Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift steps up another level in 2023
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will step up another level in 2023, with a summit finish on the Col du Tourmalet and a final day individual time trial
Announced at a presentation at Paris's Palais des Congrès, the official route for the race’s second edition will be concentrated in the southwest of the country, starting in Clermont-Ferrand before heading south into the Pyrenees.
Tour de France Femmes route has eye-catching Tourmalet summit finish and Pau TT to settle things but lots of fun roads in sunflower country before that. Team size goes from 6 to 7 riders. TV coverage going from 2 hours of live each day to 2.5 hours
The Grand Depart will take place in Clermont-Ferrand this edition, with a whole stage looping around the central French city. It will be an open day, with the puncheurs and sprinters having an opportunity to ride for the first yellow jersey. The second stage will have an hilltop finish in Mauriac with 3.4 kilometers at 5.8% which should open the fight for the yellow jersey. Stage 3 will have it's finale in Montignac-Lascaux and should be a bunch sprint.
Stage 4 into Rodez will see a familiar finale, an explosive one after a hilly stage. The hilltop finish will see 570 meters at 10%. Stage 5 will finish in Albi, a stage that should see a sprint finish, however with possibilities for the offensive riders aswell. Stage 6 into Blagnac should be another opportunity for the fast women.
Stage 7 will be the queen stage, as the race heads into the Pyrenees. The 90-kilometer stage will see the ascent of the Col d'Aspin (12Km; 6.5%) to warm things up, and a very hard summit finish at the Col du Tourmalet (17Km; 7.3%), a day that will be decisive for the overall classification and see the pure climbers fight for the win. The race will finish in Pau, as the 8th stage will see an individual time-trial around the city with 22 kilometers in difference.
2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift Women's Stages
Stage 1: Clermont-Ferrand - Clermont-Ferrand, 124 kilometers
Stage 2: Clermont-Ferrand - Mauriac, 148 kilometers
Stage 3: Cllonges-La Rouge - Montignac-Lascaux, 147 kilometers
Stage 4: Cahors - Rodez, 177 kilometers
Stage 5: Onet-Le-Château - Albi, 126 kilometers
Stage 6: Albi - Blagnac, 122 kilometers
Stage 7: Lannemezan - Col du Tourmalet, 90 kilometers