2023 Tour de France

The 110th edition of the Tour de France will begin in the northern Spanish town of Bilbao on the first of July. As always, the route decision for this year's tour has sparked controversy. There will be no summit finish on the Alpe d'huez in 2023. Likewise, the barron slopes of Mt. Ventoux, nearly always plagued with high winds and unforgettable bike racing, is also not on the docket. Also absent from this year's route are any cobblestone sections, which have -controversially- lit up many recent editions of the tour. Racers this year have only one 22.4 km time trial to contend with, which will occur on stage sixteen. The punchy race against the clock has potential to shake up the yellow jersey standings as the time trial course climbs 640 meters and finishes atop the Cote de Domancy averaging 8.7% over 2.6 km. The route travels a total of 3,404 km, finally finishing -as always- on the Champs de Elysees on July 23rd.

Though Ventoux, Alpe d'huez, and chaotic cobblestone stages are missing from the 2023 edition of the race, there is guaranteed excitement nonetheless. The Tour de France's most featured climb, The mighty Tourmalet, will make its 89th appearance on the sixth stage. The battle for the yellow jersey is sure to be ignited on the HC ascent of the Tourmelet which climbs 1261 meters over 16.9 km.

The Tourmalet, with a Fiets index of 10.4, is only surpassed in this year's tour by the Col de La Loze (Fiets 11.4) occurring on the 17th stage which travels 166.6 km with a brutal 5012 meters of elevation gain. The four summit finishes (Cauterets-Cambasque, Puy de Dôme, Grand Colombier and Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc) of the race promise nothing short of fireworks for the Dynamic Duo battling for yellow this year. Stage thirteen has the riders set on a 121 km drag strip into the base of the col du Grand Colombier.

Puy Dome, closed to mortal cyclists as of 2018, will host a battle of the cycling titans on stage nine. Further, the staggering number of category two and three climbs early in the race should lead to a competitive contest for the polka dot jersey for the 110th edition. Where the 80's saw Bernard Hinault vs. Greg Lemond, and the 90's/00's were infamously fought between Jan Ulrich and Lance Armstrong - 2023 will mark the second year of an escalating rivalry between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.

The contest for yellow in 2022 was separated, after twenty-one stages and 3328 kilometers, by just two minutes and forty-three seconds. The runner up last year, Tadej Pogacar, won both the 2020 and 2021 editions of the race. Though dominating nearly every stage of the first half of the race in 2022, Pogacar would eventually concede two minutes and fifty-one seconds to Vingegaard after cracking on the Col du Granon at the end stage eleven. Despite aggressive attacks at nearly every opportunity thereafter, Pogacar would be unable to claw back the time lost on the Col du Granon.

The stage is set and the drama is building as the Grand Départ on July 1st draws closer. Pogacar has already had a season most pro-cyclists could only dream of. February saw the Slovinian take the overall jersey at the Vuelta a Andulucia as well as three stages. Then, in March he'd win Paris Nice and another three stages with Vingegaard finishing third overall in the race - with an impressive victory in the individual time trial. In April, Pogacar won La Fleche Wallonne, Amstel Gold, and Ronde Van Vlaanderen in magnificent fashion. Vingegaard had a notable spring season of his own. In February he took three stages as well as the overall classification at Gran Camino. April was defined by a win at Itzulia Basque Country, taking three stages along the way. Most recently, and perhaps most importantly, the Dane won the Critérium du Dauphiné and two stages this June.

While Vingegaard put the exclamation mark on his spring campaign, Pogacar was on the sidelines recovering from a crash at Liege Bastogne Liege on April 23rd. Pogacar's crash at Liege required wrist surgery and a recalibration of his Tour prep, but it remains to be seen whether the days away from racing will affect his bid for yellow come July.

Third in last year's race and former winner, Geraint Thomas, opted to ride the Giro d'Italia this year instead of fighting for yellow. France's best hope for overall victory lies with David Gaudu who finished 13:56 behind Vingegaard in last year's race.

As in all tour's -of any kind, anything can happen. But, the betting odds show: Vingegaard +105, Pogacar +145, Enric Mas Nicolau +1400, Jai Hindley +2000. The two certainties then seem only that Pogacar will attack and that Pogacar will definitely attack.