Tour de France 2023’s Jonas Vingegaard vs. Tadej Pogacar Duel Will Be the Main Event

Jonas Vingegaard, the defending champion, leads the Tour de France out of the Basque city of Bilbao on Saturday. The 3,404-kilometer journey to Paris will take 21 days and include ascents of several mountains, picturesque vistas, and an exciting confrontation atop a sizable dormant volcano.

Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma has an advantage against Tadej Pogacar, a two-time winner supported by a strengthened Team UAE team, due to the 30 mountains on the course.

In a brutal battle of attrition in the Alps a year ago, Jumbo’s combined power enabled the Dane, who was more durable on the hardest climbs, to outlast the brave Pogacar.

The previous year, Pogacar came in first place, while Vingegaard came in second. It seems like this will be their third heavyweight match.

Sunday’s Slovenian national championship was won by Pogacar, who said that it was a nice test of his legs before the Tour.

“I’m glad I was successful. Before the Tour, it served as a nice test. I had really good legs,” Pogacar stated.

“I’m going to rest now before I go to Bilbao for the start,” she said.

“It will be a beautiful battle, especially if they are both at 100 percent,” said French hopeful Romain Bardet.

A large number of impostors are closely behind them.

According to tour mythology, the Alps choose the winner, and this year’s 30 mountains include 13 in the Alps, six in the Pyrenees, five in the Vosges, four in the Massif Central, one in the Jura, and one in the Basque Country.

The Tour begins with a difficult ascent over the wooded mountains around San Sebastian and Bilbao.

The Spanish Basque Country is the home of cycling, and ardent local supporters will be there in large numbers for the Grand Depart.

The first three stages of the race, which will be broadcast in 190 nations, have been strategically designed to build up what looks to be a swashbuckling contest.

The first stage, which circles the Bilbao backcountry, offers challenging terrain that tempts one-day adventurers to aim for the gold, with Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe being one to watch.

After the horrific recent death of Swiss rider Gino Maeder during the Tour of Switzerland, some people may have questions about the 20 km descent on stage two to the upscale beach city of San Sebastian.

On the third day, the peloton crosses into France and swings over the Pyrenees for two stages before returning along the Atlantic coast.

The majestic dormant volcano at Puy de Dome, the Tour’s signature sight, is preceded on stage seven by the Bordeaux vineyards.

The climb offers a breathtaking view of the dormant domes along the geological faultline running across central France.

cooled air

On Puy de Dome’s bleak, precipitous top slopes, where pretenders will be cruelly exposed to the elements, no spectators nor cars are permitted.

Stage 17 from Mont-Blanc, which ascends four peaks, might also be the deciding factor. At the 2,300-meter top of the penultimate climb to Courchevel, where the 2019 winner Egan Bernal could once again provide a late challenge, the stage ascends into the rarefied air above the tree line.

The day-20 individual time-trial, which had made previous championships more of a lottery, is no longer used. The last stage before Paris, however, presents five more mountains with little relief for the leader.

The Tour has plenty of subplots, as usual.

On this 110th episode, rising star Biniam Girmay has a great chance of becoming the first black African to win a stage.

The 23-year-old captain of the Belgian club Intermarche-Wanty remarked, “It’s a great occasion for me and for Eritrea.

Girmay will compete against seasoned British sprint king Mark Cavendish, who wants to equal all-time great Eddy Merckx with 35 Tour de France stage victories. Cavendish is targeting the sprints.

On July 24, the Tour de France comes to a finish with the customary mass group sprint on the cobblestone Champs Elysees, after which the awards are presented under the Arc de Triomphe. Due to the Paris Olympics, the finish line will be in Nice in 2024.

The 1,000-kilometer course, which will take riders through the south and up the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, was released on Thursday for the women’s Tour de France, which will take place from July 23 to 30.