Tour de France 2023 comes to Courchevel
On Wednesday 19th July 2023, the 176 cyclists participating in this year’s Tour de France will begin their 166km ride from Saint-Gervais, near Megeve, to Courchevel, the 17th ‘etape’.
The first climb is up and over the Col de Saisies; an ‘easy’ one to start, at 1650m. Next up is the Col de Meraillet, then it’s a big one: the Cormet de Roselend (which has almost 20km at 6%!) After this is yet another mountain – the Cote de Longefoy at 1,174m), down into Moutiers, then up, up, up, sweating and exhausted, to arrive at the highest point of the tour this year: our very own Col de la Loze at 2304m altitude, which sits above La Tania between the Courchevel and Meribel valleys.
Tour de France 2023 map
Lining the streets will be thousands of onlookers, waving flags, honking their horns and generally encouraging the riders on this extremely tough climb to the top.
And we’ll be part of the crowd!
Courchevel is ready for action on 19th July 2023!
The route will pass through Moutiers, our nearest ‘big town’ and up past Brides-les-Bains to the Carrey roundabout to start the hairpins up the mountain. They’ll pass Saint-Bon, home of Courchevel’s Town Hall, and then through Le Praz, home to our flagship Chalet Loup Blanc. They’ll turn right at the Olympic torch and pass Le Praz’s iconic ski jumps, climbing up towards La Tania, home to our four other catered chalets.
Right turn at the Olympic torch, past the ski jumps and on to La Tania!
They’ll then carry on to Meribel, home to our new Chalet Loden, and start the big climb which involves a whopping 28km at average 6% incline (the steepest sections are at 20%!) to get to the top of Col de la Loze. This is a new route for the tour as it was opened in 2019. It’s a car-free, smooth, tarmac road which, like most of these mountain roads, is covered in snow until late May each year. It’s the 7th highest ‘col’ in France, and the third highest in the Savoie after the Iseran and the Galibier.
Watch the Tour de France from the UK via ITV:
Stage 17 – Wednesday 19 July
- Live: 11:15am
- Highlights: 7pm
+ See if you can spot any of those famous Courchevel and Meribel pistes you know and love!
And if it gets you in the mood for summer in the mountains, come and visit!
Or if seeing the ski lifts makes you start dreaming of winter:
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