Paris - Tours 2023

The peloton heads to France for this long and prestigious one-day sprinters' Classic with some off-road twists

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Paris - Tours

Dates 8 Oct
Race Length 213 kms
Start Chartres
Finish Tours
Race Category Elite Men

Published: October 4, 2023

Paris-Tours 2023 overview

First raced in 1896, Paris-Tours is one of the oldest and longest-running races in cycling, and this year will take place on October 8. Set between the outskirts of the French capital and Tours a few hundred kilometres south, the race is known for its over length of over 200km and is one of the most prestigious one-day Classics of the autumn. In recent years, the organisers ASO have incorporated off-road sectors into the race’s route, but it remains something of a sprinters’ Classic thanks to its flat and fast finish into Tours.

While the race’s early history is dominated by French and Belgian names, through the second half of the last century many of the biggest names in cycling won Paris-Tours: Rik Van Looy, Joop Zoetemelk and Sean Kelly all feature on its roll of honour. In recent years, it’s been strong, Classics-type sprinters who have won in Tours, including John Degenkolb, Matteo Trentin and, in the last two editions, Arnaud Démare.

This year, Démare lines up to try to become the first rider to win Paris-Tour three years in a row, but he’ll have the likes of Arnaud De Lie, Christophe Laporte and Kaden Groves to contend with as a stacked group of sprinters head to France. It’s also going to be an important day for Greg Van Avermaet, winner here in 2011, as Sunday will be his final race day as a professional before he heads into retirement.

Paris-Tours 2023 route

Starting in Chartres, just outside Paris, the route for Paris-Tours heads south from the outskirts of the capital towards Tours for a total of 214km of racing. The route has changed a lot over the race’s history, and the current iteration has been in place since 2018, when a radical change was made: the introduction of 10 off-road ‘vineyard’ sections in the run-in to Tours.

The first 140km of the race is largely flat bar a few uncategorised rises, and all the action is packed into the final 80km. This last section of the race will see the peloton take on the 10 unpaved track sectors towards Tours, as well as eight short but sharp climbs, that give the end of the race a real Classics-style feel. The final climb comes 15km from the finish, and it’s then a pan-flat run-in to the finish line, so although the climbs and gravel can make for a tricky finale, it tends to come back together for a bunch sprint in Tours.

Head over to the Route tab for a closer took at the off-road sections.