The 2023 Tour de France will favour climbers as it traverses five mountain ranges ©Getty Images

The 2023 men's Tour de France route, unveiled at the Palais de Congrès in Paris, traverses five mountain ranges and will be in the words of race director Christian Prudhomme, one for the climbers.

With a start from Bilbao in Spain, on July 1, the peloton will head for the Pyrenees with a mountaintop finish at the iconic Col du Tourmalet before moving on to the Massif Central to end up at the top of the Puy de Dome for the first time since 1988.

The Jura and the Alps will feature three consecutive mountain treks before a rest day, a short but testing individual time trial and a ride to Courchevel with 5,100 metres of altitude gain, cyclingnews reports.

"They will get to the bottom of the Col de la Loze [the last climb before heading down to Courchevel] really knackered," said Tour sporting director Thierry Gouvenou.

"The riders will need to keep a bit of freshness to be alert on the tricky descent.

"It’s a big, big stage."

The Tour might then be decided in the penultimate stage to the Markstein in the Vosges, where the women's Tour ended up last year, before finishing in Paris on July 23.

"We’re looking to make the most of the mountain ranges in the country and a start from the Basque country made that possible," Prudhomme said of a race that will include only 22 kilometres of time trialling.

Next year's women's Tour de France will involve an ascent of the iconic Col de Tourmalet before a finish in Pau ©Getty Images
Next year's women's Tour de France will involve an ascent of the iconic Col de Tourmalet before a finish in Pau ©Getty Images

Meanwhile, the second edition of the revived women's Tour de France will set off from Clermont Ferrand on the day the men's race finishes, finishing on July 30 in Pau, and will also involve an ascent of the Col du Tourmalet at the end of an undulating eight days of racing.

The organisers had made some adjustments following last year's race, which left many riders beyond the point of exhaustion after the final climb to the Markstein on the penultimate day.

"We have listened to what the riders told us," women’s Tour de France director Marion Rousse told Reuters.

"The last stage last year was too tough and even if the Tourmalet is a rough climb, the stage will feature fewer metres gained.

"Our goal is that the race becomes perennial."

An individual 22km time trial in Pau, southwestern France, will be introduced.

Asked whether the race would become longer and end up lasting three weeks like the men's event, Rousse insisted that sustainability was the key word.

"It’s not possible yet," she said.

"There’s still a long way to go.

"But we hope that things will evolve in that direction."