TDF 2023: Stage 3:– Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne, 185km ***Spoilers***

blazing_saddles
blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
edited July 2023 in Pro race
Stage 3:– Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne, 185km

Monday, July 3

Start Time: Midday BST.

The third day also starts in the Basque country – in Amorebieta-Etxano. The route takes in five climbs, the last one is situated 19 kilometres from the finish. Along the coast, the stage leads riders to the French border and back to France. There, in the finish town of Bayonne, the first mass sprint of this 110th Tour de France will probably take place.



Amorebieta is known for the Klasika Primavera, a single-day race that saw its last edition in 2019.
The route of the 3rd stage is very straightforward. Approximately 15 kilometres after moving through San Sebastián the riders cross into France, at Irún.
The finish location is Bayonne. The town is situated at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers. Interestingly, the source of the Ardour is located high up the most climbed Tour col: The Tourmalet.



The Climb.





Final Kms.

The road goes virtually entirely downhill – although at moderate gradients – from the Côte de Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle to the finish line.





What to Expect:

The profile of the closing kilometres for what is the Tour’s reunion with Bayonne will give the sprinters’ teams the chance to manoeuvre their lead-out trains into position, so expect the first bunch sprint.

Amorebieta-Etxano

Stage city for the first time
Population: 19,587
Amorebieta-Etxano, also known as Zornotza, is a town and municipality located in Biscay in the Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. Amorebieta-Etxano is in an unparalleled location with views of the mountains around it. The town holds many festivities all through the year but its patron saint festival takes place in the middle of July, consecrated to the Virgen del Carmen.

AMOREBIETA-ETXANO AND CYCLING

Since 1946, Amorebieta has held a UCI Europe Tour race, the Klasika Primavera, which usually takes place on the same day as Paris-Roubaix. The race has been won by many great names, from Miguel Poblet to three-time winner Alejandro Valverde, as well as Laurent Jalabert, who won in 1995. Among the riders from the city are Benat Intxausti, who competed in the Tour de France in 2011 and 2014 and won two stages in the Giro, holding the pink jersey in 2013.

Gastronomy.

Zurrukutuna

Zurrukutuna is a traditional Spanish bread soup originating from the Basque Country. The bread soup is typically made with a combination of sliced country-style bread or baguette, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt cod, pimentón or paprika, and salt.



Txuleta

The Basque Country is also famous for its delicious T-bone steak—or either chuletón or txuleta. No less than five centimeters thick, normally served rare or at most medium-rare. Txuleta is one of the cornerstones of Basque cuisine. Iraeta, located in the Gros neighborhood of San Sebastian, is one of the most classic places to try Basque T-bone steak.



Bayonne

Stage town for the 33rd time
Population: 52,000.

Bayonne is a city in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine région of southwest France, where the Nive and Adour rivers meet. Narrow medieval streets characterize the old Grand Bayonne district. Here lie the Gothic-style Bayonne Cathedral, with its 13th-century cloister, and Château Vieux castle. Across the Nive river in the Petit Bayonne district is the Musée Basque, a museum devoted to the region’s arts, crafts and traditions.

BAYONNE AND CYCLING

Bayonne has already hosted the Tour de France 32 times since 1906, but the city has not hosted the Grande Boucle since 2003, when American Tyler Hamilton won here. No less than six Tour winners have raised their arms here: Petit-Breton (1907, 1908 and 1909), Lapize (1910), Lambot (1920), Bottecchia (1925), Frantz (1926) and Anquetil (1966). The city has also featured five times in the Vuelta. Bayonne is the birthplace of Roger Lapébie, winner of the 1937 Tour de France and of nine stages of the Tour.



Gastronomy.

Bayonne Ham
According to legend, the origin of Bayonne Ham lies in a chain of circumstances. One day, during a hunt, Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix, wounded a wild boar which ran away and was discovered by hunters, a few months later, fallen into a saltwater spring in Salies de Béarn. The animal was in perfect condition. This is how salting was born in the Adour basin... Today, Bayonne Ham is protected by a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), which defines it as a 'trimmed pork leg, salted with dry salt from the Adour basin and cured in the Pays de l'Adour area, located in the South-West of France for more than 7 months'.



Bayonne Chocolates.

Bayonne is the official chocolate capital of France not only for the quality of its dark chocolate but particularly for its history. The first important shipment of cocoa beans from the “New World” arrived in Seville in 1585 and this new drink was known only among a handful of Spanish nobles and, of course, the royal family, by the end of the 16th century. Bayonne, close to the border, was a natural choice for trade.
The first mention of chocolate, in the town archives, is in 1670 but mentions it as having been bought in Spain.
Today, chocolate is an integral part of the town’s character. Bayonne’s narrow pedestrian streets are blessed with a variety of local, traditional shops as well as a few national and European manufacturers.













"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
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Comments

  • archieboy
    archieboy Posts: 1,398
    Nice one BS..
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    edited July 2023
    It was the Dark Ages when I stopped watching cycling but did Tyler Hamilton really win a bunch sprint??

    Edit - no, he won solo by 1.55 with Zabel taking the bunch sprint for second. Hamilton had been briefly dropped earlier in the stage too.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    edited July 2023
    Delete
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    The first of the Cav opportunities....
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    McEwen comedy team briefing on bus is cringe
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463

    McEwen comedy team briefing on bus is cringe

    Literally just said the same in the CK thread! Awful.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Pross said:

    It was the Dark Ages when I stopped watching cycling but did Tyler Hamilton really win a bunch sprint??

    Edit - no, he won solo by 1.55 with Zabel taking the bunch sprint for second. Hamilton had been briefly dropped earlier in the stage too.

    Is that the one he rode with broken bones
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463

    Pross said:

    It was the Dark Ages when I stopped watching cycling but did Tyler Hamilton really win a bunch sprint??

    Edit - no, he won solo by 1.55 with Zabel taking the bunch sprint for second. Hamilton had been briefly dropped earlier in the stage too.

    Is that the one he rode with broken bones
    Turns out it was so it was a year when I was still watching. All those years merge into one for me.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Pross said:

    Pross said:

    It was the Dark Ages when I stopped watching cycling but did Tyler Hamilton really win a bunch sprint??

    Edit - no, he won solo by 1.55 with Zabel taking the bunch sprint for second. Hamilton had been briefly dropped earlier in the stage too.

    Is that the one he rode with broken bones
    Turns out it was so it was a year when I was still watching. All those years merge into one for me.
    He was a walking skeleton.....so thin. Looked like he would crumble if you touched him . Freaky

    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Pross said:

    McEwen comedy team briefing on bus is cringe

    Literally just said the same in the CK thread! Awful.
    I like Ola's dungerees...she looks like a presenter on rainbow 🌈
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,334
    Despite all the hype, a good result for Cavendish today is simply finishing unscathed.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    edited July 2023

    Despite all the hype, a good result for Cavendish today is simply finishing unscathed.

    Agree
    He knows what he is doing ....
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    edited July 2023
    Powless aside, there’s not much interest in getting in the breakaway.
    Only Laurent Pichon for company.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    edited July 2023
    Another soft break with Powless riding off and only Pichon joining him. Bunch looking happy to leave them to it. There's been very little fight for the break so far this year.
  • One of life's little pleasures - listening to Seb Piquet's KM0 introduction to the stage

    All is right with the world
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,164
    Where was the stage a couple of years ago where there was a hill halfway through that put half the sprinters out the back and they never got back despite trying for ages? I guess today's hill is too far out to hope for that again?
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Bit predictable... Guess I'll go for a run
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908

    Where was the stage a couple of years ago where there was a hill halfway through that put half the sprinters out the back and they never got back despite trying for ages? I guess today's hill is too far out to hope for that again?

    Anything could happen ..I think this is a bit dangerous..the break will be lazy and the peloton will be fresh full of potential late attackers ...you need a bit of pressure to control . That said it's very very very hard to see past a sprint
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Ben o Conner hasn't had a good start ...
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    BBL
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,164

    Where was the stage a couple of years ago where there was a hill halfway through that put half the sprinters out the back and they never got back despite trying for ages? I guess today's hill is too far out to hope for that again?

    Anything could happen ..I think this is a bit dangerous..the break will be lazy and the peloton will be fresh full of potential late attackers ...you need a bit of pressure to control . That said it's very very very hard to see past a sprint
    Definite sprint - just wondering whether it could be full on for a couple of hours from the teams of those who can climb a bit, to keep out the ones who can't. Probably not.


  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661

    Pross said:

    Pross said:

    It was the Dark Ages when I stopped watching cycling but did Tyler Hamilton really win a bunch sprint??

    Edit - no, he won solo by 1.55 with Zabel taking the bunch sprint for second. Hamilton had been briefly dropped earlier in the stage too.

    Is that the one he rode with broken bones
    Turns out it was so it was a year when I was still watching. All those years merge into one for me.
    He was a walking skeleton.....so thin. Looked like he would crumble if you touched him . Freaky

    In his tell-all book, he talked about knowing he was ready for the tour when it hurt to sit because his arse was so thin.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908

    Where was the stage a couple of years ago where there was a hill halfway through that put half the sprinters out the back and they never got back despite trying for ages? I guess today's hill is too far out to hope for that again?

    Anything could happen ..I think this is a bit dangerous..the break will be lazy and the peloton will be fresh full of potential late attackers ...you need a bit of pressure to control . That said it's very very very hard to see past a sprint
    Definite sprint - just wondering whether it could be full on for a couple of hours from the teams of those who can climb a bit, to keep out the ones who can't. Probably not.


    Yeah

    You think some of the teams would try just as recon of the other teams sprinters ability

    A dig just to see

    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    I take it nothing happened?
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Nope. Pauless in the break, that's about it.

    Looks quite pretty.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Gonna be a slow day. It's 143km still to go.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Lafay making a move in green.

    Just clipped off the front, not really sure what he's doing or where he's going.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726

    Gonna be a slow day. It's 143km still to go.

    A day for dodgy wine recommendations in fact.

    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Sporza interview Wout - "not sure why everyone is so surprised I was really p!ssed off yesterday, of course i'm disappointed I didn't win".
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,164

    Lafay making a move in green.

    Just clipped off the front, not really sure what he's doing or where he's going.

    If he gets 3rd at the intermediate, he's much more likely to be in green tomorrow.