Tour de France 2023 - 19th stage: Morains-en-Montagne - Poligny | 172.8 kilometres
Escape or sprint? Both seem possible on the 19th stage of the 2023 Tour de France. However, it is likely that a sprint will decide the stage win either way. After the last topographical obstacle, the Cote d'Ivory (2.4 kilometres, 5.9 per cent), 28 kilometres before the finish, the route is quite straightforward in the literal sense of the word. The last seven kilometres are straight ahead on a main road. If a rider is in the lead, he is a perfect chase victim. If a breakaway rider makes it through, there will probably be a group sprint. If the peloton makes it over the day's hills, the sprint group will be larger.
The finishing straight is slightly uphill. The difference in altitude is four metres over the last 1000 metres. Does this affect the sprint?
Number of the day: three bikes are tied in the sprint
In our sprint simulation over 150 metres final sprint, it's once again about hundredths of a second. If Jasper Philipsen is in the sprint, he has a good chance in our simulation, as his Canyon bike is one of the three fastest: Canyon Aeroad, Cervelo S5 and Cannondale System Six.
The top speed in our sprint simulation is 68 km/h - assuming that the riders are travelling at 62 km/h.
The (almost) complete field at a glance
*) 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.
