The 2023 Tour de France can be described in one word this year – hard.
One of the hardest editions of La Grand Boucle since probably the Second World War, the Grand Départ starts with tough Basque hills in Spain, followed by the Pyrennes as early as Stage Five and then the Massif Central at the end of week one.
A return to the Puy de Dôme after 35 years, a Grand Colombier summit again, Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc in the Alps, only one mountainous time trial before a finale in the Vosges – this isn’t going to be an enjoyable journey to Paris for many sprinters.
Early climbing means an early opportunity for one rider with supreme climbing legs to get the first yellow jersey on loan before the inevitable sight of either defending champion Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogačar wearing yellow on the Champs-Élysées.
Unless one or the other crashes out or unfortunately leaves the race due to COVID, this Tour could be one of the most exciting in recent years where even the opening two stages in Spain will favour an early mental test between both the 26-year-old Dane and 24-year-old Slovenian.
If you’re reading this as someone new to cycling and thinking why just focus on two riders going for the ultimate prize in the sport – this is it.
Strange things can happen, cycling is no exception, and the Tour has its own madness and majesty – but don’t feel there’s more of a story to be told here, the narrative is simple.
Jonas Vingegaard lines up in Bilbao as defending champion and Tadej Pogačar wants his crown back after two successive maillot jaune’s in 2020 and 2021 – a third Tour title is the ultimate goal to place him level with Greg LeMond, Louison Bobet and Phillipe Thys.
The 110th Tour is part three of a new rivalry between the two men, where both have the strongest teams in Jumbo-Visma and UAE-Team Emirates and nobody else is getting close.
Mentioning names above like LeMond, Bobet and Thys, reminds you of the many Tour legends of yesteryear who certainly gave us rivalries for the ages.
Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor in the 1960s, the late 1970s and early 80’s gave cycling Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk, poignant that the race starts in Spain to remind fans of Miguel Indurain and Claudio Chiappucci going head-to-head and Jan Ullrich trying to contest Lance Armstrong.
Going through the Tour’s history to reminisce about rivalries past is one thing, but the crucial point here is that previous rivalries above have absolutely nothing on the scale and grandeur of what Vingegaard and Pogačar are giving the most-famous bike race.
Twice they’ve given us a head-to-head with Pogačar winning in 2021 before Vingegaard last year succeeded in doing what Poulidor, Zoetemelk, Chiappucci and Ullrich never managed and conquered the man to beat.
Respect on and off the bike was visible last year and that will continue throughout the three weeks, but don’t be fooled, the mind games have already begun. The early stages could be extremely explosive, there won’t be a need to go off like a bomb as early as Stage Six 1,355 metres high at Cauterets, but there’s every chance to try and distance each other as early as possible.
A thrilling rivalry is about to offer a new chapter, but who will be in yellow in Paris?
Assuming that neither has to leave the race, either Jonas Vingegaard will prove that last year was no one-off victory or Pogačar gets that third title.
You can argue that Vingegaard has had the better buildup to this year’s Tour thanks to three overall stage race wins at the Gran Camino, the Tour of the Basque Country and recently the crucial Tour warm-up at the 75th Critérium du Dauphiné.
More pressure this year? Yes because the Dane is outright leader for Jumbo-Visma at the biggest race on the calendar and yes because the Dutch team will be very keen to take a second Grand Tour after Primož Roglič, the Slovenian we all thought would be an eventual Tour winner, added the Giro d’Italia to his palmarès.
Tadej Pogačar is the only rider who can stop him but there are questions over his lay-off due to a broken wrist he suffered during the Spring at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Taking both the national road race and time trial title in his native Slovenia, a lack of racing miles does leave a little cloud hanging over what he may be able to do.
The one outcome that would be beneficial for fans of the race would be to see exciting head-to-head racing between the pair and also their teams getting to Paris in one piece after UAE were shredded to pieces by COVID last year.
Both have added strength to their rosters, where the introduction of Adam Yates to UAE means an extra man in the mountains as well as Austrian Felix Großschartner and for Jumbo-Visma they have the strongest all-rounder in Wout Van Aert who played a crucial role on all terrain for Vingegaard last year. Dylan Van Baarle lines up to help in the mountains, Sepp Kuss is a mountain goat and Wilco Kelderman is one climber you can rely on.
A huge duel awaits but what about the rest?
The other 20 teams have contenders who can certainly make the top-ten but the top-two looks miles away. A fight for the final podium was exactly what Geraint Thomas had to do last year, over seven minutes behind both Pogačar and Vingegaard, so expect the same again in Paris.
If (and it’s a big if!) Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar fell out of favour, others nowhere near their level will get the opportunity of a lifetime.
Names include former 2022 Giro winner Jai Hindley, AG2R and former Tour stage winner Ben O’Connor, Mikel Landa, David Gaudu (below) as France’s main hope along with Romain Bardet, and Enric Mas.
These are contenders for the top-ten and there are some unknowns such as former third-place in 2021 and Giro champion in 2019, Richard Carapaz and who knows what Egan Bernal could potentially achieve at this Tour. Coming back from a nasty training crash that could have been career-ending, it’s a slow but sure recovery for Colombia’s only winner of yellow so far, now four years ago.
For British fans, it is relatively unknown what Tom Pidcock’s second Tour appearance may bring. As debut’s go it couldn’t have gone much better with a phenomenal win atop the iconic Alpe D’Huez last year, so there’s more expectation to produce something magical again in 2023.
Unlike the years where INEOS Grenadiers (then Team Sky) dominated the Tour, the team arrive in Bilbao with no real out-and-out general classification contender – an unknown three weeks lies ahead for the team.
Elsewhere, expect some enthralling contests on the hilly stages between the likes of former world champion Julian Alaphilippe, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert will want to join the fun.
For the sprinters, a wait until Stage Three into France is where their first fast opportunity will come. As already mentioned, it’s not a sprinter friendly Tour but as always there’s a packed list of sprinters including a Dutch clash between Fabio Jakobsen and Dylan Groenewegen, and Belgian Jasper Philipsen (below) is arguably the best on the planet right now wanting more after taking two stages last year, including the holy grail in Paris.
Caleb Ewan will be seeking to get back to winning ways, Mads Pedersen will want more after winning a stage last year, Eritrean Biniam Girmay become the first black African to win a Grand Tour stage at the Giro last year, it’s Peter Sagan’s last Tour de France, and who can forget Mark Cavendish – just one win is what the Manx Missile needs to become the all-time Tour stage winner, currently tied with Eddy Merckx on 34 stages.
3,404km starting in Spain, heading into France and across the cols in the Alps and Pyrenees, with fans dressed in all kinds of costumes – this is the Tour de France.
Let the race begin!
Featured image courtesy of Alex Broadway/Getty Images
