Stage 4: Valkenburg to Liège (123 km)
Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Streaming: 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 Discovery+/Eurosport; 🇺🇸 Peacock; 🇦🇺 SBS; 🇨🇦 FloBikes
Stage start: 12:40 CEST
Estimated finish time: 15:49 CEST
Stage type: Hilly
Summary: A Classics-style stage on familiar terrain, that will probably not be raced like a Classic but could see some time gaps form in the general classification.
The fourth stage is for the Ardennes/Classics girlies. The women start with the iconic climbs of the Amstel Gold Race and end with the finale of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. There are eight categorized climbs (they do the Bemelerberg twice), and the stage is likely to be the first real test for the GC teams as well as a fantastic opportunity for some stronger riders not going for yellow to get away and fight for a stage victory.
After rolling out of Valkenburg the first climb of the day is 6.6 km into the stage. The Bemelerberg, a 1.3 km ascent of 4.9%, is immediately followed by the Cauberg (700 m, 8%), Geulhemmerberg (1.1 km, 5.1%) before looping around to race up the Bemelerberg again.
Climbing kicks off again 29 km after crossing from the Netherlands into Belgium with Mont-Theux, a 2.8 km climb that averages 5.6% but maxes out at 12%. After that, the race makes a right bend that takes them onto the Liège-Bastogne-Liège course. The women will be very familiar with the final three climbs, Côte de la Redoute (1.6 km, 9.4%), Côte des Forges (1.3 km, 7.8%) and Côte de la Roche-Aux-Faucons (1.3 km, 11%). The trio of ascents tops out 13.3 km from the finish in Liège.
Since it’s the fourth stage of an eight-stage race, the finale will not be as all-out as we see in the final one-day of the Spring, but it will be a challenge for the GC teams to keep their rivals organized. This presents an opportunity for stage hunters to take the day and for some minor movement in the overall.
My pick: Ruth Edwards. She’s been riding really well all summer, especially at the Giro, and this is a great course for her. If a breakaway takes the stage she could definitely slip into it, and she has a good enough kick to win from a reduced group of climbing favourites if things go that way.
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