C.With only 22 kilometers of time trial, also disputed between the alpine hills and with uneven terrain, the 110th edition of the gala round will force us to bet on light developments. A fact that causes the final winner to have to be a great climber. The 3,404 km route is clearly committed to the mountains. “We wanted to show once again that the mountains are not just the Alps and the Pyrenees,” said Christian Prudhommedirector of the gala round, during the presentation.
The output of Basque Country With its three stages and going through the possible difficulties in the Massif Central, the Jura and the Vosges start as great protagonists of a race that, as usual, ends in Paris. the vosges will be the definitive judge of the edition, with a final promotion to the Ballon d’Alsace and goal in Markstein that, although it is not considered high, it will be key for climbers. The most purists will find on this route a few kilometers against the clock (22), not very long stages and no great ride with several chained climbs. It is a modern Tour, designed for all types of fans and even cycling profiles.
The menu will be varied. boot in Basque Countrythe second time he has done it in Spain after he started out in San Sebastián in 1992, with two mid-mountain stages that, according to prudhommesupposes “the hardest beginning that is remembered”.
As for proper names, mourning Vingegaard vs. Pogacar be the great incentive of a Tour where Enric Mas and Mikel Landa They will finally seek to get on the podium in Paris. Carapaz, Hindley, Gaudu, O’Connor… many are the names seeking glory in the most important race in the world. After last year’s success, the Tour will once again be the great protagonist of the sporting summer.
Devenyns, the most veteran of the 2023 Tour; American Simmons, the youngest
(EFE) The Belgian Dries Devenynswho will turn 40 in the penultimate stage of the Tour, is the oldest of the cyclists who will take the start of the French round in Bilbao this Saturday, while the American Qinn Simmons22, is the youngest.
The Tour will have a fifth of the riders who will discover the French round (36), among whom Simmons is not, who will contest his second edition.
Among the rookies are some riders who have ambitions for the general classification, such as the Spanish Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos), the Danish Matthias Skjelmose, who has just won the tour of switzerland. or the Australian Jai Hindley.
Rodríguez is also the youngest of the rookies, only a few days older than Simmons, while his compatriot Antonio Pedrero, 31, is the oldest of those who will take part in the Tour for the first time.
Although he is not the oldest, the British Mark Cavendish He is the rider who has the most issues in his legs, since he will start for the fourteenth time, one more than the Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen and two more than the Spanish Luis Len Sanchez and that the slovak peter saga. The “sprinter” from the Isle of Man will seek to become the rider with the most wins in the history of the Tour, surpassing the Belgian Eddy Merckx. He already has 34, ahead of Sagan, who is 12 and who is also living his last Tour.
The Belgian continues in the classification of triumphs wout van aert and the slovenian Tadej Pogacar, with nine wins. The Tour has an average age of 29 years and 9 months, with 20 riders over 35 and 23 under 25, so they will opt for the white jersey that designates the best young man.
He Soudal-Quick Step is the one with the highest average age, 32 years, with Devenyns and Michael Morkov, 38 years old, pulling the same. The Norwegian formation Uno-X is the youngest, with an average age of 27, despite the fact that they have in their ranks alexander kristoff35 years old.
As usual, France is the most represented country in the peloton, with 32 cyclists, ahead of the 21 Belgians and the 14 Spanish and Dutch, who have improved their participation after last year, when there were 9 from each country. Quite the opposite of Italy, which has gone from 14 runners last year to half in this edition.
