Tour de France 2023 - Stage 19 preview

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Stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny

Date: July 21, 2023

Distance: 172.8km

Stage type: Flat

Stage 19 of the Tour de France meanders past low-lying lakes between Moirans-en-Montagne and Poligny. While the stage has two climbs more than stage 18, where Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quickstep) claimed the victory from the breakaway that was in sight of the sprinting peloton, the sprint teams will not want to make the same mistake twice.

However, Alpecin-Deceuninck seem to want to get Mathieu van der Poel a stage win and could try to get him into a move and not chase, but other teams may not agree to that tactic.

It will be a frantic and punishing fight to get a breakaway with the category 4 Côte du Boise de Lionge at kilometre 23.7. The climb is 1.9km long and averages 5.7% - enough to put a sting in riders' third-week legs.

The next climb comes more than 120km later before the category 3 Côte d’Ivory (2.4km at 5.(%) and is the last before a much flatter final 21km following the descent.

The climb may be unappealing to a pure sprinter but it will be right up the alley of someone like Van der Poel, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) or maybe even Tom Pidcock (Ineos), who shipped over 30 minutes on the stage to Courchevel.