Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the route presentation of the 2023 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes.
We're just under half an hour away from the start of the presentation.
After starting in the Basque Country in northern Spain, the men's race is set to feature an early visit to the Pyrenees before a second-week return to the Puy de Dôme mountain.
These are all 'rumours' at this stage, though thanks to leaks and other information floating around there's a good picture of what to expect already out there.
The route presentation is around 10 minutes away now. Find out how to watch it with our handy guide.
The route presentation is underway!
Riders cross the stage on the way to their seats.
Reigning Tour de France Femmes champion Annemiek van Vleuten is there, as is two-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar.
There's plenty of French representation too, with Valentin Madouas, Nacer Bouhanni, Evita Muzic, Pierre Latour, Juliette Labous, David Gaudu, and Aude Biannic also in attendance.
Now for a short film about the 2022 races as we begin the gradual hype towards the route presentations...
And now the ASO president Jean-Étienne Amaury is up on the stage giving a speech to open the festivities.
He's talked about the upcoming Netflix series, the first-ever Tour de France Femmes, and now's he's thanking the Tour's partners and sponsors for helping it all happen.
Now time for some highlights from the Tour de France Femmes...
It's a bit of a long build-up to the actual route presentation itself...
Now time for race directors Christian Prudhomme and Marion Rousse to talk.
While plenty of details of the men's route are out there, little is known about the women's route. A move away from Paris and a trip to the Tourmalet are the biggest rumours.
Another video now as the Tour de France Femmes route is announced!
Clermont-Ferrand and the Massif Central host the start.
Here's the map!
A stage up the Tourmalet and a closing time trial in Pau are the big highlights here.
Here's the opening stage, a 124km stage around Clermont-Ferrand with a hilly finish.
Stage 2 is a longer one at 148km as the riders head south to Mauriac. A hilltop finish at the Côte de Trébiac awaits.
The third stage provides a chance for the sprinters in Montignac-Lascaux. Five categorised climbs on the way provide chances for riders to battle for the KOM jersey.
Stage 4 to Rodez is a challenging hilly stage which should shake up the GC in a big way. At 177km it's by far the longest of the race and features three classified climbs inside the final 40km.
Stage 5 to Albi looks like another one for the sprinters, though there are several hills along the way.
The sixth stage reaches south towards the Pyrenees and brings the final chance of the race for the sprinters. 122km to Blagnac.
Now for the big one – stage 7. At 90km it's short and sweet but the race up the Col de Tourmalet will be a huge GC flashpoint and possibly decide the race for good. As if that wasn't enough, the Col d'Aspin features, too.
On day 8, the race concludes with a time trial in Pau, with a 22km test against the clock possibly giving us a final stage showdown for the yellow jersey.
956km of racing across three regions, 11 departments and two mountain ranges.
And now we look back on the 2022 men's race ahead of that route presentation.
Here's our first look at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes route.
The 2023 Tour de France Femmes will also feature seven-rider teams, up from the six-rider teams that competed at the inaugural edition this summer.
This is a long video looking back at the 2022 Tour... We're up to stage 11.
We're almost at the end of this highlight video. Not long now before we see the actual route...
Here we go!
Prudhomme giving a speech again now as he talks about the Basque start to the 2023 race.
Here's a look at the map of the start. The race kicks off in Bilbao, the first of three stages in the region.
Time for another speech, this time from Íñigo Urkullu Renteria, the president of the Basque regional government.
Another long speech here.
The speech is over but now there's a video about the Basque Country.
I'm sure we'll see the route soon!
Prudhomme is back on stage now. Time for another speech!
He says "It's time to unwrap the route of the Tour." Finally.
Here's the map!
Three Basque stages before heading north to two mountain stages in the Pyrenees on stages 5 and 6. Stage 6 brings a summit finish at Cauterets.
The second week heads across central France, taking in the summit finish at the Puy de Dôme on stage 9 and then moving east towards the Alps. A summit finish at Grand Colombier comes on stage 13.
Week 3 is, of course, the big one. Three big Alpine stages on the way, including summit finishes at Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc and Courchevel. Stage 16 brings the only time trial of the race, a hilly 22km affair in Combloux.
A look at stage 6, the first summit finish of the race in the Pyrenees (stage 5 is a flat finish in Laruns after two major climbs). It's a tough early test with the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet featuring on the way to the finish at Cauterets (16km at 5.4%).
We don't have the full profile for stage 9 to the Puy de Dôme, but here's a look at the brutal finale. 13.3km at 7.7% with over 4km in double-digit gradients to finish.
After the stage 13 summit finish of Grand Colombier (17.4km at 7.1%), stage 14 brings another Alpine test with the Col de Ramaz and the Col de Joux Plane featuring on the way to a downhill finish to Morzine.
More climbing on the very next day as the riders will tackle the summit finish of Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc. It's 7.2km at 7.7% and comes right before the second rest day.
After that rest day, the peloton will reconvene for the only time trial of the race from Passy to Combloux. It's a short one at 22km, but features a major climb to the finish, with the Côte de Domancy (2.5km at 9.4%) on the way before the road keeps rising to the line.
There's time to squeeze in one last Alpine mountain stage before the race heads away to the north. Stage 17 brings the Col de Saisies, Cormet de Roselend, Côte de Longefoy, and Col de la Loze before a short downhill run to the finish in Courchevel.
Two transition stages – one hilly, one flat – follow, before the final test ahead of the final stage in Paris. The Tour heads to the Vosges for stage 20 and a 133km mountain stage to Le Markstein.
In total, eight mountain stages including four summit finishes, one time trial, and eight days for the sprinters.
Two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogačar and reigning Tour de France Femmes champion Annemiek van Vleuten watch the route presentation. Will they have liked what they saw?
Here's the full story on the route of the 2023 Tour de France.
That's all for the actual route presentations but we'll have plenty of news and rider reaction coming through the afternoon, so stay tuned.
Here's our full analysis of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes route!
There were lots of riders at the presentation in Paris.
We spotted Mark Cavendish, Tadej Pogačar, David Gaudu, Annemiek van Vleuten, Marta Cavalli and others.
Some of the behind-the-scenes prep before the presentation today...
While it's too soon to say how the 2023 men's Tour de France will pan out, the route certainly sheds some light on who may be the favourites coming into the race.
