L’Étape Cyprus by Tour de France returns for second year

L’Étape Cyprus by Tour de France will return for the second straight year on Sunday 12 November 2023.

Following the successful 2022 event, where more than 350 cyclists from Cyprus and abroad participated in the one-day race, the date for this year’s race has been set. Amateur and semi-professional cyclists will have the opportunity to compete under the rigorous and demanding conditions of the Tour de France, the most important cycling event in the world.

The organisation of the Cyprus event of L’Étape by Tour de France is undertaken by Mokapot Productions, with the start and finish of the race at Aphrodite Hills Resort in the Paphos region.

Apart from Cyprus, 21 other countries will host 29 different L’Étape by Tour de France events. These are Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, USA, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Czech Republic.

“This is a very important event, which we are honoured to host in our country,” says race organiser Nikoletta Ioannou: “L’Etape is an event based strictly on the Tour de France and gives amateur cyclists the opportunity to have a special experience, reminiscent of the Tour de France in all aspects, such as safety, escort cars, and of course the legendary yellow jersey!”

The main part of L’Étape Cyprus by Tour de France includes two races – ‘The Race’, 136 km long with 3000 metres of elevation, and ‘The Ride’, 62 km long with a 1300-metre elevation. Both races will start on Sunday 12 November from Aphrodite Hills Resort, with athletes of ‘The Race’ climbing up to Mount Olympus, via Kouklia, Dora and Omodos, while the athletes of ‘The Ride’ will initially follow the same route, but after Dora, they will move towards Anogyra. There the two routes will join again, before the final part towards Pissouri, Petra tou Romiou and the finish at Aphrodite Hills Resort.

The 2023 event is supported by the deputy Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Cyprus, Cyta, and KEO’s natural mineral water Agios Nikolaos.

A new record number of registrations from foreign and Cypriot cyclists is expected, with local communities and hotels in the area benefiting significantly, in a period of off-peak tourism. In addition, the visibility that Cyprus receives, through its partnership with the internationally renowned Tour de France, is particularly important for the sports tourism product that the island promotes.

Race ambassador is Cyprus champion Andreas Miltiades, who won the 136 km race of 2022, finishing ahead of brothers Illnur and Aidar Zakarin. “We all enjoyed last year’s race, the course and the perfect weather. I hope for 2023 we will have even more participants, from abroad, but also from Cyprus,” Miltiades said.

In the women’s category of ‘The Race’, Anna Bicskei from the Czech Republic won in 2022, while in ‘The Ride’, last year’s winners were the Belarusian (running for Cyprus) Aliaksei Kupreyeu and Iphigenia Stylianou from Cyprus.

Registration for ‘The Race’ and ‘The Ride’ has already started, with costs starting from €79, and accommodation packages are also available.

For more information, visit cyprus.letapebytourdefrance.com and email [email protected].