Second women's Tour takes on Tourmalet climb

The second edition of the women's Tour de France will start from Clermont-Ferrand on July 23 next year, race director Marion Rousse announced on Thursday.

The centrepiece of the 2023 route is the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees and the route climbs to over 2 100 metres while the eight stages stretch for almost 1 000 kilometres.

The women's "Grande Boucle" ends on July 30 with a 22km individual time trial around Pau just outside the Pyrenees.

The 2022 edition marked the rebirth of the women's Tour de France, which had existed in different forms before disappearing at the end of the 2000s due to lack of funding.

But the event, won by Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten, drew blockbuster audiences in its first relaunched edition, attracting over 20 million television viewers in France alone.

Rousse said the organisers were aware of the need to develop the women's event gradually.

"Last year, people really got into it, they got attached to the riders and they watched the Tour for the same reasons as for men's cycling," Rousse said.

"But we remain cautious. It's still a fragile object that we need to look after. The goal is to have a solid Tour de France and not to go faster than the development of women's cycling."

Route

Stage 1 - July 23

Clermont-Ferrand - Clermont-Ferrand (124km)

Stage 2 - July 24

Clermont-Ferrand - Mauriac (148km)

Stage 3 - July 25

Collonges-la-Rouge - Montignac-Lascaux (147km)

Stage 4 - July 26

Cahors - Rodez (177km)

Stage 5 - July 27

Onet-le-Château - Albi (126km)

Stage 6 - July 28