the pack with around 30 kilometers to go, and held on for the win. Vingegaard maintained the yellow jersey, with Pogacar still 17 seconds behind him.

Stage 13: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier

Stage Winner: Michal Kwiatkowski, Ineos Grenadiers Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma The peloton returned to the mountains for Stage 13, concluding with a summit finish at the above categorization Grand Colombier. When all was said and done, Michal Kwiatkowski from Ineos Grenadiers who carried the day. He took the lead with over ten kilometers remaining, and fought off attacks from Adam Yates and Maxim Van Gils, securing the second Tour de France stage victory of his career. In terms of the general classification, Pogacar made a charge of his own over the final 400 meters of the summit finish to finish third in the stage. The four seconds of bonus time he picked up for that third-place finish, plus the four seconds he gained on Vingegaard, now see him trailing by just nine seconds.

Stage 14: Annemasse to Morzine Les Portes du Soleil

Stage Winner: Carlos Rodriguez, Ineos Grenadiers Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma Stage 14 saw a milestone in the history of the Tour de France: The 250th uncategorized mountain climb since the classification system was unveiled in 1979. This stage saw a breakaway group of 16 riders at the front with 30 kilometers to go, with Vingegaard and Pogacar among them. While those two were battling, it was Carlos Rodriguez from Ineos Grenadiers who took advantage, sprinting away with under ten kilometers to go for his first stage victory. His effort moved him to third in the general classification, behind only Pogecar and Vingegaard, who retained the yellow jersey.

Stage 15: Les Gets - Les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc

Stage Winner: Wout Poels, Bahrain Victorious Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma Veteran rider Wout Poels claimed his first-ever Tour de France stage win, surviving the third mountain stage in as many days. Poels broke away from the pack with just over ten kilometers remaining, as the riders climbed Côte des Amerands. Pogacar attacked with under a kilometer to go, but Vingegaard stuck to his wheel and would not let his rival break away, retaining the yellow jersey.

Stage 16: Passy to Combloux

Stage Winner: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma Overall Leader: Jonas Vingegaard, Team Jumbo-Visma If Vingegaard goes on to win his second-straight Tour de France, he and the rest of the cycling world will look back at Stage 16 as the day he took control. In the only individual time trial of the 2023 Tour de France, Pogacar began the day just ten seconds behind Vingegaard with a fantastic chance to whittle away at that lead. But in what was described on the coverage as a “ time trial of destruction ,” Vingegaard not only won the stage, but won it by 1’38” over his rival, giving himself a 1’48” advantage as the Tour begins its final week.

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LIV Golf Masters live: Updates, scores Leaderboard for LIV tour Sunday for Round 4

Follow  live updates from all the Masters action here .

Out of the 13 LIV players who started the 88th edition of The Masters on Thursday, only nine made the cut on Friday. These players are now proceeding to the final round at Augusta National in pursuit of the championship.

Jon Rahm, the defending Masters champion and LIV golfer, had a rough start to his campaign for consecutive green jackets, scoring 1-over-73 on Thursday, 2-over-74 on Friday and even-72 on Saturday.

After two days of playing, Bryson DeChambeau, another LIV golfer, has tied for the top spot with Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa. DeChambeau scored a 7-under-65 on Day 1 and all three players tied for the lead at 6-under after Round 2.

Saturday's action saw DeChambeau drop off with a 3-over-75. He's still the top LIV golfer in the field at fifth with Cameron Smith next in the order in a tie for ninth at 1-under.

Here's the updated leaderboard for the LIV golfers at Round 4 of the 2024 Masters Tournament:

LIV Golfers Leaderboard at the Masters

• 5. Bryson DeChambeau (-3)
• T-10. Cameron Smith (-1)
• T-15. Patrick Reed (+1)
• T-15. Tyrrell Hatton (+1)
• T-28. Joaquín Niemann (+5)
• T-36. Jon Rahm (+6)
• T-38. Brooks Koepka (+6)
• T-47. Phil Mickelson (+8)

Top LIV Golfer odds

BetMGM offers odds for the top LIV golfer finish at this year's Masters.

• Bryson DeChambeau (-225)
• Cameron Smith (+275)
• Patrick Reed (+1100)
• Joaquín Niemann (+2200)
• Tyrrell Hatton (+3300)
• Jon Rahm (+6600)
• Brooks Koepka (+25000)
• Phil Mickelson (+50000)

Augusta, Georgia weather: Day 4 Sunday

Golfers playing in the final round of the Masters this year will enjoy nice weather on Sunday. Forecasts say it will be sunny all day in Augusta with a low temperature of 59 degrees (Fahrenheit) at first tee and peak at 84 degrees around 5 p.m. ET.

LIV Golfer odds to win Masters 2024

Odds courtesy of  BetMGM as of Sunday morning.

• Bryson DeChambeau (+2000)
• Cameron Smith (+8000)
• Patrick Reed (+50000)
• Joaquín Niemann (+100000)
• Tyrrell Hatton (+100000)
• Jon Rahm (no moneyline available)
• Brooks Koepka (no moneyline available)
• Phil Mickelson (no moneyline available)

LIV Golfers who have won the Masters before

• Jon Rahm (2023)
• Dustin Johnson (2020)
• Patrick Reed (2018)
• Sergio García (2017)
• Bubba Watson (2012, 2014)
• Charl Schwartzel (2011)
• Phil Mickelson (2004, 2006, 2010)

2024 Masters Tournament schedule and how to watch

Round 4:  Sunday, April 14

• First tee: 9:15 a.m. ET
• TV coverage: 2-7 p.m. ET
• Channel: CBS
• Streaming: CBSSports.com (simulcast), Paramount+ (simulcast), CBS Sports app (simulcast)

How to watch: Catch this year's Masters with a subscription to fuboTV

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2023 tour de france route: stage profiles, previews, start, finish times.

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A stage-by-stage look at the 2023 Tour de France route with profiles, previews and estimated start and finish times (all times Eastern) ...

Stage 1/July 1: Bilbao-Bilbao (113 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 6:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:15 a.m. Quick Preview: The Grant Départ is held in the Basque Country as the Tour’s first three stages start in Spain. There are five categorized climbs, though none of the highest difficulty, with 21 King of the Mountain points available and 50 green jersey points. An uphill finish could neutralize the top sprinters.

TOUR DE FRANCE: Broadcast Schedule

Stage 2/July 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz-San Sebastián (130 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 6:15 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:04 a.m. Quick Preview: Five more climbs with the toughest coming near the end of the longest stage of the Tour. If no breakaways are successful, the sprinters will be rewarded with a flat finish.

Stage 3/July 3: Amorebieta-Etxano-Bayonne (120 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:27 a.m. Quick Preview: The first flat stage brings the Tour into France along the Bay of Biscay coastline. Could be Mark Cavendish’s first prime opportunity to break the Tour stage wins record he shares with Eddy Merckx.

Stage 4/July 4: Dax-Nogaro (114 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:10 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:12 a.m. Quick Preview: Another flat stage, this one finishing at France’s first purpose-built motor racing venue, the Circuit Paul Armagnac, with the final 1.9 miles taking place on the track.

Stage 5/July 5: Pau-Laruns (103 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:21 a.m. Quick Preview: The first of eight mountain stages that will collectively visit France’s five biggest mountain ranges. This one is in the Pyrenees with three summits in the second half of the day followed by a flat run-in to the finish. Expect the overall standings to shake up.

Stage 6/July 6: Tarbes-Cauterets (90 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:10 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:08 a.m. Quick Preview: The first of four summit finishes of this year’s Tour. Summit finishes are usually where the real yellow jersey contenders separate from the pack. Could be the first duel between 2022 Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard and 2020 and 2021 Tour winner Tadej Pogacar.

Stage 7/July 7: Mont-de-Marsan-Bordeaux (110 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:15 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:07 a.m. Quick Preview: Flattest stage of the Tour with a single fourth-category climb. Cavendish won the last time a Tour stage finished in Bordeaux in 2010.

Stage 8/July 8: Libourne-Limoges (125 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 6:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:07 a.m. Quick Preview: A transition day as the Tour heads to the Massif Central. A 5% uphill in the last 700 meters might mean this is not a sprinters’ day.

Stage 9/July 9: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat-Puy de Dôme (114 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 12:05 p.m. Quick Preview: A summit finish -- to a dormant volcano -- before a rest day is sure to shake up the overall standings. Puy de Dôme returns to the Tour after a 35-year absence.

Stage 10/July 11: Vulcania-Issoire (104 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:19 a.m. Quick Preview: The hilliest day of the Tour. Begins at a volcano-themed amusement park.

Stage 11/July 12: Clermont-Ferrand-Moulins (110 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:19 a.m. Quick Preview: The last flat stage until the 19th stage. If Cavendish hasn’t gotten a stage win yet, the pressure will start to mount.

Stage 12/July 13: Roanne-Belleville-en-Beaujolais (103 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:21 a.m. Quick Preview: Even with three late climbs, don’t expect a yellow jersey battle with back-to-back-to-back mountain stages after this.

Stage 13/July 14: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne-Grand Colombier (86 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:45 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:12 a.m. Quick Preview: On Bastille Day, the second and final beyond-category summit finish of this year’s Tour. The French have incentive to break away on their national holiday, but this is a climb for the yellow jersey contenders. A young Pogacar won here in 2020.

Stage 14/July 15: Annemasse-Morzine (94 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:18 a.m. Quick Preview: Another selective day in the Alps, with each climb seemingly tougher than the last. The downhill into the finish could neutralize attacks from the last ascent.

Stage 15/July 16: Les Gets-Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (110 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 12 p.m. Quick Preview: The last of three consecutive mountain stages features the last summit finish of the Tour. The eventual Tour winner could emerge here given the next stage’s time trial is only 14 miles.

Stage 16/July 18: Passy-Combloux (14 miles) Individual Time Trial First Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:36 a.m. Quick Preview: After a rest day, the Tour’s lone, short time trial will be punctuated by a late climb. Only twice in the last 50 years has there been just one time trial (including team time trials and prologues).

Stage 17/July 19: Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Courchevel (103 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 6:20 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:03 a.m. Quick Preview: The first of two mountain stages in the last week of the Tour. It’s the most difficult of the eight total mountain stages with more than 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) of elevation gain, capped by the beyond category Col de la Loze just before the descent to the finish.

Stage 18/July 20: Moûtiers-Bourg-en-Bresse (116 miles) Hilly Neutralized Start: 7:05 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:31 a.m. Quick Preview: About as flat of a “hilly” stage as one gets. Should still be a day for the sprinters who made it through the mountains.

Stage 19/July 21: Moirans-en-Montagne-Poligny (107 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 7:15 a.m. Estimated Finish: 11:11 a.m. Quick Preview: An undulating stage with a relieving descent toward the end. The last kilometer goes up a 2.6% incline, which could take the sting out of some sprinters.

Stage 20/July 22: Belfort-Le Markstein (83 miles) Mountain Neutralized Start: 7:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 10:54 a.m. Quick Preview: The last competitive day for the yellow jersey is highlighted by two late category-one climbs that could determine the overall champion should it be close going into the day.

Stage 21/July 23: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines-Paris (71 miles) Flat Neutralized Start: 10:30 a.m. Estimated Finish: 1:28 p.m. Quick Preview: The ceremonial ride into Paris, almost always a day for the sprinters. Should be the final Tour stage for Cavendish and Peter Sagan, who both plan to retire from road cycling after this season.

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Tour de France 2023 preview: Full schedule and how to watch live

Another thrilling battle at the 2023 Tour de France is in sight as Tadej Pogacer will try to take back the Tour de France crown that he lost to Jonas Vingegaard last year. Here is all you need to about this year’s race which begins on 1 July in Bilbao, Spain.

The Tour de France 2023 has all the makings of another road cycling thriller.

Will the world’s most prestigious race be the third act in the epic battle between defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and 2021 champion Tadej Pogacar ?

Soon we will have all the answers with the 110 th edition of the French Grand Tour starting on Saturday (1 July) in Bilbao, the largest city in the Basque Country, Spain.

Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) is hoping to be crowned champion again, after he won last year’s race as just the second Dane in history ahead of Slovenia’s two-time Tour de France winner, Tadej Pogacar

It is the 110 th edition of the French Grand Tour that will feature Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Richard Carapaz , silver medallist Wout van Aert and bronze medallist Pogacar.

La Grande Boucle will cover 3,404 km over the 21 stages, with the final stage taking place at the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 23 July. There are eight flat stages, four hilly stages, one time trial and eight mountain stages. Four of these have summit finishes, including the stage to the mythical Puy de Dôme.

176 riders will be on the start line at the Guggenheim Museum, one of Bilbao’s major tourist attractions, with eight riders for each of the 22 teams.

Below you will find everything you need to know about this year’s Tour de France.

How to qualify for road cycling at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained

Tour de france 2023 general classification riders to watch.

In 2022, we witnessed a breathtaking duel between Vingegaard and Pogacar , and they are coming into this year’s race as the two big favourites.

The 26-year-old Dane has participated in four stage races this season, having won three of them in dominant fashion - O Gran Camiño, Itzulia Basque Country, and most recently the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Pogacar and Vingegaard last faced each other at the Paris-Nice in March, where the 24-year-old Slovenian claimed victory ahead of David Gaudu and Vingegaard .

UAE Tean Emirates captain Pogacar has claimed no less than 14 victories this season including Paris-Nice, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, before he crashed and broke his wrist at the Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The two-time Il Lombardia winner made his comeback last week, claiming both the Slovenian national time trial and road race championship.

2022 Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley is going to be the leader on a strong BORA - Hansgrohe team. At the Critérium du Dauphiné, 27-year-old Hindley finished fourth behind Adam Yates of the UAE Team Emirates and his compatriot Ben O'Connor of AG2R Citroën Team.

With his win at last year’s Giro, the Australian has shown that he has the endurance needed to compete in a three-week Grand Tour.

22-year-old Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark) stunned the world of cycling by winning the Tour de Suisse earlier this month ahead of the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso .

He continued his impressive run and was crowned Danish road race champion on Sunday (25 June), after a spectacular solo effort in the final kilometres.

The Trek-Segafredo rider has participated in one Grand Tour previously as he rode the Giro d’Italia last year finishing just 40 th . This year’s Tour de France will be a test of his stamina.

And dont count out Enric Mas. The 28-year-old Spaniard has finished second in the general classification at the Vuelta a España three times and is hoping to make the podium at the Tour.

The Movistar rider came in top six overall in three stage races this season.

Other key riders at the Tour de France 2023

Green jersey.

Last year's points competition winner Wout van Aert has already announced that the green jersey will not be a target for him as he aims to win stages and prepare for the UCI Cycling World Championships that takes place just two weeks after the finish in Paris.

That leaves Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck as the favourite to take the crown. The Belgian clinched two stages last season - including the most prestigious sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées - and he has already six race wins this season. His versatile teammate Mathieu van der Poel seems to be in the shape of his life, and if the Paris-Roubaix winner gets the freedom to chase the green jersey, watch out for the Dutchman.

The biggest threat might come from Soudal-Quick Step that always target stage wins with their sprinter. Fabio Jakobsen will be their trusted sprinter, like last year. The Dutchman is supported by a strong sprint cast with the most experienced lead-out man in the peloton, Michael Mørkøv, to set him up. 

Sprinter’s teams like Team Jayco Alula with Dylan Groenewegen and Lotto Dstny with Caleb Ewan will also chase stage wins and are contenders for the green jersey.

Denmark’s Mads Pedersen and Biniam Girmay of Eritrea are not only great sprinters but also good climbers. That ability can secure points for the green jersey classification on the more hilly stages. Pedersen took his first Tour de France stage win in last year’s edition and claimed the green jersey in the Vuelta a España, but like van Aert he has announced his focus is to arrive in top shape at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.

Polka dot jersey

In the last three editions of the Tour de France, the winner of the king of the mountains classification has also been the overall winner of the Tour de France. Therefore, Pogacar and Vingegaard are the top contenders this year.

For the French riders it will be a special achievement to be on the podium in Paris wearing the polka dot jersey. Thibaut Pinot , who was king of the mountains classification at the Giro d’Italia in May is keen on challenging the two top guns as is 2019 polka dot jersey winner Romain Bardet .

Tour de France 2023 route and important stages

The 2023 Tour de France begins with a hilly stage containing some 3,400 metres of climbing. Contenders for the overall win will have to be ready from the start on the hills around Bilbao. The stage suits classics specialist like Mathieu van der Poel , Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe who all want to be the first rider to wear the yellow jersey at this year’s Tour de France.

After another hilly stage in the Basque Country to San Sebastian on stage two, the peloton will cross the French border and resume the race with flat stages on day three and four. 

Stage five will take the peloton on the first mountain stage in the Pyrenees which includes Col du Soudet and Col de Marie Blanque. The following day, the riders will tackle the mythical mountain Col du Tourmalet before finishing the stage on the category 1 climb Cauterets-Cambasque. Week one concludes with an eagerly anticipated summit finish to the volcano Puy de Dôme that returns to the Tour after a 35-year absence.

On stage 13 in week two, the teams face a gruelling finish to Col du Grand Colombier in the Jura mountains. The two following days will also test the riders’ climbing skills with stage 15 featuring a summit finish to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc in the Alps to end week two.

The final week kicks off with stage 16, the only individual time trial in the race. It is just 22 kilometres long but contains a fair amount of climbing, especially in the second part of the route. After the time trial, the queen stage of the Tour de France with more than 5000 metres of climbing is sure to generate plenty of drama. Colo de la Loze, the highest point of the race at 2304m, is the biggest obstacle on this stage being 28 kilometres long, with an average gradient of six percent.

Two flatter stages follow ahead of a short but mountainous penultimate stage in the Vosges on stage 20. It will be the last chance for the general classification contenders to gain time before the celebrations in Paris.

Day-by-day route of the 2023 Tour de France

Saturday 1 July: Stage 1 - Bilbao-Bilbao (182km)

Sunday 2 July: Stage 2 - Vitoria-Gasteiz - Saint-Sebastian (208.9km)

Monday 3 July: Stage 3 - Amorebieta - Etxano-Bayonne (187.4 km)

Tuesday 4 July: Stage 4 - Dax - Nogaro (181.8 km)

Wednesday 5 July: Stage 5 - Pau - Laruns (162.7 km)

Thursday 6 July: Stage 6 - Tarbes - Cauterets-Cambasque (144.9 km)

Friday 7 July: Stage 7 - Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux          (169.9 km)

Saturday 8 July: Stage 8 - Libourne - Limoges (200.7 km)

Sunday 9 July: Stage 9 - Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme (182.4 km)

Monday 10 July: Rest Day

Tuesday 11 July: Stage 10 - Vulcania - Issoire (167.2 km)

Wednesday 12 July: Stage 11 - Clermont-Ferrand - Moulins (179.8 km)

Thursday 13 July: Stage 12 - Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais (168.8 km)

Friday 14 July: Stage 13 - Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier (137.8 km)

Saturday 15 July: Stage 14 - Annemasse - Morzine Les Portes du Soleil       (151.8 km)

Sunday 16 July Stage 15 - Les Gets les portes du soleil - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (179 km)

Monday 17 July: Rest Day

Tuesday 18 July: Stage 16 - Passy - Combloux (22.4 km individual time trial)

Wednesday 19 July: Stage 17 - Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc - Courchevel (165.7 km)

Thursday 20 July: Stage 18 - Moûtiers - Bourg-en-Bresse (184.9 km)

Friday July 21: Stage 19  - Moirans-en-Montagne - Poligny (172.8 km)

Saturday July 22: Stage 20 - Belfort - Le Markstein Fellering (133.5 km)

Sunday July 23: Stage 21 - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Paris Champs-Élysées (115.1 km)

How to watch the 2023 Tour de France live

The Tour de France will be shown live in 190 countries. Here is a list of the official broadcast partners across different territories.

Basque Country - EiTB

Belgium - RTBF and VRT

Czech Republic - Česká Televize

Denmark - TV2

Europe - Eurosport Eurosport

France - France TV Sport France TV Sport and Eurosport France

Germany - Discovery+ and ARD

Ireland - TG4

Italy - Discovery+ and RAI Sport

Luxemburg - RTL

Netherlands - Discovery+ and NOS

Norway - TV2

Portugal - RTP

Scandinavia - Discovery+

Slovakia - RTVS

Slovenia - RTV SLO

Spain - RTVE

Switzerland - SRG-SSR

United Kingdom - Discovery+ and ITV

Wales - S4C

Canada - FloBikes

Colombia - CaracolTV

Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN

South America - TV5 Monde

United States - NBC Sports and TV5 Monde

Asia Pacific

Australia - SBS

China - CCTV and Zhibo TV

Japan - J Sports

New Zealand - Sky Sport

South-East Asia - Global Cycling Network and Eurosport

Middle East and Africa

The Middle East and North Africa - BeIN Sports and TV5 Monde

Subsaharan Africa - Supersport and TV5 Monde

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Tour de France 2023: Route and stages

Read about the entire route of the 2023 Tour de France.

Please click on the links in underneath scheme for in-depth information on the individual stages.

Tour de France 2023 stages

Tour de france 2023: route, profiles, more.

Click on the images to zoom

More about the Tour de France

Tour de france 2023: the route, tour de france 2023 route stage 1: bilbao - bilbao.

Tour de France 2023 Route stage 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz - San Sebastián

Tour de France 2023 Route stage 3: Amorebieta-Etxano - Bayonne

Tour de France 2023 Route stage 4: Dax - Nogaro

Tiger Woods vows to play final round after painful Saturday at Masters

Tiger Woods during the third round of the 2024 Masters Tournament. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Was in discomfort ‘all day’ in carding highest-ever round at Augusta National

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – A hobbled Tiger Woods said he will be back for the final round of the 88th Masters Tournament on Sunday despite being in obvious discomfort for parts of Round 3 when he shot 82, his highest-ever score at Augusta National.

The round was his seventh score of 80 or higher in any event, and his fourth in a major.

He winced after some shots, like his second at the par-4 ninth, and made uncharacteristic mistakes that had some wondering if he would withdraw. Still, when asked to identify the biggest challenge he faced, he did not mention his battered body.

“The fact that I was not hitting it very good or putting well,” he said. “I didn't have a very good warmup session, and I kept it going all day today. Just hit the ball in all the places that I know I shouldn't hit it. And I missed a lot of putts. Easy, makable putts. I missed a lot of them.”

Woods, 48, has endured multiple back operations, and after being forced to withdraw from last year’s Masters flew to New York for right ankle fusion surgery. He said earlier this week that he is physically challenged by any shot that isn’t on a tee box, a nod to Augusta’s hilly terrain.

What’s more, Woods has not completed four rounds in an official PGA TOUR event since The Genesis Invitational in early 2023.

On Saturday he acknowledged that he was in pain “all day” throughout the third round, like when he tried to shape a left-to-right approach shot out of the trees to the ninth green. (He made bogey.) He was limping slightly and sweating profusely upon walking off the last hole.

Woods insisted after Round 2 that he had a chance to add to his five Masters titles.

Alas, his hopes ended abruptly Saturday. Although he birdied the difficult par-4 fifth hole, Woods seemed to lose focus as he bogeyed the par-3 sixth and then made back-to-back double-bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes. He bogeyed the ninth for a front-nine 42.

“It's just that I haven't competed and played much,” he said. “When I had chances to get it flipped around and when I made that putt at 5, I promptly three-putted 6 and flub a chip at 7 and just got it going the wrong way, and when I had opportunities to flip it, I didn't.”

The 82-time PGA TOUR winner insisted he would return for the final round Sunday.

“My team will get me ready,” he said. “Kolb (physical therapist Kolby Tullier) has been awesome. It will be a long night and a long warmup session, but we'll be ready.”

Cameron Morfit is a Staff Writer for the PGA TOUR. He has covered rodeo, arm-wrestling, and snowmobile hill climb in addition to a lot of golf. Follow Cameron Morfit on Twitter .

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Golf Leaderboards: PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, LET, LIV Series and more latest scores

The latest scores and tee times from the world of golf including the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour, LIV Golf League and major championships - watch the best golf every week on Sky Sports

Sunday 14 April 2024 14:40, UK

Stay up to date with the latest scores and tee times from around the world of golf with our leaderboards below.

The men's major golf season kicks off at The Masters on Thursday, with round-the-clock coverage from Augusta National once again exclusively live on Sky Sports.

Jon Rahm returns as defending champion after last year's four-shot victory over former Masters champion Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, who went on to win the PGA Championship the following month.

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The trio are part of a strong contingent from the LIV Golf League in action at Augusta National, where they will get to tee it up alongside the stars of the PGA Tour for the first time this year.

2022 champion Scottie Scheffler arrives as the overwhelming pre-tournament favourite, having followed a dominant victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational by defending his title at The Players last month, while Rory McIlroy has another chance to complete the career Grand Slam.

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Tiger Woods is back in action for the first time since February, with this year's event marking the fifth anniversary of his iconic fifth Masters victory, while Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele and Ludvig Åberg are all in the 2024 field and among the players searching for a maiden major title.

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What happened in the majors in 2023?

Brian Harman claimed victory at The Open, following on from Jon Rahm's success at The Masters, Brooks Koepka adding to his PGA Championship tally and Wyndham Clark claiming a maiden major win at the US Open.

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Four of the five women's majors produced maiden champions, with Lilia Vu victorious at the Chevron Championship, Ruoning Yin securing the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and Allisen Corpuz the US Women's Open.

Celine Boutier stormed to an impressive breakthrough success at the Evian Championship, before Vu registered a second major title after beating Englishwoman Charley Hull to AIG Women's Open glory at Walton Heath.

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2024 Masters leaderboard breakdown: Byson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler go low, set pace with Round 1 halted

There are plenty of low scores on the masters leaderboard, but dechambeau and scheffler may be tough to catch nonetheless.

A pair of former U.S. Ryder Cup teammates find themselves out in front of the field after the first day of play at the 2024 Masters. Round 1 action was suspended at 7:51 p.m. ET due to darkness, but it is Bryson DeChambeau who puts head to pillow with the clubhouse lead overnight.

Catching fire during the early wave Thursday and utilizing eight birdies to card a 7-under 65, DeChambeau was clinical around Augusta National Golf Club. Ranking second from tee to green and first with the putter in hand, the 2020 U.S. Open champion put himself in a fine position to claim another of golf's grandest prizes.

In order to do so, DeChambeau will have to take down the man who stood alongside him at Whistling Straits a few years ago, Scottie Scheffler. The world No. 1 looked exactly like the world No. 1 should look Thursday as he navigated the tricky conditions at Augusta National in bogey-free fashion en route to a 6-under 66.

Racing to the finish line with four birdies over his last seven holes, Scheffler got through the worst of the conditions unblemished; instead of shriveling, he thrived. While he was unable to tack on one final birdie at the last to catch DeChambeau, he is undoubtedly the favorite to add one more major to his belt.

Scheffler was not the only Masters champion to find his stride Thursday as Danny Willett sits in third in the clubhouse at 4 under in his first start since September 2023 due to injury. Major staples like Will Zalatoris, Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed are lurking, while Rory McIlroy fired an under-par round to keep himself in the mix in his latest chase for the career grand slam.

Watch the final three rounds of the 2024 Masters continuing Friday with  Masters Live  as we follow the best golfers in the world through Augusta National with  Featured Groups , check in at the famed  Amen Corner  and see leaders round the turn on  holes 15 & 16 . Watch live on  CBSSports.com , the  CBS Sports app  and  Paramount+ .

2024 Masters leaderboard, Round 1 in progress

1. Bryson DeChambeau (-7): It was a controlled round for Bryson after he got off to a dream start with three straight birdies out of the gate. He hit 10 fairways, 15 greens in regulation and got up and down at an 86% clip. DeChambeau putted the ball beautifully on top of that, experiencing a renewed sense of patience on the golf course. He finished T29 in the 2019 Masters after holding the first-round lead.

"Winning at Winged Foot helped me understand how to win big tournaments," DeChambeau said. "But a lot of patience, especially out here on this golf course where you feel like it's gettable, you see it's right in front of you, but it's just tricky out here. It can be super tricky. Making sure that you play aggressively but in a safe manner to where it's not going to get you into too much trouble. So, for me, as my game has progressed, I've learned to be a -- I've tried to be a little bit smarter out there on the golf course and not try to go for broke and go for every flag but place it in the right position."

2. Scottie Scheffler (-6): There just aren't enough words to describe this guy. Scheffler led the field from tee to green, was slightly above average on the greens and got around a difficult Augusta National without dropping a shot. Now, it was not without a little good fortune as he holed a bunker shot on the par-3 12th for birdie and received a great break on the next when it appeared his second was destined for Rae's Creek. He skirted the water and instead added another birdie before picking up two more on his second nine, but that's what the great ones do. Scheffler's 66 was the lowest of his Masters career and his first bogey-free effort at Augusta National.

3. Nicolai Hojgaard (-5): Three holes still to play.

T4. Danny Willett, Max Homa (-4): Homa came into this week without much on his major résumé, and he is on pace to post his best ever opening round in a major championship with five holes left in his round. He impressed alongside Tiger Woods on Thursday and capped an impressive day with a nice up-and-down birdie on the par-5 13th to navigate Amen Corner in even-par fashion.

T6. Ryan Fox, Cameron Davis, Tyrrell Hatton (-3): Hatton has four holes still to play.

T9. Will Zalatoris, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Joaquin Niemann and four others (-2): One year removed from withdrawing for the Masters and opting for back surgery, Zalatoris finds himself in the major mix once again. Arriving with a stellar history at Augusta National that consisted of a runner-up performance in his debut and T6 in his second stroll, the wiry right hander is at it again. He kickstarted his round thanks to playing the second-nine par 5s in 3 under, but dropped shots on his final two holes left him at 2 under and with a bad taste in his mouth.

"That's the thing about this place, is that you get so much wind, so much swirling," Zalatoris said. "I hit 10 great golf shots on the last two holes coming in. That's just part of what it is around this place. It's playing brutal but it's a lot of fun right now. The course was very fair. Even with everything that we've gone through. Overall, yeah, very pleased."

Aberg and Fleetwood both have holes still to play.

T17. Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick and eight others (-1): There is a lot of good news for McIlroy, who signed for his first under-par opening round at the Masters in six years. He played the par 5s in even par, missed a short birdie chance on the 16th and could have easily squeezed out a couple more shots here or there. McIlroy's wedge play was a smidge sloppy leading to a dropped shot on the par-5 2nd and not aiding him in up-and-down efforts on two other occasions. Woods opened with a birdie, went back to par after the 4th and then birdied the 8th to maintain his score with five holes left to play.

T32. Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Tom Kim and five others (E): This is probably a disappointed bunch, especially someone like Schauffele who came into the week riding so much momentum. The world No. 5 made dropped two shots in his first four holes and slugged his way back to even par on the second nine. Outside of his iron play, Schauffele struggled, but he is not totally out of this tournament if he can post a low one on Friday. Koepka is only through the 11th.

T42. Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Wyndham Clark, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa and seven others  (+1): The defending champion got off to a nice start playing his first nine in 2 under, but it fell apart from there. A second-nine 39 was the result of loose iron swings and a little frustration boiling over. He dropped shots on 17 and 18 to come in right around the course average on Thursday.

"It's a difficult golf course," Rahm said. "That's all I can say. It's not easy. You're not really having the luxury out there of being able to miss shots, especially tee shots. Unfortunately, on that back nine I missed a few too many shots."

Rick Gehman, Greg DuCharme and Patrick McDonald recap Round 1 of the Masters from Augusta National. Follow & listen to The First Cut on  Apple Podcasts  and  Spotify .

Play suspended due to darkness at 7:52 p.m. ET

The horn has been sounded and players now face the choice on whether they want to complete the hole they are currently on. Tiger Woods, Max Homa and Jason Day are around the green on the par-5 13th with players such as Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth behind them. These guys will have to complete most of their second nines tomorrow morning.

Koepka keeping his cool

The five-time major champion hasn't made much noise, but he is right there kind of hanging around. Koepka exchanged a birdie for a bogey on his first nine to turn in even par and will have a chance to put his foot on the gas with some birdie chances on this side. Whether this chance comes tonight or tomorrow morning depends on the sunlight.

Tiger, Max hummin'

These two are kind of feeding off each other, I think. Max Homa turns in 4 under thanks to birdies on Nos. 8-9 while Tiger is back in red figures as well thank to a birdie on the par 5. It has been clinical from Tiger up until his approach into the 10th which will short side him and set up a tricky par attempt.

Scheffler shoots 6-under 66

That was clinical from the world No. 1. Scheffler signs for six birdies, 12 pars and will sign for a bogey-free 6-under 66 to put himself just one behind Bryson DeChambeau. In a shocking development, Scheffler ranked first in strokes gained tee to green on Thursday.

Rahm shoots 1-over 73

The defending champion experienced a second nine to forget at Augusta National. After turning in 2 under, Rahm came home in 3-over 39 in part to back-to-back bogeys to finish. The world No. 3 was sloppy with his iron play throughout the day and never looked super comfortable en route to his 1-over 73.

Scheffler surging to the finish line

The world No. 1 tacks on a couple second-nine birdies and finds himself just one behind Bryson DeChambeau. Scheffler heads to 18 with a chance to tie the first-round lead while other players like Will Zalatoris, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm are faltering down the stretch.

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