Tour de France Femmes Stage 4 Preview: The Longest Day of the Tour
Stage Four — Cahors to Rodez (177 km.) — Wednesday, July 26
Settle in! Nothing like hump day to bring us the longest day of the tour. Today’s stage is even longer than last year’s longest stage, which was quite chaotic. Lorena Wiebes won that one after a heck of a battle.
Today’s stage will start relatively flat, with a loop to greet the Danish royal family, owners of the Château de Cayx, but will ramp up in the second half. Riders will have to be sure not to burn too many matches early on, fuel well, and get ready for climbing to finish the day.
After one quick ascent just 16.5 km. into the race (Col de Crayssac, 2.3 km. at 4.8 percent) riders will have more than 65 km. of heads-down mostly flat, fast riding. They climb again at 85 km. with Côte de Falgeyras — 3 km. at 4 percent.
Then things get significantly more difficult. Côte de Colombiès begins a trio of tough ups at 142.7 km. into the race. So, still a lot of racing to go. Colombiès is 6.5 km. long and averages 4.2 percent.
Then a sprint with bonus points because why not? And directly into a screaming descent and a 4.6 km. category 2 climb averaging 5.5 percent, Côte de Moyrazès. And finally Côte de Lavernhe at 2.2 km. with a crushing 7.1 percent average grade.
Don’t worry, it’s not quite over. Riders will end with a rolling final 7 km. stretch, ending on an up (13 percent?!) The final 17 km. will be aggressive, exciting, and maybe a bit nuts.
Rodez will welcome riders with quaint streets and booming views of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rodez. It’s not uncommon to see such ancient castle-like churches throughout the south of France, but this one is especially stunning.
Riders to watch
Lotte Kopecky (SD Work) will continue to be a force—she’s done well on breakaways and climbs so far this tour. Julie Van de Velde (Fenix-Deceuninck) might just be hunting for that win she lost in stage 3. And it’s tough not to bet on Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar), who will likely love this stage and be ready to attack. Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl Trek) and her teammates Lucinda Brand and Elisa Balsamo will also likely be forces on this one.
When to watch
Stage 4 begins with a neutralized start at 6:25 a.m. ET and it is estimated to finish around 10:12 a.m. ET. You’ll definitely want to tune in for the final 90 minutes when things get extra spicy.
You Might Also Like
