{"id":299688,"date":"2025-07-28T23:18:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299688\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T23:18:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:18:20","slug":"tour-de-france-femmes-stage-4-preview-blink-and-youll-miss-a-sprint-finish-as-the-race-heads-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299688\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France Femmes stage 4 preview: blink and you&#8217;ll miss a sprint finish as the race heads south"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From the Loire to the Vienne department, the Tour de France Femmes continues its passage south to more challenging terrain in the Massif Central.<\/p>\n<p>On paper, it\u2019s a near-identical route to yesterday\u2019s stage, albeit 34km shorter. A few lumps, yet largely flat \u2013 it\u2019ll be over in a flash.<\/p>\n<p>The final third of today is the hilliest part of the stage, although there\u2019s little that should tilt the balance away from the likelihood of a bunch sprint, as it did in the men\u2019s race on its finish here in the COVID-delayed 2020 Tour.<\/p>\n<p>Stage 4: Saumur &gt; Poitiers<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Date:<\/strong> 29 July<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distance:<\/strong> 132.2km<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stage type:<\/strong> Flat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"296\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TdeF-Femmes-Stage-4-Schedule.jpg\" alt=\"TdeF Femmes Stage 4 - Schedule \/ Saumur to Poitiers\" class=\"wp-image-930128\"\/><br \/>\nRoute profile<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1740\" height=\"685\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TdeF-Femmes-Stage-4-Elevation.jpg\" alt=\"TdeF Femmes Stage 4 - Elevation \/ Saumur to Poitiers\" class=\"wp-image-930125\"\/><br \/>\nRoute map<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1358\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TdeF-Femmes-Stage-4-Map.jpg\" alt=\"TdeF Femmes Stage 4 - Map \/ Saumur to Poitiers\" class=\"wp-image-930127\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s edition has an extra stage compared to the previous eight-stage battle.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the organisation\u2019s thinking was the potential to add further Alpine climbing stages into the race. With a Grand D\u00e9part in north-western Brittany, crossing France without excessive transfers means stages such as this \u2013 which might not be to the taste of all fans \u2013 are necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarting at the National Equestrian School, the route will follow the Loire and Vienne [rivers], taking in some marvellous sights, including the ch\u00e2teaux at Montsoreau and Chinon, and Richelieu, the town built by the eponymous cardinal,\u201d says race director Marion Rousse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHeading south towards Poitiers, the final five kilometres of this stage will be identical to the finale in the 2020 Tour that concluded with a bunch sprint at the end of a long false flat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One to watch: Charlotte Kool<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TdeF-Femmes-Stage-4-GettyImages-2166062360.jpg\" alt=\"Charlotte Kool celebrates on the podium with the best sprinter's green jersey after the 3rd stage (out of 8) of the third edition of the Women's Tour de France cycling race on August 13, 2024.\" class=\"wp-image-930126\"\/>Charlotte Kool celebrates with the green jersey after the third stage in 2024. Julien de Rosa \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte Kool\u2019s (Team Picnic PostNL) two sprint wins at the start of the 2024 race elevated her into the big league and she&#8217;s a decent bet for a repeat today.<\/p>\n<p>Did you know?<\/p>\n<p>The 1,165-kilometre total distance this year is a record high, in part because of the addition of a ninth stage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the Loire to the Vienne department, the Tour de France Femmes continues its passage south to more&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-299688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114933419863550602","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}