59th men’s edition, 1st women’s edition and new major partner… The 2023 Tour de l’Avenir unveils
The Tour de l’Avenir will be immediately followed in August by a great novelty with its version reserved for the hopes of women’s cycling.
The girls too!
This is a great first that is not only in keeping with the times but above all with the direction of history. One year after the revival of the women’s Tour de France, the Tour de l’Avenir is launching the first edition of the women’s version of the event, reserved as it is for the boys, for young riders under the age of 23.
This first women’s Tour de l’Avenir (28 August – 1 September), which will start in Saône-et-Loire and finish in Savoie after five days of racing, will follow on from the 59th edition of the men’s event (20 to 27 August), rightly considered to be the Tour de France for young riders.
There is no doubt that the women’s version of the event will play the same role as the Tour de l’Avenir has done for a long time. Tadej Pogacar, winner in 2018, has an impressive track record and has repeatedly shown that the event is a good indicator of young talent. And the Slovenian champion is far from being the only big name in world cycling for whom the Tour de l’Avenir has served as a springboard, with the likes of Gaudu, Bernal and the Belgian Uijtdebroeks, winner in 2022, being other recent examples among many others.
A mountain time trial
The 59th edition of the Tour de l’Avenir Hommes will start in Morbihan, the land of cycling, after a presentation of the teams which, in reference to its origins and to one of the greatest champions in the history of cycling, will be held at the Espace Louison Bobet in Quiberon, as a preamble to a first stage that is 100% Morbihan.
The rest of the race will take place in the departments of Loire-Atlantique (Nozay), Indre-et-Loire (Chinon), Indre (Vatan, Issoudun, Aigurande), Creuse (Evaux-les-Bains) before reaching the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region (La Tour de Salvagny) for the traditional finale in Savoie. The alpine sequence, already copious with 2391 meters of difference in altitude in 65 km for the finish at the top of the terrible col de la Loze, which was explored by the Tour de l’Avenir, will be enhanced by an individual time-trial with a mountainous character towards the resort of Les Karellis, on the eve of the final finish in Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise after crossing the giant col de l’Iseran.
The girls will also have to undergo the test of the high mountains that give the event its full dimension. After an inaugural time trial around Saint-Vallier (Saône-et-Loire), the race will head towards the Ain and then the foothills of the Jura, before a particularly testing final in the Mont-Blanc region and the Haute-Tarentaise. Tomorrow’s champions will have the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of their potential on all types of terrain.
