A flatter affair than the first two overall, with no Category 2 climbs, but a trickier finish with an uphill kick towards the end and a rolling last 30 kilometres especially before a sharp uphill kick. Given the nature of the overall route, this is a vital stage.
The Route
All in North Lincolnshire. The first 70 kilometres are mainly flat and contain the first sprint of the day at Crowle. The end of the day’s longest period of flat sees another sprint at Bottesford before the third category climb of Greenwell and they then pass through Manton and Hibaldstow before taking a sharp turn ahead of the final sprint of the day at Scawby.
This is the beginning of the most difficult part of the day, which starts with Wrawby Hill, the third category climb with a feed zone at the top. Afterwards, there are 30 kilometres of rolling roads that build steadily before a very sharp uphill climb in Barton On-Humber. Immediately after that descent, the riders will then tackle the last categorised climb of the day at Winterton with just over 11km to go until the finish line.
The Finish
The actual finishing point for the Winterton climb is not the last ascent of the day, with a drag up before the real peak, a short descent, and another sharp rise before the last three kilometres.
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With three kilometres to go the field will turn onto Scotter Road, and after a kilometre up Scotter Road they turn onto the A18, when the road begins to rise uphill. There’s no major turns, just a straight drag which is at its hardest between two kilometres to go and the Flamme Rouge although there is a constant rise to the line.
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The Rider
Will be able to sprint uphill and handle repeated short ascents.
The Contenders
It will be difficult to keep this together for a sprint given the nature of the last 50km and one would anticipate a reduced bunch, perhaps slightly less than 70 riders, being together with 5 kilometres to go.
There are a number of sprinters who are more than capable of carrying their power uphill and up of that list would have to be Alexander Kristoff and Edvald Boasson-Hagen, both of whom might have eyes on a tilt at the overall this week. Caleb Ewan can also win uphill sprints and has already taken a stage, so has to be given a lot of serious thought, whilst Elia Viviani (one of the four involved there) is an option for Sky.
Michal Kwiatkowski must be considered a serious chance for the overall and this finish looks ideal for him, so it will be interesting to see if Sky decide to choose him for the stage and Tony Martin of Katusha and Stefan Kung of BMC will need to be close to avoid losing too many seconds.
