Tour de France 2023 - Stage 12: Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais | 168.8 kilometres
The 12th stage of the Tour de France 2023 is breakaway terrain. The second half in particular, with three similar climbs - all around 5 kilometres long with an average gradient of 6 to 7.6 per cent - is made for climbers and speedy soloists. The final 28 kilometres are mainly downhill. Downhill riders with time trial qualities could break away from a group and prevail here, but there could also be a group sprint as on stage 10. A change in the overall classification is not very likely, especially in view of the upcoming mountain stages. Attacks are of course still possible if the peloton gets tattered and the race becomes confusing. Something can always happen in the Tour de France. Whoever has yellow has to watch out like a lynx.
As always, we ask the question: Which bike would be the right one to attack out of a breakaway group?
Our simulation for the 12th stage of the Tour de France 2023
We simulate an attack two kilometres before the summit of the Col de la Casse Froide, 60.9 kilometres before the finish of the 12th stage of the Tour de France 2023. The attack begins with a sharp acceleration. As a result, we let the virtual breakaway race towards the finish with an average of 352 watts. Whereby we emulate natural behaviour: our breakaway rider invests more power uphill than downhill. Under these conditions, it achieves an average speed of 43.4 km/h.
Number of the day: 2:20 minutes
The fastest road bike of the day is 2 minutes and 20 seconds faster than the slowest in our list. Canyon Aeroad leads the ranking once again. Unless Jumbo-Visma chains 1x12 again, in which case the Cervelo S5 beats the Canyon by 12 seconds.
If a group arrives at the finish together, the aero racing bikes would also be a good choice. The route is downhill until two kilometres before the finish. From 2000 metres to the Teufelslappen there are 15 metres in altitude to overcome, the last 1000 metres are almost flat, the finish is two metres lower than the 1000 metre mark - this is even more clearly aero terrain than the undulating path to the finish. Around 400 metres before the finish, a sharp right-hand bend is the last obstacle before the finish line.
The (almost) complete field at a glance (60-kilometre escape)
*) The calculations are based on the bikes tested by TOUR in the laboratory and wind tunnel. The bikes at the Tour de France may differ in some details. Of course, we have not yet been able to analyse last-minute prototypes. Background to the simulation.
Our expert
Robert Kühnen studied mechanical engineering, writes about technical and training topics for TOUR and develops test methods. Robert has been refining the simulation calculations for years and they are also used by professional teams.
