TDF 2023: Stage 19:- Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny, 173km ***Spoilers***

Stage 19:- Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny, 173km

Friday, July 22
Start Time: 12-15pmBST.

Even though this stage goes through the Jura region, the big climbs will quickly be left to the left and right. Instead, the course meanders its way between the lakes of the area. Only Côte d’Ivory (category 3), which is located about 30 kilometres before the finish, could be dangerous for the sprinter teams. But after that there will still be enough time to close any gaps that may have been torn and build up a sprint train towards Poligny.



The elevation gain is almost 2,000 metres, while the home straight runs false flat uphill. The Tour de France never visited Poligny, so the stage winner will achieve something unique.



The Climb.





Final Kms.

Also unique are the last 8 kilometres. This section runs as straight as an arrow to the finish line. The last kilometre goes up at 1.4%.





Moirans-en-Montagne

Stage town for the second time
Population: 2,130.

Moirans-en-Montagne is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. The village houses the Toy Museum (Musée du Jouet).

MOIRANS-EN-MONTAGNE AND CYCLING

In 2016, Alexis Vuillermoz was highly fancied for winning the first Tour de France stage to Moirans-en-Montagne. The French rider was born in 1988 in Saint-Claude, a few miles from the town. Winner of a stage of the Tour de France in Mûr de Bretagne the year before, the former mountain biker was very promising, but multiple fractures didn't always allow him to develop at his best level. In 2021, he moved from Ag2R to TotalEnergies, and in 2022, the Jura rider returned to his best by winning a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. This 2016 stage started in Moirans and was won in Bern by Peter Sagan.



Gastronomy.

Bleu de Gex
On the heights of the Jura mountains, some fifty milk producers, 4 cheese dairies and a farm producer are busy producing Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura, a blue-veined cheese with a surprisingly mild taste. Also known as Bleu de Septmoncel, Bleu de Gex comes in the form of a wheel weighing about 8 kg.



Poligny

Stage town for the first time
Population: 4,000

Poligny is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. The town stands at the foot of the first plateau of the Jura region, with limestone cliffs rising to its east and south, and a steephead valley leading to the village of Vaux-sur-Poligny to the east. On the cliffs to the east is a notable cave, known as "Le Trou de la Lune" (the Moonhole); on the cliffs to the south is a large cross, the "Croix du Dan".

POLIGNY AND CYCLING

Six Jura towns already hosted the Tour de France. Poligny will be the seventh. The closest finish to this pretty little town, which has hosted the Tour du Jura three times, was in Champagnole, 20 km away, where Soren Kragh Andersen won in 2020. Poligny also hosted a stage of the 1995 Grande Boucle women's race to Switzerland, won by Alessandra Cappellotto, who became Italy's first female world road champion two years later.

Gastronomy.

Yellow Coq au Vin.

Yellow coq au vin is one of Jura's most famous culinary specialities, a jewel in the crown of French gastronomy. In this recipe, there is cockerel, yellow local wine, cream and morels, the latter giving a powerful aroma and taste to the dish.
Traditionally, yellow coq au vin is served with white rice and a glass of yellow wine from Château-Chalon.



Jura Wines.

Jura wines are distinctive and unusual wines, the most famous being vin jaune, which is made by a similar process to Sherry, developing under a flor-like strain of yeast. This is made from the local Savagnin grape variety. Other grape varieties include Poulsard, Trousseau, and Chardonnay. Other wine styles found in Jura includes a vin de paille made from Chardonnay, Poulsard and Savagnin, a sparkling Crémant du Jura made from slightly unripe Chardonnay grapes, and a vin de liqueur known as Macvin du Jura made by adding marc to halt fermentation. The renowned French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur was born and raised in the Jura region and owned a vineyard near Arbois.











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

  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605
    edited July 2023
    The Ivory Cote is a bit of a detour, isn't it? Race should stay in France imo.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Presumably this is the stage MvdP has been waiting on and hoping he'll be better for.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Big fan of Crémant du Jura by the way.
  • jimmyjams
    jimmyjams Posts: 778

    Presumably this is the stage MvdP has been waiting on and hoping he'll be better for.

    I think it will be every man and his dog trying to get into the break, at least for those teams yet without a stage win (not sure which teams have missed out so far, but maybe it means Costa and Barguil will be there). Thus a mixed 20-30 break.
    Also this is MvdP's chance now that van Aert is gone.
    Plus any sprinter who thinks he can climb (Pedersen) - not to forget Sagan for whom this stage, despite being past his best, is probably the one which most suits him and which could be his farewell win.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,671
    You need to go an listen to the "watts occuring" podcast from yesterday with Gee and Cav.

    15 mins in and Cav has made insightful comments that I could have added to 4 threads (as well as an insight to the man...)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • r0bh
    r0bh Posts: 2,411
    All of the Watts Occurring pods have been great listens. Laurens De Plus is my breakout podcast star of the Tour!
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,892
    Campernerts
    "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: 18,892
    Sagan ..lol
    "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: 18,892
    Wind
    "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
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605
    Hope Mads P is part of the final break here, if only for plenty of shots of that custom paint job.
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  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,892
    Small roads
    "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
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605
    Lutsenko is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Mads keeps having to wait for him. Send someone else up to Mads now!
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  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605
    Splits everywhere after the descent, bit of crosswind action as well?
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  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,711
    Splits everywhere after that descent.
    Mads P appears to have an anchor…
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,892

    Lutsenko is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Mads keeps having to wait for him. Send someone else up to Mads now!

    Tbf mads is pushing it ...

    The bunch is splitting on these small roads ...
    "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
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605

    Splits everywhere after that descent.
    Mads P appears to have an anchor…

    Well he's dropped the anchor several times already....
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  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,892
    A Yates is in a split ....caught behind
    "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
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605
    Bit panicky from UAE? Burning up riders right now, pretty sure the whole thing will come back anyway
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  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,892
    Raphy drags him back
    "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: 18,892
    Dont drag laporte to the finish guys
    "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: 18,892

    Bit panicky from UAE? Burning up riders right now, pretty sure the whole thing will come back anyway

    They made the right decision....rear peloton at a min
    "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
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605
    Reckon this group will stick - 24" and some proper names
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  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605


    BENOOT Tiesj
    TRENTIN Matteo
    ALAPHILIPPE Julian
    HAIG Jack
    POLITT Nils
    PEDERSEN Mads
    ZIMMERMANN Georg
    BARGUIL Warren
    CAMPENAERTS Victor
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  • focuszing723
    focuszing723 Posts: 7,965
    In an alternate reality Cav won this.
  • focuszing723
    focuszing723 Posts: 7,965
    Well done Cav!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661



    BENOOT Tiesj
    TRENTIN Matteo
    ALAPHILIPPE Julian
    HAIG Jack
    POLITT Nils
    PEDERSEN Mads
    ZIMMERMANN Georg
    BARGUIL Warren
    CAMPENAERTS Victor

    Strong break.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Well designed stage this. No-one knows how it's gonna end.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,605
    Israel and Uno-X still trying to close it, but it's just over a minute
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  • focuszing723
    focuszing723 Posts: 7,965
    It's got to be tough for Pog but he's done well not to snap at the inevitable onslaught of "look what you could have won" questions.

  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,892
    Serious chasing by Israel UNO X and EF
    "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