Tour de France 2023 routes – All the rumours ahead of the official presentation
Information on next year's routes ahead of Thursday's presentation
The routes for the 2023 editions of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes will be unveiled in Paris on October 27 in one of the most highly-anticipated non-racing events of the cycling calendar.
Deputy Editor Patrick Fletcher is in Paris for the presentation and Cyclingnews will have live coverage of the presentation followed by full details of the route, rider reaction and analysis.
Race organisers ASO do their best to keep a lid on the details until they click play on their carefully constructed video montages in the Palais de Congrès, but reports, leaks, and rumours never fail to circulate ahead of the big reveal.
Local French newspapers are all scrambling to bring readers details of when the Tour might roll into their corner of the Hexagon, while Thomas Vergouwen at the VeloWire website is, as ever, compiling these reports and combining them with his own sleuthing to produce an overview, at least of the men's route.
The 110th edition of the men's Tour de France will take place from July 1-23, starting in Bilbao, Spain, and finishing in the French capital Paris.
The second edition of the modern incarnation of the women's Tour de France – the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – will start on July 23 and finish on July 30, with the start and finish locations still unknown.
Below Cyclingnews looks at all the rumours and potential outlines for both routes.
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With less than 24 hours to go the presentation we have updated the information with all the latest information, rumours and leaks.
Tour de France Femmes 2023 route
What we know about the Tour de France Femmes route
If ASO has a tight lid on the Tour de France route, they have an even tighter one on the Tour de France Femmes route details.
The second edition of the new version of the women's Tour de France will begin on July 23, on the same day as the stage 21 conclusion of the men's race, and the route will finish at an unknown location on July 30.
The women's race is currently scheduled to be held across eight stages again; however, it is not expected to begin on the Champs-Elysées circuits in Paris as it did in 2022.
The return of the women's Tour de France after three decades of absence offered a historical moment in women's cycling, and the two events - the women's opening stage 1 and the men's closing stage 21 – were held on the same day in Paris. Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) won the circuit race and took the first yellow jersey to kick off the eight-day women's race. Later that evening, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took the bunch sprint to win stage 21 of the men's event as Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) sealed the overall victory.
It was the perfect hand-over of the yellow jersey from the men's race to the women's race as the peloton, fans, and media departed Paris on stage 2 to follow the women's event across the northeast and into the Vosges mountains for the finale atop La Super Planche des Belles Filles where Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) was crowned the overall champion.
In total, there were nearly 20 million viewers in France across the eight days of racing, with an average per stage of 2.25 million on France 2 and France 3 delivering an audience share of 26.4%, according to official Tour de France Femmes figures. The finale alone was watched by more than 5 million French viewers.
Many of the event's top riders, including Van Vleuten, suggested that the Tour de France Femmes, while only in its second edition, was so successful this year that it perhaps no longer needs to start on the coattails of the men's race.
The speculation is that the Grand Départ could move away from the hustle and bustle of the Paris circuits – out from under the men's race – and begin in an all-new location in 2023.
- Tour de France Femmes heads to Massif Central in 2023
- Van Vleuten supports possible Tour de France Femmes shift from Paris depart
- Top riders welcome rumoured move away from Paris for the 2023 Tour de France Femmes
Massif Central Grande Depart?
Speculation in La Montagne places the Grand Départ of the Tour de France Femmes in the Massif Central on July 23. Specifically, the race looks likely to begin in Clermont-Ferrand, the capital of the Auvergne region.
It was reported that Tour de France Femmes director Marion Rousse visited the Auvergne region to consider Clermont-Ferrand as the starting point for next year's event, along with its potential to host multiple stages.
The area is set to host multiple stages of the men's event, too, with Clermont-Ferrand Mayor Olivier Bianchi saying that gender equality was an important factor in its bid to host the opening stage of the women's race.
Although the type of race has not been revealed, top riders such as Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) say that the possible move away from a Paris opener could allow the race to expand into new terrain and possibly bring in a time trial. This discipline was sorely missed in this year's race event.
Beginning in the Massif Central could also mean that the event could see more decisive stages in the first few days of racing, with speculation that the women's race, like the men's, could visit Puy de Dôme.
Where to next?
While many had hoped for the event to visit the iconic Tour de France mountains of the Alps and Pyrénées this year, there were obvious challenges and limitations to how much of the countryside the Tour de France Femmes could traverse in just eight days.
Unless ASO is secretly planning to expand the number of days for the 2023 Tour de France Femmes, the peloton will need to complete eight days of racing inside a reasonably sized area of France. It cannot feasibly visit all of the areas the men's race visits, but moving away from Paris could mean the race will see new places next year.
A starting point in the Massif Central means the race could venture east to the Alps, where the race could hit iconic ascents such as L'Alpe d'Huez or south to the Pyrénées for mountain passes such as the Col du Tourmalet.
Journalist for RTL France, Nicolas Georgereau, indicated via his social media channels that the Tour de France Femmes could start in Clermont-Ferrand with the final stage in Pau at the foot of the Pyrenees.
In between, he suggested that the race could venture south through Blagnac, Albi, and Lannemezan with a mountaintop finish at the Col du Tourmalet.
We will find out the full details on Thursday.
Tour de France 2023 route
What we know about the men's Tour de France route
As it stands, we only have official details on two-and-a-half of the 21 stages of the men's Tour de France. The other stages have still to be confirmed.
The Grand Départ has been awarded to the Basque Country in Spain, and the opening two stages have already been unveiled, along with the start location of stage 3, which will see the Tour cross into France to an as-yet-unknown finishing location.
The 2023 Tour de France begins in Bilbao on July 1, with a 185km route that heads out to the hilly coastline of the Bay of Biscay before returning to Bilbao for a late, steep climb of the Pike Bidea and the finish in the city centre. Stage 2 features more punchy terrain on a 210km route from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Donostia San Sebastián, with the Jaizkibel climb – well known from the Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa – close to the finish.
Stage 3 will start in Amorebieta-Etxano and track 80km along the Basque Country coastline before reaching the French border. And that's where the official details come to an end.
- 2023 Tour de France to start in the Basque Country
- 2023 Tour de France set to return to Puy de Dome mountain finish
- Tour de France director Prudhomme suggests Puy de Dôme could return to route
What could follow when in France?
Newspapers and specialist websites on either side of the border have reported with confidence that stage 3 will finish in Bayonne, the small city near Biarritz as the Tour heads to France.
Bayonne is around 30km up the coast from the Spanish border, and the stage would almost certainly culminate in a sprint finish, possibly along the banks of the Adour river.
The Tour de France then looks set for an early foray into the Pyrenees.
Most of the media reporting around these stages comes from the well-regarded Sud Ouest regional newspaper, which suggests stage 4 will make its way into the Pyrenees from Dax to finish in Laruns. There is no shortage of major mountains in the vicinity of the finish town, so there should be a late climb and descent to the line, with Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar both winning there in recent years.
Sud Ouest speculates that stage 5 will see an uphill finish at Cauterets after a start from the Tour's most-visited city of Pau. Cauterets is only a category-3 drag but was preceded by the Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet when it was last used in 2015. Again, it remains to be seen how hard this stage ends up being.
Clues to stage 6 are scarcer still. Sud Ouest mentions the possibility of a time trial, with the latest reports suggesting the return of a team time trial around Tarbes. That would be a change in strategy for ASO but could happen and spark an early battle for every second between Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team Emirates and Ineos Grenadiers.
Stage 7 should take the race north, starting in Mont-de-Marsan – the adopted hometown of 1973 Tour winner Luis Ocaña – and finishing in Bordeaux. It's a major city but hasn't hosted a Tour stage finish since Mark Cavendish won in 2010. There could be another big city finish - and potential bunch sprint - the next day, with France Bleu reporting that stage 8 will head to Limoges, possibly from Libourne.
Stage 9, as is customary, will be the final stage of the opening week ahead of the first rest day, and it's set to be a hotly-anticipated affair.
Rumours of a return to the Puy de Dome have been circulating for a while, and this looks to be the day, according to La Montagne. The climb up the dormant volcano hasn't been used since 1988 but has a storied history, including the Poulidor-Anquetil duel in 1964 and the time a spectator punched Eddy Merckx in 1975.
Stage winners include Fausto Coppi, Federico Bahamontes, Luis Ocaña, Lucien Van Impe, and Joop Zoetemelk. Although not overly long, the main 5.8-kilometre ascent of the climb, which spirals around the central cone of the volcano, is unremittingly steep and spectacular, with gradients averaging around 12%.
The first rest day will come on July 10, with La Montagne's report indicating this will be in the city of Clermont-Ferrand. This lies in the Auvergne region just outside the chain of old volcanos in that corner of the Massif Central, so the second week could open with more medium mountains.
La Montagne is still the local newspaper here and reports a finish in Issoire to the south of Clermont-Ferrand on stage 10, which would be a flat finish but likely preceded by hilly terrain. Stage 11 is then said to loop back to start in Clermont-Ferrand before finishing in Moulins. This would take the race north out of the Massif Central and would likely be a flatter affair, especially towards the finish.
Into the Alps in week 2
The second half of the 2023 Tour de France is where things become far less clear even close to the official presentation. There is still considerable uncertainty, though a visit to the Jura, the Alps and the Savoie area near Italy and Switzerland is, of course, guaranteed.
Le Progrès has reported that stage 13 - on Bastille Day - will be in the Jura, from Châtillon-sur-Chalaron to the Grand Colombier, which featured as a stage finish in 2020.
The Dauphiné Libéré, the newspaper which covers the Alps, it claims to know of stage finishes in Morzine and Saint-Gervais during the race’s time in the mountain range. Morzine is a ski resort that has hosted multiple Tour visits, with stage finishes usually coming after the hors-catégorie climb and hair-raising descent of the Col de Joux Plane.
Velowire put the Morzine stage towards the end of the second week and flags the possibility of only individual time trial in the Sallanches area after the second rest day on Monday July 17. The Dauphiné also suggests a mountain stage from Les Gets to Saint-Gervais, in the shadow of Mont Blanc, where Romain Bardet won in 2016.
The stage is expected to start in Passy on the north side of the Arve valley and then climb the Côte de Domancy and finish in the village of Combloux on the southside.
The Côte de Domancy has been named the Montée Bernard Hinault after the French rider attacked alone to set up his historic victory at the 1980 World Championships in Sallanches. It is only three kilometres long but has an average gradient of 8.5% and a section at 16%.
The day after is perhaps the Queen stage of the 2023 Tour de France and climbs the Col de la Loze bike path to 2,304 metres before a descent and the finish on the ramp of the Courchevel altiport. Primož Roglič distanced Tadej Pogačar on the steep newly-surfaced climb in 2020, with Miguel Angel Lopez winning the stage.
On leaving the Alps. the Tour route is expected to head north to the Jura and the Vosges via Bourg-en-Bresse and Poligny.
The Vosges has been favoured in recent years, with extensive visits to La Planche des Belles Filles, but the major rumour for 2023 revolves around the Grand Ballon, last used in 2019 but never as a summit finish.
France Bleu notes that local officials are planning to build a 5km path from Geishouse up the Col du Haag, which is said would be a 13km climb with nearly a vertical kilometre, thus making it the only hors-catégorie climb in the Vosges mountains.
This stage could be on the final Saturday. If that indeed proves to the case, then there would be on final time trial before the finish in Paris. This would be a Tour light on time trialling kilometres in comparison to the Giro, which has 70km against the watch spread across three stages.
The Tour de France peloton will likely transfer to Paris on Sunday morning. The final parade stage is set to start inside the national velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, which will host the track racing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The final winner of the stage will again be crowned on the Champs-Elysées after the sprinters fight for one last victory at sunset on Sunday.
Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.
