It’s the fourteenth time that a Tour de France stage goes to Limoges. The first stage winner in the town in the Haute-Vienne department was Belgian André Rosseel in 1952, while Marcel Kittel won the last stage. The German outsprinted Bryan Coquard and Peter Sagan in 2016.
That year, the riders arrived from Saumur, now the stage leaves from Libourne. The town on the banks of the Dordogne river hosted a stage finish and a stage start in 2021. Matej Mohoric won the 19th leg from the breakaway before Wout van Aert set off from Libourne to win the time trial to Saint-Émilion.
A flat first part bids welcome to the riders this time before more lumpy terrain is on the menu in the final 75 kilometres. Three climbs stand out, Côte de Champs-Romain (2.8 kilometres at 5.2%), Côte de Masmont (1.3 kilometres at 5.5%) and Côte de Condat-sur-Vienne (1.2 kilometres at 5.4%). The latter two are situated inside the final 16 kilometres, the Condat-sur-Vienne even inside the last 10.
The last kilometre holds something extra up its sleeve – a 3.1% gradient, to be precise.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX stage 8 2023 Tour de France.
Another interesting read: results 8th stage 2023 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2023 stage 8: routes, profiles, more
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