Stage 5: Pau > Laruns (July 5)

2023 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 5:  FLAT STAGE - Mountain Stage #1 (Pyrenees)

165 km (103 miles)  /  3,346m (10,978’)

PAU > LAURNS

https://www.letour.fr/en/stage-5 

See our 2023 Tour de France page for the best way to view, analyze and filter Tour de France stage routes and climbs.

KOM CORNER

Official post-race summary for Stage 5 (July 5):

TBD

STAGE 5 DETAILS AND STATISTICS

• Location: Pyrenees
• Distance: 165 kilometers / 103 miles
• Altitude gained: 3,346 meters / 10,978’
• Percentage Grade:

• 45% (74.5 km/46 mi) descent
• 39% (65 km/40 mi) 0-5%
•  11% (17.5 km/11 mi) 5-10%
• 5% (7.6 km/4.7 mi) 11-15%

• Steepest:

• 500 meters 13.9% / Quarter-mile 13.9% (Col de Soudet at km 86)
• 1 Kilometer 12.4% (Soudet)  / 1 mile 12% (Col de Marie Blanque)

• Highest Point on the Route: 1,532 meters / 5,026’’
• Lowest Point on the Route:  166 meters / 545’’

COMMENTS FROM RACE DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN PRUDHOMME - STAGE 5:

“There’s still time for questions going into the first rendezvous in the mountains. The climbs of the Col de Soudet and Col de Marie Blanque will provide some answers about the form of the contenders for the title, but the terrain isn’t really suitable for big attacks. That said....” (read more at letour - Stage 5 Summary).

This is the first mountain stage of the 2023 Tour de France.  Col de Marie Blanque is the last of three climbs on this stage and this will be the 15th time this Pyrenees climb will be featured in the Tour. The tour last visited Marie Blanque in 2020 (after a 10-year hiatus) when Marc Hirschi of Switzerland was first to the summit, but Tadej Pogačar has the Strava KOM for the climb (24:29) and of course brought home the yellow jersey that year.

MAIN CLIMBS OF STAGE 5 OF THE 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE

Letour.fr - Stage 5

Col de Soudet - first big climb of the 2023 TdF - 9 TdF appearances from 1987-2023

PJAMM Cycling Profile Tool.

Col de Soudet.

Col de Marie Blanque - featured in TdF 16 times since 1978

PJAMM Cycling Profile Tool

EXPLANATION OF KING OF MOUNTAIN, KOM POINTS AND BONUS POINTS

FOR THE 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE

KOM DEFINED: Climb-related points are accumulated during the race and the rider with the most accumulated points at the beginning of the stage wears the red polka dot jersey that day and the rider with the most points at the end of the race is crowned that year’s Tour de France King of the Mountains.

“Category”:  When the mountain classification (King of the Mountains) was introduced in 1933, there were points given to the first 10 riders over the summit (10 for first, 1 for 10th).  In 1947, the Tour introduced two climb “categories” with a certain amount of points for the second category and twice as many as for the first category.  Over the years “categories” were added, in addition to an “Above” category (Hors or HC) and since 1979 there have been an HC (hardest), Category 1 (second hardest) on down to Category 4 (least difficult climb).

The category of the climb is significant for two reasons:

• The points awarded for the TdF KOM for each climb is based upon the category of climb - thus, “category” is the basis for the points that are used to determine each year’s King of the Mountains.
• Most cycling fans, particularly Grand Tour fans, are very interested in the climb “category” because that tells them how hard each climb on a stage is and where the riders will struggle more and the point in a stage where that day, or even the entire tour, will be won or lost.

KOM HISTORY:  King of the Mountains -- Mountain Classification victories (first recognized in 1933; jersey introduced 1975)

• TdF:

• Richard Virenque: 7 - 1994-1997, 1999, 2003, 2004 (best tour finish #2 1997)
• Frederico Bahamontes (six: 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964; nine in Grand Tours)  

• Triples (none ever in the same year):  Frederico Bahamontes and Louis Herrera.
• Doubles same year (TdF+Giro):  Fausto Coppi, Charly Gaul, Lucien Van Impe, Claudio Chaippucci

POINTS:  KOM points are awarded in two ways on the Tour de France:

•  To riders first over the summit of categorized climbs (in descending order HC, 1-4).  

• The higher the category the more riders receive points (HC points are awarded to 8 riders while CAT 4 points are awarded to only 1 rider).

• Bonus point (see below).

TDF POINTS FORMULA:

Wikipedia has the best summary and graph we’ve seen for TdF KOM points distribution:

he points gained by consecutive riders reaching a mountain top are distributed according to the following classification:

Wikipedia - Mountains Classification - Tour de France

BONUS POINTS:  These points go towards the King of the Mountain designation and are awarded to the first (8 points), second (5) and third (2) riders reaching designated summits in the race.  

• There are no KOM bonuses in the 2022 Tour de France.

MONEY PRIZES FOR KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

• Prize for first to eighth place:

• Winner = €25,000
• 2nd = €15,000
• 3rd = €10,000
• 4th = €4,000
• 5th = €3,500
• 6th = €3,000
• 7th = €2,500
• 8th = €2,000

• Daily prize for wearing the Polka Dot jersey = €6,000
• Per category climb:

• HC

• 1st = €800
• 2nd = €450
• 3rd = €300

• Cat 1

• 1st = €650
• 2nd = €400
• 3rd = €150

• Cat 2

• 1st = €500
• 2nd = €250

• Cat 3

• 1st = €300

• Cat 4

• 1st = €200

• Sourvenir Henri Desgrange €5000 first to Col du Galibier pass Stage 11.

The maximum amount the KOM winner could earn if he won every stage and wore the jersey from Stage 2 to the finish is $60,300 Euros (62,773 USD)

Summary of Gradient.