Date: Wednesday, July 14
Distance: 122km
Start location: Valkenberg
Finish location: Liège
Start time: 12:25 CEST
Finish time: 15:49 CEST
The start and finish of stage four will not be unfamiliar to many of the riders in the peloton, making regular appearances in two of the Ardennes Classics races – Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Both of these spring Classics races are characterised by their short punchy climbs and stage four is no different – meaning we can expect the puncheurs and Classics riders to take control of this stage.
Valkenberg, where stage four departs, was the finish location for Amstel Gold Race every year from 2003 to 2022, as well as hosting the Road World Championships five times in 1938, 1948, 1979, 1998, and 2012. The most iconic climb in the Amstel Gold Race is the mighty Cauberg – a monument of Dutch cycling – and on stage four of the Tour de France Femmes, the 700m climb with an average gradient of 8% comes 12.8km into the day's racing. This is shortly followed by Limburg’s Geulhemmerberg and Bermelerberg climbs before the route crosses into Belgium for the other Ardennes Classics course. One rider in the Women’s WorldTour lining up for the third edition of the Tour de France Femmes who holds good memories in Valkenberg is Marianne Vos. It was in 2012 that she won the rainbow jersey for a second time, the same year she also won the 2012 edition of Amstel Gold Race.
At 43.3km, the route enters Belgium and the stage finishes in Liège, following the same roads as La Doyenne – a race which has been dominated by Dutch riders. Over the eight women's editions of the Classic, six have been won by a Dutch rider, split between Anna van der Breggen, Annemiek van Vleuten, and Demi Vollering, all having won the race twice. The second half of stage four will include some of Liège's most notable and decisive climbs, including Côte de la Redoute (1.6km at 9.4%), Côte des Forges (1.3km at 7.8%), and Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.3km at 11%), with a flat run-in to the finish line. This is the first time the Tour de France Femmes will finish in Liège, but it is no surprise that the organisers have opted to finish here as it is a hotspot for many races. All three of the men’s Grand Tours have been hosted in Liège and the Belgium city, alongside Brussels, holds the record for the most foreign stage finishes in the men’s Tour de France.
After three flat stages, stage four is the first stage with any real elevation, totalling over 1,800 metres of climbing, so it'll be the first uphill challenge the women's peloton will face. Might we see a change of leader after a punchy day in the Netherlands and Belgium?
Stage profile sourced via ASO
Contenders
After three very flat stages in and around Rotterdam, stage four is the first stage with some proper elevation – 1,840 metres overall, instead of 158 metres, which was in the total amount in stage one, even less for stages two and three. Stage four from Valkenburg to Liège will allow us to see more from those vying for the general classification and the polka dot jersey with eight categorised climbs.
Amstel Gold and Liège were races Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) won last year in a historic Ardennes triple, therefore, she'll have confidence going into this stage knowing she can win across this challenging terrain. The Tour de France Femmes defending champion may not have had the same success this year, but she still did place third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. However, now in the yellow jersey, she may race this stage more conservative and leave her stage-winning moves until the final weekend, when the big mountains provide the battleground. Vollering may be helping teammates such as Lorena Wiebes, who missed out on the two opening sprint stages. Wiebes may be classed as a sprinter, but she has proven this season just how well she can climb with several top-10 finishes in the Classics earlier on in the year, including second at Amstel Gold.
The rider who beat Wiebes at Amstel, however, was Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike). She'll certainly be one to watch for this stage as she might boast a strong fast finish when it boils down to a sprint, but she is also a super punchy rider and can tackle this type of terrain well. Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) will also be a strong contender for this stage. She came second at this year's Paris-Roubaix and Gent-Wevelgem and is looking back to good form following her recovery from a crash in May. In the Lidl-Trek team, Shirin van Anrooij will also be another rider for them for this stage. She does have eyes on the GC but is a strong Classics rider and will want to use this to her advantage over her rivals.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) is a punchy rider who is looking in good form so far. She won this year's edition of La Flèche Wallonne and came second at the Tour of Flanders, as well as fifth at Liège, fourth at Strade Bianche and seventh at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Polish rider came close to winning a Tour de France Femmes stage last year and will desperately want to add this to her palmarès. She was also the winner of the polka dot jersey in 2023, demonstrating her climbing ability. Elise Chabbey will also be another option for the Canyon//SRAM team.
Olympic road race winner Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) will also be a contender for the stage and if she can attack on one of the stage's climbs, she could look at soloing to the line in Faulkner fashion. Pfeiffer Georgi (Team dsm-ferminch PostNL) will hope to continue the Dutch squad's success by making their two-win tally to three. Liane Lippert (Movistar) could go for the stage victory too. She won a stage in last year's edition and will hope to match, if not better, that this year.
Silvia Persico will be the hopeful for UAE Team ADQ, as will Puck Pieterse and Christina Schweinberger for Fenix-Deceuninck. This year's Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) will have hopes of replicating her victory on this stage in Liège. The French team could also look to call Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig into action, as she is another punchy rider who could excel on this type of stage.
Stage four winner prediction
We think
