"It's going to be a Tour de France for pure climbers", reacted, delighted, the French climber David Gaudu, best Frenchman of the 2022 edition with a fourth place and who is looking forward to 2023.

“It will be a Tour de France for pure climbers, the riders will be less to their advantage.

There are only 22 kilometers of chrono and it has two bumps, it's punchy, that's all I like in fact”, underlined the Groupama-FDJ rider during the presentation of the course.

"The stage of July 14, I have it in the back of my mind"

“It makes me happy and it makes me want to go back.

The July 14 stage at the Grand Colombier, a 45-minute climb that I love, I already have it in the back of my mind, ”added the Finisterian.

“The Puy de Dôme stage is a very good stage, it will be a great tribute to Raymond Poulidor.

It is a mythical, magnificent place.

There is likely to be a very big fight,” he added, as the Tour returns to the Auvergne volcano for the first time in 35 years.

“The last time the Tour de France passed there, I was not born.

It will be a discovery for all the riders,” said Valentin Madouas, Gaudu's teammate and eleventh in the last Tour.

“There will be beautiful images for TV and for us too.

It is a mythical pass.

But we risk suffering, ”he said.



Aurélien Paret-Peintre, of AG2R-Citroën, was delighted that the Tour was stopping off in his hometown of Annemasse, in Haute-Savoie.

"There are a lot of stages at home in Haute-Savoie, it will be emotional and it's really a Tour for climbers, there will be mountains for three weeks", he insisted.

An opportunity for Cavendish?

"It's going to be a difficult Tour and that from the first stage, it will be better to know how to climb", confirmed the Briton Tom Pidcock, winner last summer in Alpe d'Huez.

"Hard, yes," sighed British sprinter Mark Cavendish, who is betting on "21 dynamic stages" where he believes that there will also be "opportunities for sprinters".

In search of a final stage victory at the Tour de France to hold alone the record of success (34) which he currently holds with Eddy Merckx, the 37-year-old British veteran is still awaiting formalization. of his signature with the B & B Hotels-KTM team.

Asked if he was ready to aim for a 35th victory next summer, subject to finding a team and that it is entered in the Tour, the rider from the Isle of Man said: "I think so !

»

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