It's confirmed that the World Famous Le Tour de France will return to Morzine for 2023, along with L'Etape Tour de France. Morzine will see the finish to one of the major mountain climbing stages of Le Tour du France on the 15th July 2023. With the Le Tour departing Les Gets the next morning on 16th July. More information on these stages below. For any serious cycling Fan Le Tour Du France is the absolute pinnacle of the sport, some of the Worlds best athletes, biggest and liveliest crowds and they sure know how to put on one hell of a show!
The Tour de France is the pinnacle of road racing and this year Morzine will host a stage of this iconic race for the 22nd time since 1975. Morzine is a large mountain village in the Hauts Savoie region of the French Alps and is a Mecca for all things cycling, be it road, enduro or downhill. Steeped in cycling history and home to a plethora of incredible cycling routes, Morzine and the Portes du Soleil should be on every cyclist's hit list no matter what your discipline! With endless mountain passes and challenging cols on our door step, there's no wonder the Tour is a frequent visitor.
Stage 14 - Annemasse to Morzine
Stage 14 of Le Tour de France 2023 is an absolutely gruelling mountain stage over 152km's and boasting 6 gradually increasing cols that combine with 4100m of climbing! The grand finale of this stage is Le Col de Joux Plane with just shy of 1000m of climbing in one hit from Samoëns to the summit before a nail biting winding alpine descent into Morzine. Having such a huge climb at the end of the stage will really determine the best climbers in the World followed by an all or nothing descent in order to take the famous stage win. Expect the Joux-Plane to be absolutely lined with screaming spectators the whole way up and down with a spectacular Morzine finish area!
Stage 15 - Les Gets to Saint Gervais
Two huge mountain stages back to back are certainly going to push the riders to their absolute limits at Le Tour du France 2023. The riders will depart Les Gets in the morning before tackling this monster of a stage making their way towards Mont Blanc. Stage 15 see's 180KM of racing, nearly 3000m of climbing and some brutally steep climbs over 11% gradient towards the end of the stage. Once again this stage is set to be an absolute mountain classic as riders jostle it out to take the infamous stage win and become the worlds best climbers.
L'Etape du Tour de France
Your chance to ride the epic tour du France Annemasse to Morzine stage! L'Etape is a mass start amateur race along one of the Tour Du France's best routes! The 31st edition of the "Étape du Tour de France" will take place on July 09th, 2023 on the same route as the stage 14 of the Tour de France, between Annemasse and Morzine, 152 km with more than 4,100 metres of accumulated positive elevation gain, including the climbs of col de Saxel, col de Cou, col de Feu, col de la Ramaz et col de Joux Plane.
For more info and to enter L'Etape; https://www.letapedutourdefrance.com/en/
Steeped in Tour de France History
The fact that the tour is returning for its 22nd visit to Morzine tells you everything you need to know about the quality and scale of the cycling in the area. It truly is epic!! The Tour first discovered Morzine in 1975, and has been an infamous mountain stage ever since. Climbers from each generation have shone here, from Lucien Van Impe to Andy Schleck, not forgetting Marco Pantani and Richard Virenque. The most recent was Ion Izagirre, winner in 2016.
The infamous Col de Joux Plane is the most famous of the Morzine Cols and has been known to make or break riders during the tour over the years. The climb is classified as a “Hors Categorie” or beyond category by the UCI and is one of the toughest challenges a cyclist can take on. The climb from Samoens to the summit is 11.6kms with an average gradient of 8.5% (the steepest part is 12.5%). There is an overall altitude gain of 998m and riders know about every single one of them by the time they reach the col at a dizzying 1691m above sea level.
The Col’s difficulty became very apparent during the Tour in 2000 when it pushed Lance Armstrong to his limits, nearly costing him the overall win when he bonked on the climb and lost the lead. In 2006 controversial American rider Floyd Landis managed to make up a 7 minute deficit by attacking the Col at full pace. He was however later disqualified for the use of performance enhancing drugs thus proving the Col requires almost super human strength and endurance to tame.
The Tour de France has taken many routes through Morzine and the surrounding mountains over the years including epic climbs such as the Col de Joux Verte, the Montee d’Avoriaz and the Col de Encrenaz have taken its place and kept riders on their toes during their visit to Morzine
Your perfect Morzine cycling holiday
Here at Bike Morzine we live & breath cycling, whether is road biking, downhill mountain biking, enduro, XC, you name it. We pride ourselves on delivering some of the best cycling holidays in Europe at our wide range of Morzine accommodation, we're a one-stop shop to organise everything you need for your cycling holiday from Accommodation, Airport Transfers, Lift passes, Guiding/Coaching and Bike hire (road, downhill, enduro & electric).
Whether you are a road cycling fanatic chasing the tour du France or a mountain biker looking to take in the Worlds biggest bike race whilst on holiday, get in touch with our friendly team today to discuss your Morzine Summer Holiday options.
