Vuelta a Espana 2023: 13th stage | Friday, 8 September | Formigal - Col du Tourmalet | 134.7 kilometres
The 13th stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2023 takes the riders from Formigal, which is located in the Pyrenees, on an extremely mountainous stage over to France on the Col du Tourmalet - one of the most famous climbs of the Tour de France, on which there will be a mountain finish. The mountain stage covers 134.7 kilometres and includes an intermediate sprint and four categorised climbs, including two in the category of honour.
From the start, the peloton immediately has to tackle the Puerto de Portalet - a category 3 climb, which is reached after just 4.4 kilometres. After a long descent, the first climb in the Especial category is tackled, the Col d'Aubisque. Like the final climb, it is one of the legendary climbs in the Tour de France and is now also included in the 2023 Vuelta. Once the climb has been completed, the riders head over the Col de Spandelles after a descent, before another descent leads to the intermediate sprint after 103.4 kilometres. From there, the route leads the riders up to the 2115 metre high Col de Tourmalet. In total, the riders have to cover almost 4300 metres in altitude on the 13th stage.
The finale up the Col du Tourmalet is a tough one for all riders in the 2023 Vuelta a Espana. The climb is almost 19 kilometres long and has an average gradient of 7.4 per cent. Endurance riders in particular are likely to have the best cards on this extremely long climb. The final kilometres even have a gradient of over 8 per cent, with a maximum of 12 per cent.
Sporting assessment of the 13th stage
After the riders were allowed to rest a little on the previous flat stages, there is now a mountain stage in the Vuelta, which involves over 4000 metres of climbing. As a result, only climbers who can cope with the pace are likely to have a chance of winning, and the stage winner will probably be one of the classification riders.
Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of the 13th stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2023
The peloton will set off at 13:50, with the sharp start at around 13:58. The calculated finish on the Col du Tourmalet, which is the finish of a Vuelta stage for the first time, should be between 17:20 and 17:42 at an average speed of around 38 kilometres per hour.
Eurosport will broadcast all stages of the Vuelta a Espana 2023. The 13th stage will be shown free-to-air on Eurosport 1 from 13:30. Including post-stage coverage, the broadcast will run until 18:00. The paid providers GCN+ and Discovery+ will also be showing a live stream on the internet.
Vuelta a Espana 2023 - Stage 13: The most important information at a glance
- Mountain stage over 134.7 kilometres
- Start of the stage: 13:50
- Estimated end of the race: approx. 17:30
- TV broadcast: 13:30 - 18:00 Eurosport 1
