2023 Tour de France Stages 1-9: News And Highlights Videos

by | Jul 10, 2023 | Bike Race Reports, Bike, Bike Events & Racing, Events, Le Tour De France 2023, Sports

The biggest cycling event on the planet, attracting more spectators each year than any other sport. A race spanning 21 days were tactics, strategies, technology, physicality, and the unbridled determination to succeed will make or break heroes at the finish line Paris. The 2023 Tour de France is upon us and the racing is underway. Follow all the daily action from France here courtesy of the Tour de France media office.

STAGE 9: A Canadian eruption on the Puy de Dôme volcano

Tour de France Stage 9 Highlights

“I’m proud of myself and proud my team. It’s special to win here. I’m 36 years old, turning 37 this year, I’m not getting any younger. I’m 36, turning 37 this year. To win a Tour de France stage was my ultimate goal and I could see the window closing on to me. That was the goal. I wish I could say this victory today was planned but how the cards played, I was the most marked man. I had to be patient and not thinking about the win when I was racing behind Jorgenson. I wasn’t thinking of catching him but only to give the best of myself. It’s very similar to the win I got at La Vuelta in 2018: very fast start, lots of team attacking before the final steep climb and I made it at the end despite the suffering. It’s a dream come true. The great people I have around, starting with my wife and kids, made it possible.” Michael Woods (Isreal – Premier Tech)

Tour de France 2023 Stage 9 Results

1.     Michael Woods (Israel – Premier Tech) 4h19’41’’

2.     Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies),  +28”

3.     Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), +35”

Yellow Jersey GC After Stage 9.

1.     Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 38h37’46’’

2.     Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +17’’

3.     Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) +2’40’’

STAGE 8: A Mads Pedersen missile

Tour de France Stage 8 Highlights

“We didn’t know this morning if it would be a break or a sprint. The sprinters didn’t want to let the break go. My boys gave me a perfect lead out. Even with long sprint, I still had the legs to finish it off. It’s good to win a stage earlier than on stage 13 last year. When I passed the line, I knew I had won. It was long sprint. The final stretch was very painful. I was very close to sit up with 50 m to go. Jasper had to do a great sprint to overtake me. Yet it doesn’t matter winning by a large margin or by a small one. Regardless of this, it’s beautiful to win at the Tour. For me it was a pleasure to be able to ride with Mark Cavendish. I always had a good relationship with him in the peloton. It’s so sad for a legend to finish the Tour like this. He still owes me a jersey, for a jersey swap. Hopefully I can do some of the last races he does.” – Mads Pedersen (Lidl – Trek)

STAGE 7: The day a record almost fell

Tour de France Stage 7 Highlights

““We can be proud of our team’s achievement. Without them, it would have been impossible to get three stage wins. We worked together, found each other in the finale to organise the lead out. I’m proud and happy. I was lucky to have Jonas [Rickaert] and Mathieu [van der Poel] with me in the final kilometres. I didn’t have to do any big effort before my final sprint. So far, it’s a dream start of the Tour de France. We will try to go on, looking to Paris also. Mark [Cavendish] was strong. I would have loved to see him win, like everybody. For sure he will keep trying. He is in form and in good condition. From now on, keeping the green jersey all the way to Paris is another goal for me. Yet we will see: for now, we just enjoy the moment.” Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Deceuninck)

STAGE 6: Pogacar bounces back

The day after losing his first battle, Tadej Pogacar bounced back to claim a solo victory at Cauterets-Cambasque, his 15th of the 2023 season and his 10th stage at the Tour de France while defending champion Jonas Vingegaard took over from Jai Hindley in the overall ranking. The Dane exits the Pyrénées in the yellow jersey.

VAN AERT AND VAN DER POEL IN A 20-MAN LEADING GROUP

The start proper of stage 6 was given at 13.26 to 172 riders. Wout van Aert attacked from the gun, followed straight away by Julian Alaphilippe. A group of 20 leaders was formed at km 20 in three waves: Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates), Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Neilson Powless, James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Kasper Asgreen, Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Nikias Arndt (Bahrain Victorious), Benoît Cosnefroy, Oliver Naesen (Ag2r-Citröen), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Bryan Coquard, Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Gorka Izagirre, Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Matîs Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic), Tobias Halland Johannessen and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X). Coquard passed first at the intermediate sprint of Sarrancolin (km 49.2), before Van Aert, while the peloton led by Bora-Hansgrohe was timed 3’20’’ behind.

POWLESS FIRST AT ASPIN, JOHANNESSEN FIRST AT TOURMALET

Powless crested col d’Aspin in the lead, which put him back in the situation of claiming his polka dot jersey back as Felix Gall was nowhere near the front of the race. The group with Guerreiro in second position was reduced to 14 riders. More action took place in the ascent to the Tourmalet. Alaphilippe sped up 11.5km before the summit and Shaw followed him but Van Aert, pacing the group steadily, brought them back one kilometre further. The breakaway group split up and it was action-packed in the main peloton as well. Jumbo-Visma put the hammer down so Hindley wasn’t able to follow Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar at the exit of La Mongie with 6km of climbing remaining. Vingegaard and Pogacar were timed 1’15’’ behind the five leaders 1km before the top. Johannessen became the first Norwegian to pass the Tourmalet in first position with Guerreiro second again. Van Aert waited for his team’s leader and it made a front group of eight riders in the downhill: Kwiatkowski, Guerreiro, TH Johannessen, Van Aert, Vingegaard, Pogacar, Powless and Shaw. The yellow jersey group was two minutes adrift.

POGACAR SOLOES IN THE LAST 3KM

Powless was first to surrender in the final ascent to Cauterets-Cambasque. Van Aert stopped pulling and sat up 4.5km before the end, leaving a leading trio at the front but Kwiatkowski couldn’t take part in the finale as it went down to the expected duel between Vingegaard and Pogacar. The Slovenian attacked 2.7km before the finish. Caught by surprise, the Dane didn’t manage to make it across as the leader of UAE Team Emirates continued to increase his advantage to cross the line 24 seconds ahead of his rival. Tour de France neophyte Johannessen rounded out the stage podium. Hindley reached the finish in sixth position 2’39’’ after Pogacar. Vingegaard exited the Pyrenees with the yellow jersey and an advantage of 25’’ over Pogacar and 1’34’’ over Hindley.

Tour De France Stage 6
Stage 6 – Tadej Pogacar / (c) Charly Lopez ASO

STAGE 5: With Jai Hindley, it’s Aussie rules again!

After Phil Anderson, Stuart O’Grady, Bradley McGee, Robbie McEwen, Simon Gerrans, Cadel Evans and Rohan Dennis, Jai Hindley became the eighth Australian in the yellow jersey as he soloed to victory in Laruns after making a smart move in a numerous breakaway from far out on his Tour de France debut! Jonas Vingegaard bettered arch-rival Tadej Pogecar in the first Pyrenean stage.

PIERRE LATOUR FIRST IN ACTION

The start proper of stage 5 was given at 13.24 to 172 riders. Non-starters: Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto-Dstny). Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was the first rider to go clear at km 3. He was brought back at km 19 as the peloton remained very active with many breakaway attempts. 36 riders gathered at the front at km 28: Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Felix Grossschartner, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Omar Fraile, Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Jai Hindley, Emanuel Buchmann, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone, Juan Pedro Lopez, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Clément Berthet, Felix Gall, Aurélien Paret Peintre (Ag2r-Citröen), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Matteo Jorgenson, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Chris Hamilton (Dsm-firmenich), Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Juul Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic), Victor Campenaerts, Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Torstein Traeen (Uno-X), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies). This group was formed after Cavagna and Mühlberger broke away at km 24.

THE STRONG SHOWING OF PEDERSEN, VAN AERT AND CAMPENAERTS BEFORE COL DU SOUDET

Four riders escaped from that group at km 45: Coquard, Pedersen, Van Aert and Campenaerts. Coquard won the intermediate sprint at km 48 and sat up, leaving a trio at the front while UAE Team Emirates seized the reins of the peloton, two minutes behind. At the beginning of the ascent to col du Soudet, the first HC climb of the 110th Tour de France, Pedersen let Van Aert and Campenaerts at the front while Lopez was pulling the chasing group at the service of Ciccone. The Belgian duo got reeled in 2.5km before the summit. Gall attacked one kilometre further. He reached the top alone in the lead while Martinez outsprinted Ciccone for the second place. 17 riders gathered together at the front when Neilands rode away solo with 53.5km to go.

HINDLEY BY HIMSELF WITH 20KM TO GO

Alaphilippe and Van Aert caught up with Neilands at col d’Ichère (cat. 3) with 38km remaining. At the bottom of Marie-Blanque, the second major climb of the day, the deficit of the peloton was 3 minutes. Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands were reeled in with 24km to go. 4km before the summit, Hindley attacked with Gall. Hindley went solo 20km before the finish. Vingegaard also attacked 1km before the summit and Pogacar could go with him. Hindley crested Marie-Blanque alone in the lead and kept going till he crossed the finish alone with a great emotion. Vingegaard recovered enough time to reach the line 34’’ after the Australian who has 47 seconds lead over the defending champion in the overall ranking while Pogacar is 1’40’’ adrift.

STAGE 4: Four In A Row For Philipsen

PIERRE LATOUR FIRST IN ACTION

The start proper of stage 5 was given at 13.24 to 172 riders. Non-starters: Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto-Dstny). Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was the first rider to go clear at km 3. He was brought back at km 19 as the peloton remained very active with many breakaway attempts. 36 riders gathered at the front at km 28: Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Felix Grossschartner, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Omar Fraile, Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Jai Hindley, Emanuel Buchmann, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone, Juan Pedro Lopez, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Clément Berthet, Felix Gall, Aurélien Paret Peintre (Ag2r-Citröen), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Matteo Jorgenson, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Chris Hamilton (Dsm-firmenich), Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Juul Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic), Victor Campenaerts, Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Torstein Traeen (Uno-X), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies). This group was formed after Cavagna and Mühlberger broke away at km 24.

THE STRONG SHOWING OF PEDERSEN, VAN AERT AND CAMPENAERTS BEFORE COL DU SOUDET

Four riders escaped from that group at km 45: Coquard, Pedersen, Van Aert and Campenaerts. Coquard won the intermediate sprint at km 48 and sat up, leaving a trio at the front while UAE Team Emirates seized the reins of the peloton, two minutes behind. At the beginning of the ascent to col du Soudet, the first HC climb of the 110th Tour de France, Pedersen let Van Aert and Campenaerts at the front while Lopez was pulling the chasing group at the service of Ciccone. The Belgian duo got reeled in 2.5km before the summit. Gall attacked one kilometre further. He reached the top alone in the lead while Martinez outsprinted Ciccone for the second place. 17 riders gathered together at the front when Neilands rode away solo with 53.5km to go.

HINDLEY BY HIMSELF WITH 20KM TO GO

Alaphilippe and Van Aert caught up with Neilands at col d’Ichère (cat. 3) with 38km remaining. At the bottom of Marie-Blanque, the second major climb of the day, the deficit of the peloton was 3 minutes. Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands were reeled in with 24km to go. 4km before the summit, Hindley attacked with Gall. Hindley went solo 20km before the finish. Vingegaard also attacked 1km before the summit and Pogacar could go with him. Hindley crested Marie-Blanque alone in the lead and kept going till he crossed the finish alone with a great emotion. Vingegaard recovered enough time to reach the line 34’’ after the Australian who has 47 seconds lead over the defending champion in the overall ranking while Pogacar is 1’40’’ adrift.

STAGE 4

From the start in Dax — home town of the legendary sprinter André Darrigade, who won 22 Tour de France stages — to the finish on the Circuit Paul-Armagnac race track in Nogaro, everything pointed to a sprinter taking the spoils in stage 4, sandwiched between three gruelling stages in the Basque Country and the race’s first foray into the Pyrenees. The super-speedsters did not let this golden opportunity go to waste. Barrelling down the flat roads of the Landes and Gers departments, the sprinters’ teams kept a tight rein on a stage in which the breakaway took its sweet time to form.

Tour De France Stage 4
Tour de France 2023 – Etape 4 – Dax / Nogaro (181,8 km) (c) c) A.S.O. Charly Lopez

The Norman duo of Benoît Cosnefroy and Anthony Delaplace took off with 86 kilometres to go and added some excitement to the race before getting reeled in about half an hour before the finish. The European champion, Fabio Jakobsen, was among those who hit the tarmac in the crash-marred finale, leaving Jasper Philipsen to surge to his fourth Tour de France bunch sprint win on a trot, one day after raising his arms in triumph in Bayonne and a year after coming out on top in Carcassonne and on the Champs-Élysées. It was a double whammy for the Belgian rider, who cemented his status as the king of sprints and wrested the green jersey from Victor Lafay, while Adam Yates stayed in yellow.

GC after Stage 4

  1. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) 18h18’01’’
  2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), +06’’
  3. Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla), +06’’

STAGE 3: Philipsen does it again

Jasper Philipsen won stage 3 to Bayonne in a bunch sprint finish ahead of Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan. It’s the third Tour de France stage victory and the 30th career win for the 25 year old Belgian as well as the fifth Tour de France win for Alpecin-Deceuninck. Adam Yates retained the overall lead.

POWLESS AND PICHON IN THE LEAD

The start of stage 3 was given at 13.14 to 174 riders. King of the Mountains Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was first in action. He was joined at the front right after flag off by Laurent Pichon (Arkea-Samsic). Powless added points to his account in the King of the Mountains competition at Trabakua (km 13.8) and Millol (37.8) to mathematically secure the polka dot jersey at least until the Tour reaches the Pyrénées on stage 5. A time gap of 3’ minutes was recorded after 30km of racing. 37.2km were covered by the leading duo in the first hour of racing. Before the intermediate sprint at Deba (km 65.8), stage 2 winner Victor Lafay (Cofidis) escaped from the peloton to score 15 points behind Pichon and Powless in order to defend his green jersey.

PICHON FIRST IN FRANCE

Tour De France Stage 3
Stage 3 – Amorebieta-Etxano / Bayonne (187,4 km) / (c) Pauline Ballet / A.S.O

At km 112, after having crested the four categorized climbs in first position, Powless sat up and left Pichon alone in the lead. Pichon entered France with an advantage of two minutes over the peloton and 60km remaining. It was down to 40’’ fifteen kilometres later as the teams of the sprinters entered in action. After 156km in the lead, Pichon was reeled in with 37km remaining. No breakaway took shape in the finale as sprinters’ teams set a high tempo and GC teams made sure their captain remained well positioned.

VAN DER POEL LEADS PHILIPSEN OUT

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty paved the way for Biniam Girmay to win his first Tour de France stage but the masterpiece in terms of lead out was made by Mathieu van der Poel at the service of Jasper Philipsen who started the 2023 Tour de France the same way he finished 2022. After winning his second stage on the Champs-Elysées last year, he claimed the first bunch sprint this year, pipping on the line Phil Bauhaus who is taking part in the Grande Boucle for the first time. Caleb Ewan rounded out the podium. Adam Yates retained the Maillot Jaune.

STAGE 2: Victor Lafay maintains French tradition in San Sebastian

Tour De France
Stage 2 Adam Yates (UAE TEAM EMIRATES) stayed in Yellow / (c) A.S.O. Charly Lopez

Victor Lafay escaped from the group of the favourites one kilometre before the end to deliver the stage victory the Cofidis team waited for fifteen year – since Sylvain Chavanel outclassed Jérémy Roy in Montluçon in 2008. Lafay maintained the tradition of French stage wins in San Sebastian after Louis Caput in 1949 and Dominique Arnould in 1992. Third on the line, Tadej Pogacar gained four seconds of time bonus while Adam Yates retained the yellow jersey.

Tour de France Stage 2 Highlights
Tour De France Stage2
Stage 2 Edvald BOASSON-HAGEN (TOTALENERGIES), Neilson POWLESS (EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST)

POWLESS, BOASSON HAGEN AND CAVAGNA IN THE LEAD

174 riders started stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de France in Vitoria-Gasteiz at 12.32. One non-starter: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Three riders managed to go clear at km 8, firstly Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), joined secondly by Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step). The maximum time gap of 4’55’’ was recorded at km 68 as Vegard Stake Laengen was pulling the bunch for UAE Team Emirates until his team-mate Mikkel Bjerg took over. The peloton was 2’30’’ adrift and it was raining when Mark Cavendish got dropped in a non-categorized climb with 83km to go. Cavagna could no longer hold the pace in the ascent to Alkiza where Powless mathematically secured his polka dot jersey at km 140.9. All the riders dropped got back to the pack with 57km to go as they followed Cavendish’s servant Gianni Moscon.

POGACAR FIRST AT JAIZKIBEL

With 40km to go, the deficit of the peloton was down to two minutes. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën) crashed 37km before the end but got back to the pack pretty quickly. With 36km to go, Powless distanced Boasson Hagen and continued solo en route to the Jaizkibel, the main difficulty of the main located 16.5km away from the finishing line. The American had 1’30’’ lead at the bottom of 8-km long climb. He was reeled in 2.5km before the summit and it was all together again with 19.5km remaining. Pogacar won the bonus point atop the Jaizkibel before Vingegaard while Simon Yates crested in third position. Pogacar and Vingegaard went away in the downhill but were brought back by the reduced yellow jersey group with 12km to go.

LAFAY SOLOES AT THE FLAMME ROUGE

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) rode away solo at the end of the downhill. He was reeled in with 5.5km to go by 25 riders. Jumbo-Visma led the group until Victor Lafay (Cofidis) attacked with 1km to go. The Frenchman fended off the riders sprinting behind him to beat Wout van Aert and claim his first Tour de France stage win, two years after he imposed himself in a stage of the Giro d’Italia as well.

STAGE 1: From Bilbao to Bilbao, it’s Yates and Yates!

Tour De France News
Stage 1 – Bilbao / Bilbao (182 km) – Adam Yates (UAE TEAM EMIRATES)

Stage 1 came down to a 1-2 by two twin brothers, a first in the history of the Tour de France. Adam and Simon Yates rode the finale together. The UAE Team Emirates punchy rider powered to victory in Bilbao while his team-mate Tadej Pogacar took third place and four seconds of time bonus in his duel with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.

Tour de France Stage 1 Highlights

FIVE RIDERS IN THE LEAD

The start proper of stage 1 was given at 12.53. Five riders took off quickly: Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic), Pascal Eenkhorn (Lotto-Dstny), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies). Gregaard attacked to crest the first categorized climb at the front 2’30’’ before the peloton while Eenkhorn managed to take the second place. Eenkhorn crested the climb of San Juan de Gaztelugatxae first, ahead of Guglielmi, and took the virtual lead of the KOM classification. Eenkhorn also won the intermediate sprint at Guernica, km 88, where the time difference between the leading five riders and the peloton went down to one minute. Jumbo-Visma, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal-Quick Step were the most active teams at the helm of the bunch.

Tour De France
Stage 1 – Bilbao / Bilbao (182 km)

POWLESS FIRST KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

They were close to being caught with 75km to go but Guglielmi and Gregaard sped up again and the group was reunited with a stable advantage of 30’’. The bunch was packed again with 50km remaining. Sprinters got dropped in the climb to Murga: Mark Cavendish, Alexander Kristoff, Caleb Ewan, Peter Sagan, Dylan Groenewegen, Fabio Jakobsen… Jonas Abrahamsen took one KOM point at the top. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) crested El Vivero in first position ahead of Georg Zimmerman (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), which meant taking the first polka dot jersey of the 2023 Tour de France. His team-mate Richard Carapaz crashed in the downhill, along with Enric Mas (Movistar) who was injured and became the first man to abandon the 110th Tour de France.

Tour De France Stage 1 Victory Sprint
01/07/2023 – Tour de France 2023 – Stage 1 – Bilbao / Bilbao (182 km) – L’échappée au sprint intermédiaire

THE YATES TWINS MAKE A 1-2 ON TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 1

Victor Lafay (Cofidis) was the only rider able to accompany Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to the top of the Pike climb located 9.6km before the end. In the downhill, Adam and Simon Yates rode away after a small regrouping. They covered the last 8km together with an advantage of no more than 15 seconds. Adam took the lead in the final uphill stretch 400m before the line and remained ahead while his team-mate Tadej Pogacar raised his arms up in the air as it was a big victory for UAE Team Emirates. 12 riders including defending champion Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line 12 seconds after the stage winner.

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