MAIN Recreation Sports Tour de France 2022

Welcome to Basque Country!

Bilbao, Spain will host the start of the landmark 110th Tour de France starting Saturday, July 1, 2023.

The Basque Country's No. 1 city sets the scene for the first loop stage in Spain, where the race will eventually wind its way east into France for the big finish three weeks later at the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday, July 23, 2023.

With a traditional 21 stages over 3,600 kilometers (2,237 miles), each leg of the race can range from pleasantly flat to treacherously steep and mountainous, including an infamous muscle-burning climb through Mont Ventoux.

Coming off the mountain also puts cyclists' descending skills to the test-- so be sure to watch for spills and chills (and dust flying) as the brakes are applied on the way down!

The amazing (bike) race: The infamous muscle-burning climb up Mount Ventoux.

2023 Tour de France on TV

In the U.S. streaming service NBC Peacock and the USA Network are the official broadcasters throughout the race with additional television coverage from 'mothership' network NBC..

FloSports will provide a live streaming in Canada.

Across the pond, ITV4 usually airs live coverage in the UK from every stage of the tour.

Elsewhere in Europe, Eurosport covers the race from start to finish, while in Australia live coverage and next-day highlights are regularly featured on SBS.

Just up ahead, check out official dates and stages for each leg of the 2023 Tour de France plus TENTATIVE TV times and chennels based on last year's race. Meanwhile, keep it here for further updates when the official schedule is announced in July

. All times Eastern.

All about the Tour de France

Maurice Garin was the winner in the first race held in 1903.

The first Tour de France was arranged by French newspaperman Henri Desgrange as a publicity stunt for his paper, L'Auto in 1903. The race featured 60 riders covering more than a 1,000 miles. that proved highly popular among spectators along the route .The race was also a huge success for L'Auto whose circulation rose from 25,000 to 65,000 that year.

Except for two World Wars, the Tour de France has been held almost every year since.

While spectacular scandals have rocked the race of late, the Tour de France has been no stranger to poor sportsmanship over the years. In fact, during the early days rampant cheating was common, along with sporadic rioting among spectators who often favored one rider over another.

Today, almost 200 riders make up the 22 teams that participate in the world's biggest annual sporting event covering some 2,000 miles. Throughout the race's 21 stages, the strongest rider is protected by other members of the team through stretches of terrain that vary greatly from flat, to hilly, to extremely steep and mountainous.

Color-coded jerseys signify top racers during the Tour de France, including white for a young emerging star,
red polka dot for the best uphill biker, green for the fastest sprinter, and yellow for the overall leader.

Along the way, riders are rewarded with color-coded jerseys with special significance. The green jersey signifies who's the fastest sprinter. The white jersey goes to the youngest biker, usually an emerging star under 25. The red-and-white polka dot jersey is awarded to the "King of the Mountain" or best uphill climber.

Near the end of the race, the overall leader gets to wear the coveted yellow jersey and to ultimately claim victory -- and the €450,000 euro prize money -- as he crosses the finish line in Paris.

Tour de France around the Web

Elsewhere on the Web, get the complete picture of this year's annual Tour de France with video presentations, photos, up-to-the-minute blog reports, and more on Tour de France stats, records and history ...

Tour de France 2023 kickoff from Bilbao.

Tour de France 2023 - At the official site find the complete route map, news flashes in real time, plus updated classifications, positions, gaps between the riders, video and photos of the competition - in English and French.

2022 Tour de France Live Dashboard - Check out a treasure trove of online information on the route, stages, teams, photos and worldwide TV schedules.