Tour de France 2023 Recap

2023 Tour de France: Vingegaard’s Dominance

Tour de France predictions have gotten complicated with all the pre-race favorites and team dynamics flying around. As someone who expected 2023 to be Pogačar’s revenge tour after losing to Vingegaard in 2022, I learned everything there is to know about watching the Danish climber dismantle the race even more convincingly than the year before.

Here’s what happened.

The Starting Line

Probably should have led with this section, honestly. Started in Bilbao, Spain – the Basque Country delivering passionate roadside crowds from stage one. The first two stages featured serious climbing right out of the gate, unusual for a Grand Départ but fitting for Basque terrain.

21 stages, around 3,400 kilometers, eight mountain stages including four summit finishes. The route favored climbers and made time trialists nervous with just one individual TT.

Vingegaard Takes Control

Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma came prepared. The team was stacked – Wout van Aert for sprints and support, Sepp Kuss for mountain pacing, multiple strong domestiques. They controlled the race from early on.

Stage 5 to Laruns saw Vingegaard put time into everyone. Stage 6, the individual time trial, he extended the gap further. By the mountains, he was already comfortable.

The real statement came on stage 16 to Col de la Loze. Pogačar attacked repeatedly. Vingegaard countered everything, then attacked himself and dropped everyone. By the summit, the gap was insurmountable.

Pogačar’s Struggles

Tadej Pogačar is a phenomenal cyclist, but 2023 wasn’t his year. He crashed in stage 5, losing time and possibly compromising his form. He attacked constantly throughout the race but couldn’t shake Vingegaard on the big climbs.

Second place in the Tour de France isn’t failure by any normal standard. But Pogačar had won the previous two Tours he’d completed, so anything less felt like coming up short. He’ll be back.

Key Mountain Stages

Stage 9 to Puy de Dôme brought back an iconic finish. The short, steep climb created drama even though it didn’t shake up the overall classification much.

Stage 13 over the Joux Plane and Grand Colombier was brutally hard. Attrition set in. Riders who’d hung on through the first week started losing time.

The Pyrenean stages in week three confirmed what everyone already knew – Vingegaard had the race won barring crashes or illness.

Jumbo-Visma’s Perfection

The team performance was historic. Jumbo-Visma controlled the race start to finish. Van Aert in breakaways, Kuss in the mountains, the whole squad protecting Vingegaard. Few teams have ever dominated a Grand Tour so completely.

Some called it boring – the race was essentially over by week two. Others appreciated watching a team execute at the highest level. Both perspectives are valid.

What It Meant

That’s what makes following the Tour endearing to us cycling fans who watch every stage. Vingegaard won by over seven minutes. Pogačar second, Adam Yates third. The margin was decisive – no suspense in the final time trial, no drama on the Champs-Élysées beyond the ceremonial sprint.

Back-to-back Tour wins for Vingegaard established him as the current best Grand Tour rider. At 26, he has years of racing ahead. The Pogačar-Vingegaard rivalry became the defining storyline of modern cycling. 2023 was Vingegaard’s round. 2024 would be Pogačar’s response.