2023 Route d'Occitanie
Formerly Route du Sud - la Dépêche du Midi (2.1), France

Route d'Occitanie podium history | 2022 edition
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4

Map of the 2023 Route d'Occitanie. Four stages covering 720 kilometers

Sunday, June 18: 4th & Final stage, St. Gaudens - St. Girons, 164.7 km

Stage 4 map & profile

Simon Carr wins stage four.

Les Woodland's book Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of St. Girons at 2:10 PM, local time: 69F (21F), rain, with the wind from the southwest at 6 km/hr (4 mph). The rain is expected to stop about 3:00 PM

The race: Adne Holter (UNO-X) did not start, leaving a peloton of 110 riders at the departure.

Here's the report from GC winner Michael Woods' Team Israel-Premier Tech:

Michael Woods had no problems keeping his overall lead in La Route d’Occitanie thanks to another impressive team performance by his Israel – Premier Tech teammates on the final day of racing. Corbin Strong was fourth on the stage.

“It’s really special to win this race overall for a second time. This is an area I really like, not far from my home in Andorra, and to have my family and kids there to watch me win on Father’s Day was something really special”, Woods said after the podium ceremony.

With an undulating final day of racing on the menu, the IPT riders knew it wouldn’t be easy to control today’s stage. Omer Goldstein managed to get up the road to represent the team in the early breakaway, while the others rallied around Woods in the peloton.

The breakaway was allowed a gap of over three minutes before the peloton increased the pace significantly on the first big categorized climb of the day. Woods was always kept in a good position by his IPT teammates. Especially Stevie Williams proved to be on an incredible day, once again, riding his heart to make sure Woods never got in trouble.

The riders head for the Col de la Core under dark skies.

On the final climb of the day, the peloton thinned out once more, leaving just a handful of riders in the group with Woods and Williams. More riders, including Strong, the leader of the points classification, joined the pack on the following descent and flat section, prompting a chase to catch the last two remaining riders from the early breakaway.

However, in the end, the leading duo managed to make it all the way with a gap of just a few seconds, while Strong did well to finish the day in fourth place. Domenico Pozzovivo was fifth in the general classification, just one second off the overall podium.

Simon Carr (left) wins stage four.

“Stevie was super impressive, climbing with the best climbers in the race, managing everything so well. I’m really proud about how he raced!” Woods explained. “The whole team did so well again today. It was just a shame that we couldn’t catch the break and have Corbin sprint for the win.

“In any case, I’m really happy with this race. My form is good and I’m super excited for the Tour now. I’m ready to go!”

Complete results:

164.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.081 km/hr

Final GC after stage 4:

• GC winner: Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)
• Mountains classification winner: Carlos Garcia (Equipo Kern Pharma)
• Points classification winner: Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost)
• Best young rider: Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost)
• Teams classification winner: Movistar

720 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.999 km/hr

Stage 4 map & profile:

Stage 4 map

Stage 4 profile

Saturday, June 17: Stage 3, Gimont - Nistos Cap Nestès, 189 km

Stage 3 map & profile

Michael Woods takes the stage and the GC lead.

Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Triumphs and Tragedies: The rise and fall of bicycle racing's champions is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the city of Nistos, on the route, 17 km from the finish, at 2:00 PM, local time: 22C (72F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the south at 8 km/hr (5 mph). There is a 17% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the report from stage winner and new GC leader Michael Woods' Team Israel-Premier Tech.

Michael Woods finished off an impeccable team performance by his Israel – Premier Tech teammates by winning the queen stage of La Route d’Occitanie. Woods is also the new overall leader of the race.

“I’m really pleased with the result today”, Woods said after the line. “The teamwork was exceptional. Especially Stevie Williams was just amazing. I think he went extra deep for his friend Gino Mäder and it was really inspirational. The whole team rode incredibly well. I’m really proud to finish it off for the guys and to take the leader’s jersey.”

With a challenging mountain top finish set to dictate the final outcome of the French stage race, today’s stage was always going to be a crucial one for the GC riders.

Wearing number 1 on his back, as the reigning champion of the race, Woods was eager to repeat last year’s achievement. IPT took control of the race early in the stage, setting the pace in the peloton, and at the bottom of the final climb, the remaining riders of the morning breakaway got caught by the pack led by Chris Froome.

Stevie Williams then took over on the early slopes and thinned out the group significantly before Domenico Pozzovivo upped the pace even further, leaving just a handful of riders in the group of the GC riders with 10 kilometers to go.
Woods put in several attacks in the following kilometers and ultimately, only Cristian Rodriguez (Team Arkea Samsic) was able to follow the 36-year-old Canadian. The duo stayed together until the final few hundred meters when Woods put in a final acceleration, leaving Rodriguez behind, while storming to victory on the top of Nistos Cap Nestes.

“This has already been a great race for me. It’s a nice step in the right direction and I’m really excited for the Tour now.”

In the general classification, Woods leads by nine seconds to Rodriguez with Pozzovivo in fifth place overall ahead of Sunday’s final stage of the race.

Complete results:

189 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.519 km/hr

GC after stage 3:

• GC leader: Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)
• Mountains classification leader: Carlos Garcia (Equipe Kern Pharma)
• Points classification leader: Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech)
• Best young rider: Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost)
• Teams classification leader: Movistar

555.3 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 39.422 km/hr

Stage 3 map & profile:

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 profile