Tour de France 2023 - Stage 11 preview

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Stage 11: Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins

Date: July 12, 2023

Distance: 179.8km

Stage type: Flat

After a hilly ride to begin the second week of the Tour de France, stage 11 welcomes the peloton back to Clermont-Ferrand, where the first rest day was spent. One of the oldest cities in the country, the black lava-rock Gothic cathedral towers over the start of a fast, flat day from the Puy-de-Dôme city.

The stage is labelled as flat, but that's all relative in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. There are two classified ascents in the first 50km, both category 4, but the roads undulate all day. Together with the heat and a taxing stage 10 where the breakaway took half the stage to become firmly established, the 179.8km route to Moulins is anything but simple.

There could be a chance for some echelons to form as forecasts call for gusty winds from the Northwest. Most of the stage would be into the wind but the sharp turn to the east before the Côte de la Croix Blanche would make for a cross-tailwind - a perfect scenario to split the peloton.

The heat is due to let up but undoubtedly, racing will continue to be as scorching as ever.

Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-QuickStep) was on the attack on stage 10 but never made the move. He has another chance to shine as the race departs from his hometown, which has hosted a stage for a 12th time.

The sprinters have this one dog-eared in their road books, with green jersey holder Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) looking to further pad his lead in that competition.

There are numerous sprinters still looking for a win as Philipsen has won all but one sprint so far, missing out on a hilly stage 8 to Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quickstep) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) are looking for their first wins of the race after a few close ones, as are pure sprinters Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla), Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Sam Welsford (Team DSM-Firmenich).

The stage travels east for a finish in the capital of the Allier department in Moulins, which has been part of Paris-Nice many times, last in 2019 when Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won a bunch sprint which fought headwinds most of the day.