Tour de France 2023 stage 20 preview: Route map and profile of 133km Belfort to Le Markstein today
The final serious stage of the 2023 Tour de France before Sunday’s procession to Paris is today’s 133km ride from Belfort to Le Markstein ski resort in the Vosges mountains.
When race director Christian Prudhomme unveiled the route of this race back in October, he would have hoped that this stage – short but full of climbing – would be the platform for a final showdown between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar in the fight for the yellow jersey.
Of course things have not played out that way. Vingegaard survived Pogacar’s attacks in the Alps in the second week, then beat him to win the stage 16 time trial in dominant fashion before crushing the Slovenian on the following day, the queen stage of this year’s Tour which finished in Courchevel. That effectively secured the Dane his triumph and he stands to collect his second yellow jersey on the Champs-Elysees.
Even peak Pogacar couldn’t win back eight minutes here, despite the sort of stage profile that is ripe for attacking racing. There are six categorised climbs in all, the toughest of which is the penultimate ascent, the category one Petit Ballon (9.3km at 8.1%). The Ballon is followed by the Col du Platzerwasel (7.1km at 8.4%) which precedes a slight descent to the finish at Le Markstein.
What is left to play for? The team category has been sewn up by Jumbo-Visma, to go with Vingegaard’s yellow jersey, and the green jersey has been won by Jasper Philipsen, assuming he can get through this day unscathed and before the time cut – his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates will ensure that he does. The best young rider’s white jersey will almost certainly be won by Pogacar for the fourth year in a row.
But the polka dot jersey is still very much on the line. Giulio Ciccone currently wears the famous red and white colours but his tally of 88 points at the top of the standings is not definitive. Austrian rider Felix Gall – winner of the Souvenir Henri Desgrange as the first over the top of the highest point of the race – has 82 points on the board. Then there is Vingegaard, with 81 points. There are 37 points available on stage 20, so this is where the King of the Mountains will be decided.
There is also a final podium spot up for grabs. Pogacar’s UAE Emirates teammate Adam Yates currently occupies third in the general classification, an impressive achievement given the work he has put in for his leader throughout the Tour. But Yates is only a minute or so up on Ineos’s Carlos Rodriguez and his twin brother Simon Yates, while Bahrain Victorious’s Pello Bilbao is around two minutes back from the podium. We can expect some attempts to dislodge Adam Yates, who will now doubt have his teammates’ support in defence of his place, which comes with plenty of prize money as well as prestige.
For Vingegaard, perhaps the only thing missing from this Tour is winning a stage while wearing yellow. That is the ultimate feeling for a GC rider and Jumbo-Visma may try to control the race to set up their leader for a late attack. First though, they will have to reel in a determined breakaway with Gall and Ciccone expected to fight for King of the Mountains points up the road.
Stage 20 route map and profile
Start time
The stage is set to begin at 12.30pm BST and is expected to finish at around 4pm.
