Stage 20: Belfort to Le Markstein Fellering
Distance: 133.5km
Stage type: Mountain
Stage 20 is the penultimate day of racing at the 2023 Tour de France and as Race Director Christian Prudhomme described it, “features an Alsatian menu that is likely to cause indigestion”.
Race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) just referred to Saturday's ride with six classified climbs as "really explosive".
The main course is 30km shorter than Friday's flat stage, but is packed with six categorised climbs and 3,600 metres of climbing. Belfort, which marks a 32nd appearance in the Tour, is only six kilometres away from the first climb, the Ballon d’Alsace (11.5km, 5.3%).
Attacks can then fly over a series of five climbs over the next 55km, two of those categorised - Col de la Croix des Moinats (5.2km, 7%) and Col de Grosse Pierre (3.2km, 8%). After a long descent into Munster, riders tackle the Petit Ballon (9.3km, 8./1%) and the Platzerwasel (7.1km, 8.4%) for the final 8.5km to a new finish on the slopes of the Markstein.
Probably as impactful as the profile across the 133.5 kilometres is the fact that the roads pass Thibaut Pinot’s beloved Vosges en route to Le Markstein, with the name of the Groupama-FDJ rider sure to be daubed all over each of the climbs. In his native Mélisey, a big screen has been installed for the occasion in the local sports complex.
"On Saturday, the stage is on roads I know by heart, so there's still a lot of motivation,” Pinot said. “There are a lot of emotions, I'm thinking about a lot of things. I think I've come full circle.”
It seems all but inevitable that Pinot, currently 12th overall, will be aboard the early break, though it’s less clear if his legs will carry him to a valedictory stage win on home roads.
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