The first stage of the Tour de France 2023, Saturday July 1, is particularly coveted since it will allow you to wear the first yellow jersey of this 110th edition. After starting in the immediate vicinity of the San Mames stadium, home of the Athletic Bilbao football club, the peloton will complete a 182 kilometer route to return to Bilbao. The finish will be judged a short distance from the start, in front of Etxebarria Park.
With five climbs listed and 3,300 meters of elevation on the program, “the debates for the first yellow jersey will be reserved for temperamental attackers, capable of mobilizing their instinct as much as their power”, according to Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France. This profile whets the appetite of the French Julian Alaphilippe, whose qualities as a puncher could be decisive.
After a double passage in Guernica, known for its destruction in 1937, which notably inspired the painter Pablo Picasso, the difference should be made in the last 30 kilometers with two difficult climbs. First the Vivero coast (4.2 kilometers at 7.3%, 2nd category) and especially the Pike coast (2 kilometers at 10%, 3rd category), whose summit is placed 10 kilometers from the finish . With its last 500 meters at an average of 15.6%, it’s a safe bet that the race will settle down here, especially since the first three at the top will respectively collect 8, 5 and 2 bonus seconds. So much so that, depending on the configuration of the race, the winner of the day’s stage is not guaranteed to wear the first yellow jersey.
The dive to Bilbao will be quite technical, with some narrowing and urban development, before a final ramp from the red flame: 1 kilometer at 4.4%.
