After a gap of more than three decades, the Puy de Dôme dormant volcano is set to make a return to the Tour de France in 2023 as a spectacular mountain finish at the end of the first week of racing.
According to local newspaper La Montagne, the Tour de France is due to reach the emblematic ascent, part of the Massif Central mountain range, at the end of stage 9 on Sunday July 9th next year.
La Montagne also reports that regional capital Clermont-Ferrand will host to the Grand Départ of the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on July 23, with stages in the Auvergne region.
The 2023 Tour de France Femmes will start on the same day the men's race ends in Paris.
"We have made gender equality an important point of our sports policy,” local Mayor Olivier Bianchi told La Montagne.
The central l’Auvergne region and Clermont-Ferrand will host a lengthy spell of the men's 2023 Tour de France, with a rest day in the city after the Puy de Dôme finish on July 10.
Another stage on Tuesday July 11 will also visit the area, starting from Vulcania, a volcano ‘theme park’ near the town of Saint-Ours-les-Roches, to Issoire. Stage 11 on Wednesday July 12 is likely to run from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins further north.
The full route of the 2023 Tour de France, which starts in the Basque Country on July 1 in Bilbao, and the Tour de France Femmes, will be unveiled on Thursday October 27th in Paris.
Cyclingnews will have full coverage of the 2023 Tour de France route presentations, with analysis and reaction from Paris.
First used in 1952 when Fausto Coppi won at its summit, the Puy de Dôme was also the scene of Federico Martin Bahamontes' spectacular time trial victory in the 1959 Tour de France.
The dormant volcano's most famous moment among cycling fans was when the famous Poulidor-Anquetil duel played out on its slopes in the 1964 race.
The stage is expected to start in Poulidor’s home town of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat in the region of Limoges before heading east towards the Puy de Dôme for what may well prove to be the first summit finish of next year's Tour.
Tackled a total of 13 times to date and with its summit at 1,465 metres above sea level, the Puy de Dôme was also where Eddy Merckx was punched by a spectator in 1975, an incident said to contribute to his failure to win that year's Tour.
The climb hasn't been used in the Tour since 1988 when the victory went to Danish rider and subsequent longstanding sports director Johnny Weltz. For many years the construction of a railtrack alongside the narrow road to the summit and a UNESCO world heritage site application have prevented the organisation of a bike race to the top.
Although not overly long, the main 5.8 kilometre ascent of the climb, which spirals round the central cone of the volcano, is unremittingly steep and spectacular, with gradients averaging around 12 percent.
La Montagne also notes that the last four kilometres of the climb will likely be off limits to the public for environmental reasons.
