Stage 4 - Wednesday, July 7 2010, Cambrai - Reims Distance, 150 km
Champagne's plains
Arguably the easiest stage on this year’s route, these 153.5km take the race into the heart of Champagne country to finish in the beautiful cathedral city of Reims.
While not as flat as previous stages, there are no significant lumps and it’s a relatively short distance. That means that there’s barely time for any breakaway riders to build a useful advantage before the sprinters’ teams will gather to chase them down.
A possible complicating factor is the wind on Champagne’s exposed plains, but it would have to be some breeze to trouble the peloton enough to lead to a split. Nevertheless, if it is windy you can expect the riders to be nervous. Ultimately, that’s likely to mean that crashes are a bigger threat to the favourites than the formation of echelons.
Stage map
Stage profile
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'The season is longer than Sunday' - Team downplay panic in Belgium over Wout van Aert's long odds for Tour of Flanders
'Roubaix is also important' say Visma-Lease a Bike as team look further down the road -
What's coming on Cyclingnews this April
A monumental month of racing awaits, plus a clothing lab test, and an inside look at the world of rider agents -
'The team is very strong' - Narváez and Vermeersch join Tadej Pogačar for Tour of Flanders
Nils Politt, Mikkel Bjerg and Tim Wellens also in seven-rider squad to back world champion -
'I really want to make this season a strong one' - Ethan Vernon eyes Scheldeprijs before big end of season goals
The British rider set to race the Critérium du Dauphiné, British National Championships and Tour de Pologne in preparation for the Vuelta a España