The PPC Cycling Tour of Greece 2023 is all set to continue its journey for the second consecutive year, after its revival last year, after a ten-year absence. The goal is threefold: First, the race, which is the most important domestic cycling event, to establish itself as an institution for many years to come without the past. Second, to continue to impress the global cycling community with the perfection of its organization. And third, to win the bet of the world’s participation in it. For the Greeks – fans of the sport and not – to embrace the Tour, enjoying with their presence on the routes, all that it offers, from the racing spectacle and the natural beauties of our country, to the alternative cycling tourism and the essence – finally – of the bicycle itself, which is exercise, company, ride and entertainment.
The foreign teams that participated in last year’s Tour left our country with the best impressions, completely satisfied with what they encountered in the competitive part, but also with the hospitality that the organization reserved for them. Cycling Greece declares its presence again this year at the big meeting, on the new routes of Crete and the Peloponnese, where modern Greece will enchant once again with its wonderful landscapes, but also meet with its history, passing by monuments and archaeological sites covering entire millennia.
THE PPC CYCLE RIDE WITH NUMBERS
After we have referred to the most characteristic elements of the sport, we are ready to move on to the presentation of the PPC Cycling Tour of Greece 2023. A prologue (individual time trial) and four stages with a mass start, are the “obstacles” that the 20 teams will face during the five competitive days of this year’s event. Before detailing these routes, let’s first aggregate the Round by numbers to give you a more complete picture of the race’s “identity”.
– 658.5 kilometers, divided into a prologue and 4 stages
– 20 teams (120 athletes) will participate in the competition.
– 4 continents are represented by the 20 teams (Europe, America, Asia & Oceania).
– 16 different countries are represented by the 20 teams.
– 4 jerseys will be given for the individual classifications and scores.
– 7,174 meters of total altitude difference will be covered by the athletes.
– 6 km individual time trial.
– 8 intermediate sprints (2 in each stage, except the prologue).
– 9 sprint climbs / 1st category (2), 2nd (5) & 3rd (2).
– 3 Regions in which the Tour will move: Crete, Peloponnese and Western Greece.
– 23 Municipalities will be visited by the Tour during the 5 days of its duration.
– Bonus seconds, 10″, 6″ and 4″ to the first three of each stage (except the prologue) and 3″, 2″ and 1″ to the first three of each intermediate sprint.
– The regulation of the last three kilometers applies to all stages with a mass start.
– One second is the time counted at the finish to measure time difference between different groups or athletes (applies to all stages except the prologue).
CRETE – PROLOGUE & 1ST STAGE
The PPC Cycling Tour of Greece 2023 will start on May 2 from the Karteros Beach Sports Center with the prologue (individual time trial) of 6 kilometers. It is the first state-of-the-art National Beach Sports Facilities in Greece, a sports center that was built on the initiative of the Deputy Minister of Sports, Lefteris Avgenakis and aims both at the development of sand and beach sports, as well as at hosting international events, upgrading the entire area. With four courts and a training ground (expansion with additional facilities for other sports is already underway), the Karteros Beach Sports Center was inaugurated in June 2022 with the Men’s-Women’s and Junior-Youth Beach Handball World Championships.
The athletes of the PPC Tour of Hellas will start their attempt from the starting ramp (with a difference of 30″ from each other) and will head east, to the settlement of Stavromenos and Arina beach, where they will turn around, for to return from the same route to the Karteros Beach Sports Center, where the finish line will also be located. The terrain is almost flat, the athletes will have the timer as their only opponent and speed as their ally. The differences that will be created will not be big ones, while shortly after the awards and the first blue jersey of the Round, the official presentation of the 20 teams will follow.
The next day, May 3, the 1st stage will be held, starting and finishing in the city of Heraklion. It is the longest of this year’s event (187.7 km), but also the one with the most altitude (2,561m), which means that here we will have the first big battle between the favorites. The route is a counterclockwise circle within the Heraklion Regional Unit. Athletes will head south, pass the imposing mass of Psiloritis and reach the Mesara plain, then return again to the northern coast.
Along the way, they will come across monuments that cover different periods of our history, from the Minoan triptych of Phaistos, Gortyna and Knossos, to the Byzantine Castle of Kornari built by Nikephoros Phokas, to the Venetians and their impressive walls in Heraklion, with the finish next to the Koules fortress which dominates majestically at the entrance of the old port. The natural beauty of Crete, its archaeological sites, as well as Megalonisos today, will travel around the world through television coverage.
PELOPONNISOS – 2nd, 3rd & 4th STAGE
After the two racing days in Crete, the race will continue in mainland Greece. The 2nd stage (178.3 km & 1,825m altitude difference) will start on May 4 from historic Mycenae, will cross the Peloponnese diagonally (from NE to SW) and will finish at the mouth of the Messinian Gulf, on the beach of Kalamata. On the route, the athletes will encounter the most difficult climb of this year’s event (Achladokampos, 1st category), but also the highest graded point (761 m in Vigles), which means that there will be a battle between the contenders for the blue jersey, but also to those athletes who aim for the orange jersey of the mountains.
Once again, Greek history will make its presence felt, since the peloton, after “golden” Mycenae, will pass through Argos with the imposing castle of Larissa, Tiryns with its “cyclopean” walls, the beautiful Nafplio with its medieval castles (Palamidi and Bourtzi) and its unique architecture, Mylos and Tripoli, points-stations in the revolution of 1821, Megalopolis with the largest theater of antiquity, but also the place where twenty years ago, in 2003 , Vassilis Anastopoulos became the first and only Greek cyclist to date in the modern history of the Tour of Greece to conquer the blue jersey, Ancient Messina with its excellently preserved monuments and finally, Kalamata with the legendary “castle of Izabo”.
The following day (May 5), the peloton will set off for the 3rd stage (153 km & 1,621 m altitude difference) from Navarino Dunes Beach, Costa Navarino, in one of the most enchanting coastal landscapes of the Mediterranean, heading towards the bay of Navarino and to the south of the Messinian peninsula, passing by Pylos, Methoni, Finikounda and Koroni. Completing a left semicircle in the prefecture of Messinia, the athletes will finish in the central square of Kyparissia, probably in a mass sprint.
The route, another feast of colors and landscapes, with the “protagonist” of the endless Greek blue of the sea and the sky, combined with historical monuments, will meet the lagoon of Gialova, the fairytale beach of Voidokoilia, Paleokastro, Pylos and the Niokastro, Navarino and Sphakteria, theater of the famous naval battle of 1827 and a turning point for the Greek revolution, the Venetian castles of Methoni and Koroni, ending again at the Ionian Sea and Kyparissia with the magnificent Upper Town and the castle of Arcadia .
Like the 3rd, the 4th stage (133.5 km & 1,089m altitude difference) will start on May 6 from Navarino Dunes Beach, Costa Navarino, but this time in a different direction. The peloton will enter the hinterland and after passing the hill of Egliano and the Palace of Nestor, it will return to the shores of the Ionian Sea to then move north along the Cyprisian Gulf and finish in Ancient Olympia, one of the most important archaeological sites not only of Greece, but of the entire world. In the holy land that gave birth to the Olympic Games, the 2023 PPC Tour of Hellas will be completed, probably in yet another mass sprint.
As we have already mentioned, the route will pass by the Mycenaean palace of the Homeric Nestor, it will reach Gargalianos with its panoramic view of the vast olive grove of the Messinian plain, Marathopolis and Nisos Proti, it will enter Ilia and leaving behind its lake Caiaphas, will head towards Pyrgos, where he will change course, this time to the east, to the north bank of the river Alpheios and the Kronian hill, in Ancient Olympia, where in 776 BC. the first Olympic Games were held there, where every two years the Olympic flame is touched in a modest, evocative, Doric ceremony, before traveling to the respective host city.
TELEVISION COVERAGE OF THE PPC CYCLING ROUND OF GREECE
The PPC Cycling Tour of Greece 2023 will have global television coverage, with the images of our country and the race shown on all five continents. 40 TV channels have secured the TV rights from Cycling Greece and the five racing days will be broadcast in 174 countries and five continents (Europe, Africa, Asia, America and Oceania), a number that is – impressive – a record for the event! The experienced TV crew that has undertaken the production (and which covers UCI races), will use advanced technology (drones, 5G etc.), which will probably be applied to the corresponding production of the World Championship next August in Glasgow.
In Greece we will have triple coverage of the Tour, through ERT, Alpha and Eurosport.
– ERT, through the Ertflix platform, will broadcast live the last 90 minutes of each stage, with description and commentary by Angelos Stathakopoulos.
– Alpha, the event’s TV Partner, will broadcast every night shortly after 12, a 24-minute review of each stage with a description and commentary by Andreas Triantaphyllos. Also, the channel will broadcast a review of the entire Round after the completion of the event.
– Eurosport will broadcast 6 replays of 54 minutes with extensive reports and related reports, after the PPC Cycling Tour is over.
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
