Tour de France 2023 stage 3 preview: Route map and profile of 184km from Amorebieta to Bayonne
Mark Cavendish has found the 2023 Tour de France tough going so far, getting dropped by the peloton early in both of the opening hilly stages in the Basque Country. Now, though, the fast men may well get a shot at a bunch sprint as the road flattens somewhat en route from Amorebieta to Bayonne.
After two days in the north of Spain, the race will cross the border into France in the final 50km of this 184km journey along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean – pack-splitting crosswinds are unlikely on what is forecast to be a still day.
Cavendish is bidding to make history by winning a record 35th Tour de France stage, which would outstrip the record currently shared by the Manxman and the great Eddy Merckx.
There are three major obstacles for Cavendish to overcome. The first is the inevitable breakaway on a stage like this one, which will need to be reeled in before the finish to set up a bunch sprint where he can thrive. His Astana team can try and up the pace at the front of the peloton but they will need support from the other sprint teams, like Jasper Philipsen’s Alpecin–Deceuninck and Fabio Jakobsen’s QuickStep.
The second challenge is getting to the finish comfortably. Cavendish struggled on some category two and three climbs over the past two days and his team dutifully stayed back to help him to the finish. And while this day is certainly much flatter than the opening two, there is still the sizeable category three Cote d’Orioko Benta (4.6km at 6.3%) in the middle of the stage which Cavendish’s 38-year-old legs must scale in quick time to keep pace with the peloton or risk being left behind.
The third problem for Cavendish is the sheer quality of opposition here, not least in the shape of Wout van Aert, who was furious to miss out on the stage two victory by a mistake from his Jumbo-Visma team in reading the finale, as they allowed solo attacker Victor Lafay too big an advantage to overhaul. Van Aert will be desperate to make amends here, while Philipsen, Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Mads Pedersen and Caleb Ewan are all highly tuned sprinters who know how to win grand tour stages.
For reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard, his main rival Tadej Pogacar and the yellow jersey of Adam Yates, it is a day to stay clear of any trouble and get out of the sprinters’ way come the finish.
Stage 3 route map and profile
Start time
The stage is set to begin at around 12pm BST and is expected to finish at around 4.30pm BST.
Prediction
The sprint teams will surely have too much desire to let a breakaway stay away here. It should all come down to a bunch sprint – I fancy Jasper Philipsen to pip Wout van Aert on the line.
