Tour de France
110th tour: duel of high-flyers, German crisis and danger
Tadej Pogacar (l) and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard are the top favorites in the Tour de France. photo
© David Pintens/belga/dpa
The starting signal will be given in the Basque Country, the final will take place in Paris as usual. In between there are many mountains. Everything is ready for the next duel between the two cycling stars Vingegaard and Pogacar.
Where does the Tour de France start?
The Grand Départ takes place in Bilbao, Spain. It is already the 25th start of the tour abroad, only last year the largest bicycle race in the world started in Copenhagen. In the Basque Country there is traditionally a great deal of cycling euphoria. The first tour start on Spanish soil took place there: 1992 in San Sebastián.
Who are the favourites?
As in the past two years, it boils down to a duel between the Danish title holder Jonas Vingegaard and the two-time champion Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia. Vingegaard has been in impressive form lately. After breaking a scaphoid in the classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, Pogacar returned with two wins at the Slovenian championships. World Champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), Olympic Champion Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) and ex-Tour Champion Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) are all absent, having brought forward the Giro d’Italia.
What can the German drivers do?
At best, a stage win might be possible. In any case, there are only seven German professional cyclists at the start, the last time there were so few was 24 years ago. Emanuel Buchmann was fourth overall in 2019, but is no longer in the form he was then. Veteran Simon Geschke spent nine days in a mountain jersey last year, but the 37-year-old is very sluggish after suffering from corona in the spring. Former Tour stage winners John Degenkolb and Nils Politt are scheduled to help. Georg Zimmermann could perhaps try his luck in a breakaway group. Phil Bauhaus would be a candidate for the sprints, also with support from his Bahrain teammate Nikias Arndt.
Why isn’t Lennard Kämna there?
For the first time this year, the German hopeful focused on the overall standings at the Giro and finished ninth. A double start like in 2022 was not planned this time. The German Bora-hansgrohe team relies on the Australian Jai Hindley, who was able to win the Giro in 2022.
Are serious falls to be expected again this year?
Yes. The first week in particular is traditionally very hectic. And since there is no time trial at the start, many drivers can hope for the yellow jersey. The riders are also taking more and more risks on the descents, after all nobody wants to lose the tour downhill. Only in the middle of the month did the Swiss Gino Mäder fall on a frantic descent at the Tour de Suisse and later died in the hospital.
Does Corona still play a role?
After some riders had to get out of the Giro d’Italia due to a corona infection, the measures were tightened up again. Masks are again compulsory in the driver’s environment, but there are no longer any mandatory corona tests like in previous years.
What are the highlights of the tour?
The tour will definitely be decided in the mountains in 2023. Eight stages through the high mountains, including four mountain finishes, await the riders. The first mountain finish comes on day six in Cauterets-Cambasque, where record winner Miguel Indurain clinched his first Tour stage win in 1989. After that, there are high-altitude finishes on the Puy-de-Dome, the Grand Colombier and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc. The decision should come on the penultimate day on the difficult stage to Le Markstein Fellering with five climbs. In contrast, there is only one time trial on the 16th stage over 22.4 kilometers, the final traditionally takes place on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Where is the Tour de France broadcast on TV?
ARD is usually live on the air every day from 2:10 p.m. The race will also be broadcast live on the Internet at “sportschau.de”. There, reporting sometimes begins a little earlier. As usual, Eurosport will broadcast the stages of the tour extensively in the live program and in the Internet stream.