Tour de France 2023 - 12th stage | Thursday, 13 July | Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais| 168.8 kilometres
Rolf Aldag's assessment of the 12th stage of the 2023 Tour de France: Opportunity for a solo
This section reminds me a lot of the Tour two years ago, where Matej Mohoric was able to solo his way through a very long stage from a reduced group and win in Le Creusot. Just like then, this section is very demanding, going from Roanne in the Massif Central down into the Saone valley, where the grapes are already ripening for the harvest.
If a contender for green is at the front, this is an exclusive chance for points. However, there are climbs in front of them, and especially in the finale of the stage, the terrain is built for very strong breakaway riders with the strength to fight alone against everyone. From the sprint classification onwards, the breakaway riders will have to secure their own position in the balance of the leading group and ride into the final climb with momentum. The men at the front have an advantage over the chasers on the winding course, where sprinters and classification riders fear the hectic pace on narrow roads. The Col de la Croix Montmain, which is around 5 kilometres long and has a 7.6 per cent gradient, is an opportunity to attack and keep the opposition at bay until the finish in Belleville-en-Beaujolais.
Anyone who - like Mohoric - gets over such climbs well and can also extend their lead on the descents has a good chance of winning solo.
Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of the 12th stage of the Tour de France 2023
- Neutral start: 13:05, sharp start 13:20
- Estimated arrival time: between 17:21 and 17:46
- TV broadcast: ARD - from 14:10, Eurosport - from 12:55
- Live stream: ARD one, sportschau.de, GCN+, Discovery+, Eurosport
Our expert Rolf Aldag
As a professional cyclist, our expert Rolf Aldag rode the Tour de France ten times up to 2004; as manager and sporting director, he has led various top teams through France and will once again be in charge of the German team Bora-Hansgrohe as sporting director at the Tour de France this year. There are few people who can tell so vividly what can happen on the stages of a grand tour and within the peloton. For TOUR, the 54-year-old sports manager has once again scrutinised the elevation profiles and march tables of this year's Tour de France.
In his predictions, he names the teams and riders he sees at the front on each day, assesses the difficulties of the routes and says where he expects attacks and from whom. Will there be a bunch sprint? Will a breakaway group make it to the finish? Aldag also assesses for TOUR what role each stage plays for the classification jerseys: The more coloured jerseys our expert assigns to a stage, the greater their significance for the respective classification. The yellow jersey symbolises the weight of the stage in the overall classification, the green jersey stands for the importance of the best sprinter in the points classification and the red dotted jersey for the mountain classification, i.e. for the best climber. With these first-hand predictions, you can follow the TV broadcasts well informed and with profit!
