Cycling in Yorkshire
Cycling in Yorkshire
Stage 3 of the Tour de France 2023 is a 187.4km flat road stage from Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne.
It starts inland at Amorebieta-Etxano in the Province of Biscaye, and makes its way to the coast at Lekeitio. Then the race heads east along the coastline, on a route 'peppered with little difficulties', according to the Grand Départ pages of the Tour de France website.
The riders pass through Donostia San Sebastián and continue across the border to France for a probable sprint to the line in Bayonne.
These are video highlights of Stage 3 Tour de France 2023.
This is the Stage 3 TDF 2023 Blog.
Race Details | Poll | Map & Profile | Timings | Videos | Food & Drink | Route Notes | Favourites
| Date | Monday 3rd July 2023 |
|---|---|
| Stage classification | Flat |
| Distance | 187.4km |
| Intermediate sprint | Deba |
| Climbs | Côte de Trabakua (Cat. 3) Côte de Milloi (Cat. 4) Col d'Itziar (Cat. 3) Côte d'Orioka Benta (Cat. 3) |
This is a map of the route of Stage 3 Tour de France 2023.
This zoom-able map shows the route of Stage 3 Tour de France 2023.
This is the profile of Stage 3 Tour de France 2023.
| Caravan | Fast Schedule | Slow Schedule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start Time (départ fictif) | 1100 |
1300 |
1300 |
| Start Time (départ réel) | 1115 |
1315 |
1315 |
| Intermediate Sprint | 1249 |
1441 |
1449 |
| Fourth & Final Climb | 1341 |
1528 |
1541 |
| Finish Line (187.4km) | 1543 |
1719 |
1743 |
This is a video overview of Stage 3 Tour de France 2023.
Bayonne hasn't hosted the Tour de France since 2003, when the squeaky-clean Tyler Hamilton won after a long solo breakaway.
Buy a copy of Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race.
To accompany Stage 3 you could try a bottle of Irouléguy wine. The white has floral and citrus aromas, and the red has notes of red and black fruits and lots of tannin.
Alternatively, Jurançon Sec is produced in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is an intense and dense wine, but balanced by acidity.
Petit Basque is a sheep's cheese produced in the Pyrenees. Bayonne ham is pork leg, salted and placed in cold rooms to cure.
Stage 3 starts inland, at Amorebieta-Etxano, also known as Zornotza, in the Province of Biscay. This is the départ fictif.
Amorebieta-Etxano is on the river Ibaizabal, and has a population of around 20,000.
The Basque Country tourism website says it is 'a town through which many people pass' - not necessarily a top recommendation. The website adds that the town is in an unparalleled location, with mountains around it.
The Renaissance church of Santa Maria de la Asuncion dates back to 1555.
Cyclist Benat Intxausti is from Amorebieta-Etxano.
The race leaves Amorebieta-Etxano heading south east in the valley of the Ibaizabal river. The départ réel is outside the town but before reaching Arriandi.
Stage 3 passes through Durango, where it leaves the valley and veers north over lumpy terrain towards the coast.
The first categorised climb is the Côte de Trabakua. It is 4.1km at an average 5.4%. The height at the top is 369m, after 13.8km raced.
This could be the launchpad for a breakaway.
The descent is to Markina-Xemein on the Artibai river. Leaving the river, the riders tackle another climb.
The second categorised climb is the Côte de Milloi. It's 2.3km at 4.5%, reaching a height of 162m after 32.8km raced.
Then it's downhill to the coast at Lekeitio.
Lekeitio is one of the most important fishing ports on the Basque coast (Wikipedia). It is also a beach resort in Summer.
Lekeitio has a Gothic basilica dedicated to Santa Maria, dating from the 1400s.
Etchings of animals including lions were found in the Armintxe cave in 2016. The artwork dates from around 13,000 years ago.
Now Stage 3 takes a winding and undulating route along the coast. It reaches the port of Ondarroa.
A business called Koasta offers fun activities: kayak, paddle surf and big stand-up paddle boarding.
Next along the coast is Mutriku.
Mutriku is the site of the world's first multi-turbine breakwater power station, opened in 2011. It is built into a sea wall.
Berdel Eguna is the Day of the Mackerel Festival in Mutriku, usually the first Saturday in April.
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In the succession of ports, Deba follows. The intermediate sprint takes place here, after 65.8km raced.
After Debar, the riders make their way inland a little and tackle a climb to the Alto de Itziar. It's 5.1km at an average 4.6%, to a height of 212m after 70.9km raced.
The Alto de Itziar hosts an industrial park.
The race route winds its way back down to the coast at Zumaia. Its old town features the Gothic church of San Pedro from the 1200s.
A little further along the coast is the fishing village of Getaria.
Zarautz is a slightly bigger coastal settlement. It has a jolly nice sandy beach. Another attractive feature is a boardwalk across sand dunes.
Stage 3 continues alongside the river Orio, then comes the next climb.
The Côte d'Orioka Benta is 4.6km at an average 6.3%. The height at the top is 316m, after 102km raced.
The descent via Igeldo is to Donostia San Sebastián.
The riders then continue east to Irun. They cross the border with France to reach Hendaye.
Once the race reaches France, that is technically the end of the Grand Départ. Stage 3 continues, though, along the French Atlantic coast towards Saint-Jean-de Luz.
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a fishing port in the French Basque Country. It's on the river Nivelle where it flows into the ocean.
Sea walls protect the town from Atlantic waves, and make swimming at Saint-Jean-de-Luz more attractive.
Saint-Jean-de-Luz was a base for Basque corsaires, or pirates, in the 1600s, and English sailors used to call it 'the Viper's nest'.
King Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain were married in the church at Saint-Jean-de-Luz in 1660.
The Duke of Wellington had his Winter HQ here during the Peninsula War (1813-4).
Saint-Jean-de-Luz caters for tourists, and 40% of dwellings there are second homes.
Basque Trials of Strength, or Force Basque, are games based on traditional agricultural tasks. They include lifting straw bales with a pitchfork, sawing tree stumps, and tug of war.
Stage then heads inland to Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle.
Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle is known for piment d'Espelette (chili peppers) and for a raw sheep's milk cheese called ossau-iraty.
The individual time trial on Stage 20 of the 2018 Tour de France started in Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle.
After Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, the riders pedal uphill through the Forêt d'Ustaritz before descending to Maignon, on the outskirts of Bayonne.
In Bayonne, the route is Bd d'Aritxague, Avenue Maréchal Soult, Pont du Labourd and Avenue de l'Aquitaine. The finish line will be on Avenue de l'Aquitaine, near Bayonne's Remparts de Mousserolles.
Bayonne is a city at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers in the French Basque country. Just over 50,000 people live there.
Bayonne has been inhabited at least since Roman times.
It belonged to England from 1152, as a result of the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II, until 1451.
Vauban fortified the city in the 1600s, hence the ramparts.
Bayonne's economy depends on metallurgy, chemicals, business services and tourism.
The Fêtes de Bayonne is a 5-day festival in the Summer. It was the idea of former rugby players of Aviron Bayonnais in 1932, and it has been going ever since.
Didier Deschamps is from Bayonne.
Stage 3 of the Tour de France 2023 is categorised as a flat stage and should be one for the sprinters. The hills come in the first half of the race, and probably won't lead to the fast men being dropped.
The stage will probably be won by a pure sprinter such as Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Fabio Jakobsen, Mark Cavendish, or Caleb Ewan. Jordi Meeus claimed a place as the sprinter in the Bora team, ahead of Sam Bennett, and is likely to be in the mix. Of course, Wout van Aert can match the pure sprinters and could win.
A breakaway has just a slim chance, so it's possible but unlikely that Fred Wright or Simon Clarke will win.
Who do you think will win Stage 3?
Bradt Guide to the Basque Country.
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Winner in Bayonne in 2003, Tyler Hamilton's story of drug-fuelled cycling.
Buy a copy of Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race.
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city in the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain (Wikipedia). It is the capital of the Gipuzkoa Province, and the population is around 188,000.
It is on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 12 miles from the border with the French Pays Basque. There are close links with Bayonne, France. The Bay of Biscay is known as the Gulf of Gascony in France.
Donostia and San Sebastián both mean 'St Sebastian.'
Like Bilbao, San Sebastian has quite a cloudy and rainy climate.
There were Roman settlements here from 50 to 200AD.
Modern San Sebastián was founded in 1180 by Sancho el Fuerte. It was a port and military stronghold, named after the nearby monastery San Sebastián.
The city belonged to Pamplona then Castile (early 1200s) then Navarre (1265).
In the Peninsula War it was captured by Napoléon (1808), then re-taken by British and Portuguese troops under the Duke of Wellington (1813). Much of the city was destroyed at this time, by an artillery barrage and subsequent fire.
The city's economy is largely based on commerce and tourism. San Sebastián's popularity as a destination for visitors grew after Queen Isabel II visited to take salt water treatments for her skin, starting in 1845.
It has a dynamic cultural scene, and was European Capital of Culture in 2016. There's a San Sebastián Jazz Festival and an International Film Festival.
San Sebastián is renowned for Michelin-starred restaurants serving Basque cuisine, and for small-plate dishes called pintxos.
Real Sociedad is the local football club, and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is from San Sebastián.
San Sebastián is twinned with Plymouth, UK.
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Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle is a village in the Basque province of Labourd, and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France. The village is called Senpere in Basque. It's not far from the Basque coast, in particular the resort of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. It's known for the Lac de Saint-Pée, south east of the village, where water sports are practised.
The village is on the river Nivelle, and several streams join the river there.
The commune of Saint-Pée falls within the area that may produce piment d'Espelette (chili peppers) and ossau-iraty (cheese from raw sheep's milk).
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