Tour de France 2023: When does the cycling race start, how to watch, route, teams, and odds

It's nearly time for the world's best cyclist's to take on one of the sporting world's toughest challenges.

Jonas Vingegaard is favourite to win this year's Tour de France.

First held in 1903, the Tour de France is the oldest and the most prestigious of cycling's grand tours.

It sees cyclists take part in 21 gruelling stages over 23 exhausting days and is billed as "the world's biggest annual sporting event".

Here's everything you need to know about this year's edition, and how to enjoy all the action from your sofa.

When is the Tour de France 2023?

This year's race starts on Saturday, July 1, in Bilbao, Spain and ends on Paris's Champs-Élysées boulevard on  Sunday, July 23.

What are the stages of the Tour de France?

Here are all the stages, and when they take place:

Saturday 1, stage one: Bilbao to Bilbao, 182km Sunday 2, stage two: Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastián, 209km Monday 3, stage three: Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne, 187.5km Tuesday 4, stage four: Dax to Nogaro, 182km Wednesday 5, stage five: Pau to Laruns, 163km Thursday 6, stage six: Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque, 145km Friday 7, stage seven: Mont-de-Marsan to Bordeaux, 170km Saturday 8, stage eight: Libourne to Limoges, 201km Sunday 9, stage nine: Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dôme, 182.5km Monday 10: Rest day Tuesday 11, stage 10: Vulcania to Issoire, 167.5km Wednesday 12, stage 11: Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins, 180km Thursday 13, stage 12: Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, 169km Friday 14, stage 13: Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier, 138km Saturday 15, stage 14: Annemasse to Morzine Les Portes du Soleil, 152km Sunday 16, stage 15: Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, 179km Monday 17: Rest day Tuesday 18, stage 16: Passy to Combloux, 22.4km- ITT Wednesday 19, stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc to Courchevel, 166km Thursday 20, stage 18: Moûtiers to Bourg-en-Bresse, 185km Friday 21, stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny, 173km Saturday 22, stage 20: Belfort to Le Markstein Fellering, 133.5km Sunday 23, stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to Paris Champs-Élysées, 115.5km

What teams and riders are taking part?

The following are th teams who have entered this year's race, and their riders.

Ag2r-Citroën (Fra)

Greg Van Avermaet (Bel), Oliver Naesen (Bel), Dorian Godon (Fra), Felix Gall (Aut), Nans Peters (Fra), Ben O’Connor (Aus).

Alpecin-Deceuninck (Bel)

Michael Gogl (Aut), Quinten Hermans (Bel), Soren Kragh Andersen (Den), Jasper Philipsen (Bel), Mathieu van der Poel (Ned), Jonas Rickaert (Bel)

Arkéa-Samsic (Fra)

Clément Champoussin (Fra), Élie Gesbert (Fra), Warren Barguil (Fra)

Astana Qazaqstan (Kaz)

Samuele Battistella (Ita), David de la Cruz (Spa), Joe Dombrowski (US), Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz), Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz), Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz), Mark Cavendish (GB), Cees Bol (Ned)

Bahrain Victorious (Brn)

Pello Bilbao (Spa), Kamil Gradek (Pol), Mikel Landa (Spa), Matej Mohoric (Slo), Wout Poels (Hol), Fred Wright (GB)

Bora-Hansgrohe (Ger)

Emanuel Buchmann (Ger), Jai Hindley (Aus), Jordi Meeus (Bel), Nils Politt (Ger), Danny van Poppel (Ned), Bob Jungels (Lux), Marco Haller (Aut), Final rider TBC

Cofidis (Fra)

Piet Allegaert (Bel), Bryan Coquard (Fra), Simon Geschke (Ger), Ion Izagirre (Spa), Guillaume Martin (Fra), Anthony Perez (Fra), Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra), Benjamin Thomas (Fra), Axel Zingle (Fra)

DSM-Firmenich (Ger)

Nils Eekhoff (Ned), Matthew Dinham (Aus), Sam Welsford (Aus), Romain Bardet (Fra), John Degenkolb (Ger), Kevin Vermaerke (US), Chris Hamilton (Aus), Alex Edmondson (Aus)

EF Education-EasyPost (US)

Alberto Bettiol (Ita), Magnus Cort (Den), Rigoberto Urán (Col), Andrey Amador (Crc), Richard Carapaz (Ecu), Mikkel Honore (Den)

Groupama-FDJ (Fra)

David Gaudu (Fra), Kevin Geniets (Hol), Stefan Küng (Swi), Valentin Madouas (Fra), Thibaut Pinot (Fra), Lars van den Berg (Ned), Olivier Le Gac (Fra), Quentin Pacher (Fra)

Ineos Grenadiers (GB)

Egan Bernal (Col), Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa), Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol), Daniel Martínez (Col), Tom Pidcock (GB), Carlos Rodríguez (Spa)

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (Bel)

Biniam Girmay (Eri), Louis Meintjes (SA), Adrien Petit (Fra), Loïc Vliegen (Bel), Georg Zimmermann (Ger), Rui Costa (Por), Lilian Calmejane (Fra), Mike Teunissen (Ned)

Jayco-Alula (Aus)

Simon Yates (GB), Dylan Groenewegen (Ned), Luka Mezgec (Slo), Elmar Reinders (Ned), Lawson Craddock (US), Luke Durbridge (Aus), Chris Harper (Aus), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den)

Jumbo-Visma (Ned)

Wilco Kelderman (Ned), Jonas Vingegaard (Den), Dylan van Baarle (Ned), Sepp Kuss (US), Nathan van Hooydonck (Bel), Christophe Laporte (Fra), Tiesj Benoot (Bel), Wout van Aert (Bel)

Lidl-Trek (US)

Bauke Mollema (Ned), Giulio Ciccone (Ita), Tony Gallopin (Fra), Mattias Skjelmose (Den), Mads Pedersen (Den), Jasper Stuyven (Bel), Juan Pedro López (Spa), Alex Kirsch (Ned)

Movistar (Spa)

Matteo Jorgenson (US), Enric Mas (Spa), Jorge Arcas (Spa), Ruben Guerreiro (Por), Nelson Oliveira (Por)

Soudal-Quick Step (Bel)

Yves Lampaert (Bel), Mauri Vansevenant (Bel), Rémi Cavagna (Fra), Andrea Bagioli (Ita), Julian Alaphilippe (Fra), Michael Morkov (Den), Florian Sénéchal (Fra), Fabio Jakobsen (Ned)

UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

Adam Yates (GB), Mikkel Bjerg (Den), Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor), Tadej Pogacar (Slo), Marc Soler (Spa), Rafal Majka (Pol), Domen Novak (Slo)

Lotto-Dstny (Bel)

Victor Campenaerts (Bel), Jasper de Buyst (Bel), Pascal Ennkhoorn (Ned), Frederik Frison (Bel), Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita), Maxim van Gils (Bel), Florian Vermeersch (Bel), Caleb Ewan (Aus)

TotalEnergies (Fra)

Maciej Bodnar (Pol), Daniel Oss (Ita), Pierre Latour (Fra), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor), Anthony Turgis (Fra), Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra), Peter Sagan (Svk)

Israel-Premier Tech (Isr)

Guillaume Boivin (Can), Simon Clarke (Aus), Hugo Houle (Can), Krists Neilands (Lat), Nick Schultz (Aus), Corbin Strong (NZ), Dylan Teuns (Bel), Michael Woods (Can)

Uno-X Pro (Nor)

Torstein Traeen (Nor), Soren Waeenskjold (Nor), Anthon Charmig (Den), Jonas Gregaard (Den), Rasmus Tiller (Nor), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Alexander Kristoff (Nor), Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor)

Who is favourite to win the Tour de France 2023?

The bookies have Jonas Vingegaard as favourite to win the race with odds of 11/10, followed by Tadej Pogacar (7/5), Jai Hindleyu (18/1), Enric Mas Nicolau (25/1), Tom Pidcock (33/1) and David Gaudu (33/1).

How can I watch the Tour de France on television?

The race will be streamed in full on GCN+, which is available for £6.99 a month or £39.99 per year, and Eurosport. There will also be coverage on ITV4 and S4C (Sky channel 134, Freesat 120 and Virgin TV 166).