Stage 5: Bastogne - Amnéville, 152.5 km
Start time: 12:05 CEST. There will be live pictures from 13:50-ish
Expected finish time: Around 16:00.
Weather: 21-27 °C. Wind 11-14 km/h from western directions, gusts up to 24 km/h.
150 km in rolling terrain await the riders on day 4. After an early cat. 3 climb, something amazing will happen after 64 km: This French race finally arrives in France!
The rest of the stage includes 4 cat. 4 climbs, the last of which is followed by a bonus sprint at the actual top; 13 km from the finish in Amnéville. The final km has a gentle rise which maxes out at about 6%, but it flattens out towards the line.
The route makes it possible for both a bigger breakaway and a late attacker to succeed, but I think that is much more likely to happen tomorrow. This seems like the last possible chance for Lorena Wiebes to win a stage in this year's Tour, so I expect her to be very determined to make that happen. Whether her team will help her achieve that is a different matter.
It also looks like a perfect stage for Marianne Vos, who yesterday seemed to drop mostly due to Riejanne Markus being in trouble and not because she herself was on the limit. I doubt Charlotte Kool wil be able to hang on, but the likes of Elisa Balsamo, Puck Pieterse, Kim Le Court, Noemi Rüegg, Karlijn Swinkels and other puncheur-esque sprinters should all be in the mix in this kind of final.