Tour de France 2020 | Stage 4 (Sisteron – Orcières-Merlette, 160.5 km)

[Devil's Elbow]

The first MTF of this year's race is here... although it's not a particularly hard one, and they've chosen the softest of routes to get there.

Map

Profile

Timetable
Start: 13:25
Intermediate sprint: 14:38/14:41/14:45
Col du Festre: 15:09/15:12/15:17
Côte de Corps: 15:49/15:53/16:01
Côte de l'Aullagnier: 16:29/16:35/16:45
Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes: 16:50/16:57/17:08
Finish: 17:22/17:31/17:44

Climbs
We may be in the Alps, but the first third of the stage scarcely deserves to be called false flat as the route heads towards the intermediate sprint at Veynes. Shortly after, the Col du Festre starts. A cat. 3, it's not a difficult climb by any means, yet it's the biggest obstacle the riders will face before the final climb.

The descent heads through the uncategorised Col de Rioupes following this profile, after which the cat. 4 climb of Côte de Corps starts. The route turns back south here, initially down the mostly-flat N85, then on smaller roads which feature two cat. 3 climbs: the Côte de l'Aullagnier and the Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes.

From the latter of the two, it's only a short distance to the start of the final climb, which matches the profile below minus the final 150 or so meters. As you can see, the road stops rising with about a third of a kilometer to go.

General classification after Stage 3

1. Julian Alaphilippe
2. Adam Yates + 0.04
3. Marc Hirschi + 0.07
4. Tadej Pogacar + 0.17
5. Davide Formolo s.t.
6. Egan Bernal s.t.
7. Tom Dumoulin s.t.
8. Sergio Higuita s.t.
9. Guillaume Martin s.t.
10. Esteban Chaves s.t.

Points classification after Stage 3

1. Peter Sagan 79
2. Alexander Kristoff 77
3. Sam Bennett 74
4. Matteo Trentin 54
5. Caleb Ewan 50

KOM classification after Stage 3

1. Benoît Cosnefroy 21
2. Michael Gogl 12
3. Toms Skujins 6
4. Kasper Asgreen 6
5. Nicolas Roche 5

Young riders classification after Stage 2

1. Marc Hirschi
2. Tadej Pogacar + 0.10
3. Egan Bernal s.t.
4. Sergio Higuita s.t.
5. Enric Mas s.t.

 

[Red Rick]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1300513286560112641

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1300513286560112641


So the last 370m are flat? Might seem insignificant, but it would really decrease gaps probably.

 

[BlueRoads]

I'm wondering about Adam Yates tomorrow.

 

[Escarabajo]

Let the fireworks begin.

Roglic for the win. If not Higuita and Pogacar might have a chance. I almost forgot about Adam Yates as well.

This was perfect for Martinez and Pinot as well but they look both hurt.

 

[RedheadDane]

KOM classification after Stage 3

1. Benoît Cosnefroy 21
2. Michael Gogl 12
3. Toms Skujins 6
4. Kasper Asgreen 6
5. Nicolas Roche 5

That was shaping up to be such a great - early-parts-of-the-race - battle.

 

[Anderis]

1. Tejay Van Garderen
2. Fabio Aru
3. Richie Porte

 

[DenisMenchov]

I think Yates and Alafpolak are the favs. Maybe Lutsenko as well.

Can Hirschi stay with the leaders tomorrow?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

So the last 370m are flat? Might seem insignificant, but it would really decrease gaps probably.

Correct, looking at the finish on Streetview confirms this.

I'm honestly expecting a sprint of 15, maybe even 20 riders here, with no run-in to the final climb to speak of. Will take a big effort for any of the GC guys to get away, although yesterday's stage suggests the Jumbo train won't be as dominant as in the Dauphiné.

 

[tomorrow]

Just curious here. What's the key for categorizing the climbs this year? 7.6km at 5.6% is cat3, 7.1km at 6.7 is cat1, 16km climbs over 6% still cat1, not HC? And where would the cat2 fit between cat3 and cat1? I smell some inconsistencies, or?

 

[Koronin]

I like Higuita for this one. However it's very possible we have around 15 or so riders left for a sprint. Higuita, Pogacar, Roglic will be there. No idea if Valverde's form is good enough to be there for it or not.

 

[BlueRoads]

Just curious here. What's the key for categorizing the climbs this year? 7.6km at 5.6% is cat3, 7.1km at 6.7 is cat1, 16km climbs over 6% still cat1, not HC? And where would the cat2 fit between cat3 and cat1? I smell some inconsistencies, or?

There is no key. It's done by feeling. "Oh, this feels tough. And this one - ah no. Not as tough as that one. What do you think about this one, would you like to go up there?" - "Uh, that comes after all those hills, hm, feels really hard... Maybe 1... Or no, wait, HC seems good. We do not have that many HCs yet, do we?"

 

[Jspear]

Roglic and Alaphilipe will sprint for the win.

 

[sir fly]

I can imagine this going to the stage hunters.
GC sizing up will anyway happen, but rather without worrying about the jersey obligations.

And there's Julian Alaphilippe to remake all the plots.

 

[Laplaz]

Pogacar said he will attack if he has the legs.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Guillaume Martin will win with an attack before the flamme rouge.

 

[TomLPC]

Adam Yates looked up for it yesterday whilst everyone is looking as Alaphilippe

 

[hayneplane]

Fancy Higuita and Pogacar to nip away in the last 500 metres with Alaphilippe trying to police the move.

Small gaps most likely but should see a lot of the riders already up in the Green and mountains jersey battles teeing off on the initial false flat to make the break of the day which will make any riders nursing injuries feel some extra pain.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Second dumbest cat.1 categorisation in the Tour of recent years, after Côte des Chevrères.

 

[Gigs_98]

Alaphilippe in a sprint or Yates from a late move if the pace is low.
Valverde in a sprint or Roglic from a late move if the pace is low.

 

[ice&fire]

I'd rather watch a replay of 1971 Orcieres-Merlette stage (if there was one) that this snorefest.

 

[Gigs_98]

Second dumbest cat.1 categorisation in the Tour of recent years, after Côte des Chevrères.

Honestly, I disagree. Not that I think this should be a 1st category climb, but I think climbs with that sort of altitude gain without any real flat parts in it are first category quite often nowadays. The Col du Portillon or the Col de l'Epine from recent years come to my mind immediately. The Col des Aravis and the Pas the Peyrol are other new addition to the "how the *** is that 1st category" collection this year.

 

[42x16ss]

A couple of top 10 contenders to get away early on the climb and take a few seconds on the real GC guys who will hit out hard in the last 2-3 kms to establish pecking order.

In usual first MTF style we'll learn who can't win, not who will.

 

[topcat]

Big group on the final climb. Alaphillipe to attack with 3 km to go. He was the most exciting rider last year and he's the most entertaining this year.

 

[Rollthedice]

Maybe we'll see some entertainment from Lopez the Yoyo Superman.

 

[Koronin]

Another thought is that maybe Marc Soler tries an attack from distance?