All You Need To Know And More About The Tour De France!
By Ian John
October 23, 2023
On July 1st, over 150 riders will begin their quest to become the latest Tour de France winner!
Contents
Last year, it was Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard who crossed the line in the Champs Elysees in Paris to claim his first Le Tour win.
The Jumbo-Vosma cyclist is the joint favourite to win in 2023 alongside the Slovenian cycling legend Tadej Pogacar. Many experts feel the 2023 race will be a two-way battle for the yellow jersey between the two.
But before we take a look at the two front-runners in the betting markets at bet365 Sport, let’s first take a look at some of the major facts and figures about the world’s most famous cycling race.
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The first Tour de France took place in 1903 and was originally organised as a promotional event for the L’Auto newspaper.
It is organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation whose race director is Christian Prudhomme.
The bulk of the race has traditionally been held in July each year.
The race has been contested 109 times. 2023 will be the 110th race.
Maurice Garin was the first ever winner of the race back in 1903.
Four riders jointly hold the record of five Tour de France overall classification wins. Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
Lance Armstrong did win seven tours consecutively from 1999 but his wins were annulled due to him being found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs and treatments.
The British winners of the event are four-time winner Chris Froome, Bradey Wiggins and Geraint Thomas. Ireland’s Stephen Roche also won the event in 1988.
France leads the way with most wins per country with 36, double that of second place Belgium with 18 and Spain lie third with 12 wins.
The race is contested over different venues in each stage each year, although the format of the race remains the same with a mix of hilly, flat, mountainous and time trial stages.
Alongside the overall Tour de France winner (Overall Classification), there are several other awards to be won in the race including the King of the Mountains, Team Classification, Points Classification, Young Rider Classification as well as recognition for winning any individual stage of the tour.
The Lanterne Rouge (Red Light) is the nickname given to the rider that has taken the most time to complete the tour.
21 stages. 21 battles. It begins Saturday. 21 étapes. 21 batailles. Début des hostilités samedi.
The 2023 Tour de France will be the latest in a long line of races which start (The Grand Depart), or encompass some stages, in another country.
This year, it is the turn of Spain and in particular the Basque region around Bilbao and San Sebastian which will host the first two full days of racing.
The third day will see the Le Tour peloton move from Spain over the Pyrenees and into France for the remainder of the race.
Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard of Team Jumbo-Visma is the current champion of the race. He is the co-favourite for this year’s Le Tour alongside Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, who won in 2020 and 2021 and finished second last year.
The race starts on the 1st July, finishing on the 23rd in the now customary ceremonial final stage along the Champs Elysees in Paris.
The full schedule of the race is as follows:
2023 Tour de France – Race Stages & Rest Days
Stage 1 – July 1st – Bilbao (Esp) to Bilbao (Esp) (182km) – Hilly
Stage 2 – July 2nd – Vitoria-Gasteiz (Esp) to San Sebastien (Esp) (209km) – Hilly
Stage 3 – July 3rd – Amorebieta-Etxano (Esp) to Bayonne (Fra) (193.5km) – Flat
Stage 4 – July 4th – Dax (Fra) to Nogaro (Fra) (182km) – Flat
Stage 5 – July 5th – Pau (Fra) to Laruns (Fra) (163km) – Mountains
Stage 6 – July 6th – Tarbes (Fra) to Cauterets-Cambasque (145km) – Mountains (summit finish)
Stage 7 – July 7th – Mont-De-Marsan (Fra) to Bordeaux (170km) – Flat
Stage 8 – July 8th – Libourne (Fra) to Limoges (Fra) (201km) – Hilly
Stage 9 – July 9th – Saint-Leonard-De-Noblat (Fra) to Puy De Dome (Fra) (182.5km) – Mountains (summit finish)
Day 10 – July 10th – Rest Day
Stage 10 – July 11th – Vulcania (Fra) to Issoire (Fra) (167.5km) – Hilly
Stage 11 – July 12th – Clermont-Ferrand (Fra) to Moulins (Fra) (180km) – Flat
Stage 12 – July 13th – Roanne (Fra) to Bellville-en-Beaujolais (Fra) (169km) – Hilly
Stage 13 – July 14th – Chatillon-Sur-Chalaronne (Fra) to Grand Colombier (Fra) (138km) – Mountains (summit finish)
Stage 14 – July 15th – Annemasse (Fra) to Morzine Les Portes Du Soleil (Fra) (152km) – Mountains
Stage 15 – July 16th – Les Gets Les Portes Du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (179km) – Mountains (summit finish)
Day 16 – July 17th – Rest Day
Stage 16 – July 18th – Passy (Fra) to Combloux (Fra) (22.4km) – Time Trial
Stage 17 – July 19th – Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc (Fra) to Courchevel (Fra) (166km) – Mountain
Stage 18 – July 20th – Moutiers (Fra) to Bourg-en-Bresse (Fra) (185km) – Hilly
Stage 19 – July 21st – Moirans-en-Montagne (Fra) to Poligny (Fra) (173km) – Flat
Stage 20 – July 22nd – Belfort (Fra) to Le Markstein Fellering (Fra) (133.5km) – Mountain
Stage 21 – July 23rd – Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Fra) to Paris Champs-Elysees (Fra) (115.5km) – Flat
Stage Type
8 Flat Stages
4 Hilly Stages
8 Mountain Stages (four with summit finishes)
1 Individual Time Trial.
Total Distance – 3,405.6km
The 2023 race will visit the Pyrenees, the Jura, the Massif Central, the Alps and Vosges mountain ranges.
There will also be three climbs that are in the race for the first time. Cote de Vivero (Basque Country), Col de la Crois Rosier (Massif Central) and Col du Feu (Alps).
The Puy de Dome will be making its return to the race for the first time since 1988.
The highest point of the tour in 2023 is the Col de la Loze, at a height of 2,304 metres.
The overall individual classification winner will earn a first prize of €500,000 out of a prize pool of €2.3m.
Latest Betting
All odds are taken from bet365 Sport and were correct at the time of writing but may change in the meantime.
11/10 co favourites – Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar
14/1 – Jai Hindley
25/1 – Enric Mas Nicolau
28/1 – Mattias Skjelmose
33/1 – Ben O’Connor
40/1 – Richard Carapaz, David Gaudu
50/1 – Adam Yates. Simon Yates
66/1 – Romain Bardet, Daniel Martinez, Carlos Rodriguez, Tom Pidcock, Mikel Landa
80/1 – Felix Gall, Egan Bernal
100/1 – Wout van Aert, Wilco Kelderman, Pello Bilbao
150/1 bar
Our Tip
The bookies see the 2023 Le Tour as a two-rider race and it is not hard to disagree. Hindley is one to watch, but this is his first Tour de France and I think he will likely finish in the top five at best.
For me, it will be another Vingegaard and Pogacar battle with the winner likely to be the rider who gets best support from his team.
As such, I am going for Pogacar to avenge his defeat last year and win this year.
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