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Tour de l’Avenir 2023 (August 20-27)

The Avenir thread being opened on the day of
the race itself, what else is new? Not the route, at least…

Startlist

The route
Carte-PNG-sans-legende-e1683528226895.png

The riders start with a rolling stage through Brittany. It should be doable for the sprinters, but the repetitions of the short hills on the final circuit combined with the uphill finish might get the puncheurs interested too.

tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-1-profile-697885908c.jpg


The second stage is the longest and flattest of the race.


tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-2-profile-6a63f08c4b.jpg


The third stage is the TTT, clearly the perfect discipline for a nation-based stage race.

tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-3-profile-9c845bf037.jpg


Stage four is where the going becomes a bit more serious, with a hilly stage where the GC riders will also need to be alert.



tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-4-profile-7595668950.jpg


Chatelet:
tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-4-climb-n2-51acee04fd.jpg


Final climb:
IvMn1gC.png


Stage five takes the riders to the edge of the Alps, for the final non-mountain stage.

tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-5-profile-30d6b705c0.jpg



Crusille:
CrusilleW.gif



Terreau:

tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-5-climb-n2-571928b596.jpg


The final three days are the big mountain stages, starting with the return of Col de la Loze.

tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-6-profile-5119b118f9.jpg


Champagny (only the section from 14.0k to 8.5k):
Champagny.gif


Montagny (only the final 4.6k):
MontagnyE.gif


Loze:

Col-de-la-Loze.jpg


On the penultimate day, we have two half-stages: first a MTT to Les Karellis…

tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-7a-profile-bdf778dfe9.jpg



les-karellis-saint-le-bochet.png


…then in the afternoon a relatively easier mountain stage to the Mont-Cenis.

tour-de-l-avenir-2023-stage-7b-profile-cea16d8c35.jpg


Aussois:

AussoisW.gif


Mont-Cenis:

MontCenisN.gif


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An awful Australian team - This shows the effect of the COVID closures from 2020 and 2021 - That cohort of 21 and 22 years missed two years of racing because they could not travel to Europe and the limited NRS did not happen - It doesn't help that McKenzie is riding as a stagiare with Jayco at the Tour of Norway. Anyway, I'll see how the two 19 year olds perform in Marriage and Panizza.
 
Tour de l'Avenir avoids flat ITT's like its the plague.

Otherwise the route is pretty good, interesting to see the return of the half stages, it could be the crucial day as both are in theory GC stages. Good to see Col de l'Iseran back, its curious that both the under 23 Giro and Tour have a higher altitude climb than their elites counterparties, this year.

As for GC, I think it could be between Riccitello and Staune-Mittet. I will be interested to see Nerurkar and Morgado too
 
6-man break has around 3:30 with around 60? Ks to go (Unfortunately, the graphics team think it's more important to show for how long the riders have been racing, than show how long they have left.)
Poland, Denmark, Italy, France, Ireland, and - I think - Canada. (Didn't catch the names)
 
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It’s always an interesting race, especially towards the back end, but in an era where so many big talents are coming through at a young age and going to a full pro calendar having L’Avenir GC on your palmares is worth less than it was 5 years ago.

Uijtebroeks - Vuelta
Gregoire - Vuelta
L. Martinez - Vuelta
C. Rodriguez - TDF
Vauqelin - Vuelta
Ayuso - Vuelta

All still age eligible for this year’s edition but fully fledged winning riders in decent level races.

The Vuelta young rider competition will effectively be the real world under 23 stage race champion.