Tour de France 2023 Favourites stage 20: Final say in brutal Vosges race

foto: Cor VosRoughly 3,500 vertical metres in a race of merely 133.5 kilometer, that's in store in the last chance for climbers and GC riders. Who are the major contenders to win the brutal race from Belfort to ski station Le Markstein? (Slideshow route/profile)

The elevation gain is distributed over the following climbs: Ballon d’Alsace (11.5 kilometres at 5.2%), Col du Ménil (4.3 kilometres at 2.3%, unclassified), Col de la Croix des Moinats (5.2 kilometres at 7%), Col de Grosse-Pierre (3.2 kilometres at 8%), Col des Feignes (5.1 kilometres at 2.5%, unclassified), Col de la Schlucht (4.3 kilometres at 5.4%), Petit Ballon (9.3 kilometres at 8.1%) and Col du Platzerwasel (7.1 kilometres at 8.3%).

The Platzerwasel is the last climb of the Tour. After the summit the route continues for 4 kilometres on undulating terrain, after which a short downhill leads onto the last 3 kilometres on the flat.

“Let’s hope the yellow jersey is still vacant on the last day for GC riders and we’ll see a glorious battle for both the stage win and overall victory,” we wrote before the start of the Tour de France. “Although, a Thibaut Pinot win from the breakaway in his ultimate Tour de France mountain stage is tempting as well.”

The first scenario is off the table, the second is still a possibility. On the other hand, it would also be special if Vingegaard highlighted his brilliant Tour de France with a stage victory in Le Markstein.

Favourites 20th stage 2023 Tour de France

*** Jonas Vingegaard, Thibaut Pinot, Mattias Skjelmose
** Simon Yates, Giulio Ciccone, Adam Yates, Rafel Majka, Felix Gall
* Tadej Pogacar, Wout Poels, Michal Kwiatkowski, Ion Izagirre, David Gaudu

Another interesting read: route 20th stage 2023 Tour de France.