Stage 4: Dunkerque - Valenciennes, 180km
Climbs:
Mont Cassel (cat.3) 3,3km @ 3,9%
Mont des Cats (cat.4) 2,3km @ 4,9%
Mont Rouge (cat.4) 2,0km @ 4,4%
Mont Kemmel (cat.3) 3,0km @ 4,0%
Points:
Lille (Boulevard de Strasbourg), 100km
Valenciennes (Boulevard Henri Harpignies), finish
Though this one will go down in the route book as a flat stage, this is going to be a big, big day for the General Classification, as the riders get a bit of a taste of the Classics. This stage also features the only excursion of the Tour outside of the borders of France, this being a 22km excursion into Belgium in the first half of the stage. That is because of this:
Secteurs Pavée:
1. Mont Cassel (2000m)
2. Mont Kemmel (1100m)
3. Gruson (1100m)
4. Carrefour de l'Arbre (2100m)
5. Camphin-en-Pévèle (1800m)
6. Wannehain à Bourghelles (1100m)
7. Orchies (1700m)
8. Orchies à Beuvry-la-Forêt (1400m)
9. Tilloy (1100m)
10. Bousignies à Millonfosse (1400m)
11. Trouée d'Arenberg (2400m)
Yes, that's right, the northern Classics are coming to July, and with a much greater ferocity than in 2010 too.
The stage will begin in the historic industrial city of Dunkerque, home of the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque. And after a flat introduction to the stage, the first challenge of the day, that may see the breakaway form or may serve as a bit of a minder for what is to come, is part of the tradition and history of that race, the long cobbled drag up to
Mont Cassel.
See Thomas Voeckler triumph on this gradual cobbled climb in the 2011 Quatre Jours
here.
Though the climb is very gradual (the maximum gradient is 7%), that two thirds of its length are on cobbles makes it a worthy category 3.
The profile shows a bit more of the challenge to the riders. The climb is to be included in Gent-Wevelgem in the future, and it is to this classic that riders' minds must be cast as we continue to wend our way through Flemish France, going through the beautifully French-sounding Steenvoorde and Godewaersvelde en route to the
Mont des Cats. As you can see from
the profile, this is a bit steeper than Mont Cassel, but the shorter distance and tarmacked surface will make it more bearable, and the break should hoover up the mountain point on offer. Similarly, when the riders cross the border into Belgium the péloton should be able to handle
Mont Rouge fairly well, though with the narrow Schomminkelstraat being the approach of choice positioning could be key to avoiding the expenditure of unnecessary energy closing down a gap should a crash cause any problems.
The final climb of the day, cresting an almighty 113km from the finish, is the difficult
Kemmelberg, which features
some punishing gradients on its final, toughest stretches.
See Mont Kemmel being ridden here.
Our tribute to the classics of the area (and to the Driedaagse de Panne-Koksijde, which has been known to use these climbs too) now sated, we will descend back into France, before a benign, flat stretch leading into Lille, where the sprinters will once again fight out the intermediate sprint in the Métropole, on the
Boulevard de Strasbourg. The sprinters may well need to take the points here, since it will be hard for them to feature in the rest of the stage unless they are also quality rouleurs. Which of course, some of them are.
From here, there are 80 kilometres left, in which 9 cobbled sectors have been placed as obstacles for the GC contenders. Most of these will be familiar from L'Enfer du Nord, but most of them will be raced in the reverse direction to the one that we're all familiar with. As a result, the first things the riders will face up to is the vicious double act that is the 1100m of the pavé at
Gruson followed by the famously difficult
Carrefour de l'Arbre... which is followed in short order by
Camphin-en-Pévèle. There will be 60km to go at the end of these stretches, and by this point some of the flyweight climbers will already be hating themselves as the rouleurs power over the cobbles and disappear.
The two sectors around Bourghelles follow in short order, before the riders can collect themselves a bit, as from Cysoing to Orchies there are 15km of paved roads and blissful tarmac, allowing the riders to gather their thoughts or put any helpers they have to work closing down gaps. The sector at
Orchies is one of those brutal ones, in poor condition and fabled for its difficulty. Its 1700m come with 35km to go, and are immediately followed by another sector, then there are 5km of straight tarmac into Tilloy, for two more sectors, before another 5km of tarmac, before the coup de gras.
The riders will come through Hasnon and then turn right onto the D40. After a couple of kilometres, the road will bear to the right. The riders, however, will not. There are just under 14 kilometres to go to the finish of the stage, and the riders have just hit their toughest test of the day, and the longest continuous stretch of cobbles in the race; the 2400m of agony that make up the
Trouée d'Arenberg. The riders will of course be tackling this from the opposite direction to normal, but as it's all in a straight line this should make little difference. No amount of changing direction can make a surface like
this ridable, but no, the riders shall have to take this on. They will emerge from the Arenberg with 11 kilometres left, mostly on wide, straight, flat roads into our finishing city of Valenciennes.
Don't expect a bunch sprint here. A Rouleur or Classics specialist could easily give themselves a lead to defend here, and some of the GC candidates could lose a lot of time if they aren't careful. This one could be brutal.
Dunkerque:
Valenciennes (Boulevard Henri Harpignies):
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram