Write your own legend

Paris, June 9^th 2023

Sunday, 9 July 2023

L’ÉTAPE DU TOUR DE FRANCE

WRITE YOUR OWN LEGEND

Key points:

· The 31^st edition of L’Étape du Tour de France will take place in the heart of jaw-dropping landscapes on Sunday, 9 July 2023, six days before stage 14 of the Tour de France.

· The 157 km course packs an elevation gain of 4,100 metres and five climbs, including the hors catégorie Col de Joux Plane.

· The ultimate cyclosportive event is held on closed roads and in the same conditions as the pro race.

IN THE SLIPSTREAM OF THE PRO PELOTON

Come Saturday, 15 July, some fans will feel a shiver down their spine while watching stage 14 of the Tour de France on television or from the roadside, as every bend and every ascent takes them back to L’ Étape du Tour de France experience six days earlier. On Sunday, 9 July, they will be part of the 16,000-strong peloton rolling out of Annemasse. For these passionate riders, L’ Étape du Tour de France is one of the highlights of the season, but especially a formidable challenge for which they have been training for months. It is the dream of every cycling fan come true, with car-free roads, support from Shimano to sort out any mechanical hassle, and more. A brutal course with five climbs and an elevation gain of 4,100 metres stands between them and the celebrations at the finish in Morzine.

Click here to watch the teaser.

A COURSE THAT LITERALLY TAKES YOUR BREATH AWAY

Click here to view the profile.

Right from the start in Annemasse, which is hosting the Grande Boucle for only the second time in history, after 2004, the peloton will hit the first slopes on the Col de Saxel. After this “warm-up” at an average gradient of around 4%, the peloton will tackle a succession of three category 1 passes: the Col de Cou (7 km at 7.7%), Col de Feu (5.9 km at 7.9%) and, last but not least, the grinding Col de la Ramaz (13.9 km at 7.1%), which culminates at 1,619 metres above sea level 106 km into the course.

A technical descent will lead the riders into the valley all the way to Samoëns, at the foot of the Col de Joux Plane, one of the hallowed climbs of the Tour de France, which the race has scaled 13 times since 1978. At a length of 11.6 km and an average gradient of 8.5%, it is an hors catégorie ascent. By then, the riders will have covered over 130 km and be up to six or seven hours into their effort. Many of them will have to muster every last bit of energy to reach the summit (1,691 metres).

The participants will still need to keep their guard up from there until the finish line, but the final 12 kilometres on the descent to Morzine, which has hosted the Tour de France sixteen times since 1976), will come as a relief.

The pride of making it to the finish and the pleasure of taking in the exceptional landscapes of the heart of the Alps will be plastered all over their faces.

Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France

“The participants in the 31^st edition of L’Étape du Tour de France know that they are going to have an amazing day. In addition to their long training rides, they need to pay special attention to managing their efforts on the day of the event. The constant up-and-down is going to sap their strength throughout the day. They need to leave something in the tank for the Col de Joux Plane, the toughest climb on the course, coming at the end of the stage with gradients often approaching 10%. Once the tricky descent to Morzine is done and dusted, they will finally get to savour their feat and realise that they too, in their own way, have become part of the legend of the Tour de France, in the slipstream of the all-time greats who wore the yellow jersey: Bernard Thévenet, Joop Zoetemelk, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Pedro Delgado, Miguel Indurain, Chris Froome…”