First uphill finish for the Tour of Switzerland 2024. With the fourth day of competition, the Swiss race will offer the first of four consecutive high altitude finishes (to which we must also add the final time trial), which will be placed at the top of the Gotthard Pass and which should lead to the first skirmishes between the men in the rankings. The differences between the big names could however be minimal, also because before the final ascent, which will be tackled from the simplest side and will be substantially divided into two parts, there will be no other particular altitude difficulties in the 170.4 kilometers coming from Rüschlikon.
DEPARTURE TIME: half past twelve
ARRIVAL TIME (EXPECTED): 4.47pm-5.14pm
LIVE TV AND STREAMING: 3.00pm-5.40pm Eurosport, Discovery+ / 4.00pm-5.15pm Eurosport 1
OFFICIAL HASHTAG: #TourdeSuisse
Tour of Switzerland 2024 Stage Four route
Immediately after leaving Rüschlikon the group will have to climb the easy third category Gpm of Albispass only 3.3 km long but with an average gradient of 6.9%, which will help the attackers to break away and form the day’s breakaway. The next 129 kilometers will be easy and flat and will lead the runners up to the final sprint located right at the foot of the long final climb. The road will start to climb, albeit gently, when there are around 35 kilometers to the final finish line, but the ascent is essentially divided into three sectors. It starts with a 13 kilometer stretch of slight uphill, followed by a second category GPM and a final first category GPM.
The second category Gpm of Schollenen (4.5 km at 7.6%) will begin to weaken the legs of the group and will make a large selection between sprinters and less resistant runners. Between the two official GPMs there will be a short stretch of about 3 kilometers of flat terrain, which will allow the athletes to catch their breath in view of the final GPM, where we will witness the first real battle between the men in the rankings. The climb that leads to Gotthard Pass it is officially 8.1 kilometers long and will have an average gradient of 6.7% and will also challenge several climbers who are not in top condition. The road will then become flat again when there are less than 1000 meters to go to the finish line.
Favorites Fourth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
The clear favorites for this first high mountain stage are undoubtedly the most gifted climbers, who are fighting for the general classification. Many names are still in play, but those of UAE Team Emirates undoubtedly stand out above all, which presents itself at the start of this stage with two potential captains, namely the Portuguese Joao Almeida and the British Adam Yates. Since the final climb is substantially unique and without excessive gradients, both of these very strong climbers have what it takes to win, but the fact that they reach above 2000 meters above sea level tips the scales slightly in favor of a pure grimpeur like Yates. Obviously, keep an eye out for the little gem Isaac Del Toro who could still find space in the event of a closer race
There are other climbers currently in high rankings like the outgoing champion who want to put a spanner in the works of the Emirati team Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), seventh in the overall and seemed quite brilliant in the last two stages with a wavy finish, and third in the provisional general classification Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike) which however on paper should place itself at the service of its captain, the Belgian Cian Uijtdebroeks, purer climber and more suited to such long climbs. Also Roger Adrià (Bora-hansgrohe) is currently tenth in the standings, but tomorrow he will probably start working for a more talented player Sergio Higuitalight and high mountain Colombian.
The huge favorites for the stage victory are expert and successful riders like the Spaniard Enric Mas (Movistar), the Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyFirst). All three will be the captains of their strong teams (with an eye obviously focused on the Tour de France) and all three have the qualities and numbers to raise their arms to the sky on the San Gottardo, even with an attack in the last kilometres. The two French riders are also slightly further back in the rankings, but equally competitive on long and high altitude climbs Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon Ag2r La Difesa), fantastic stage winner at the Giro d’Italia, and, above all, a Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) who seems to have definitely blossomed, as does the 21-year-old Briton Oscar Onley (dsm firmenich-PostNL), from which we expect some signs of having found the right path again.
They are not pure climbers, but they can still fight for victory thanks to their enormous qualities, four young people of absolute talent. First of all, the multifaceted Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), unforgettable triumphant on top of the legendary Alpe d’Huez at the 2022 Tour de France, and three surprising Belgians like Maxim Van Gils (Dstny Lot), William Junior Lecerf (Soudal-QuickStep) e Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) who have not yet expressed their full potential on long climbs and have a great desire to amaze and show off. The latter is less suitable on paper for long climbs and has a captain to sacrifice himself for, but who knows, he might still surprise, especially in the case of a more closed race.
Let’s not forget about very strong climbers like the Colombian Einer Rubio (Movistar), seventh in the 2024 Giro, the Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels), author of a regular growth that saw him shine this year also at the Tirreno-Adriatico eager to continue his path towards the Grande Boucle, and then again the Austrian Felix Gall (Decathlon Ag2r La Difesa), looking for confirmation after an uninspiring start to the season, the powerful Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) and the Dutch expert Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious). The fierce Cofidis couple formed by the Spaniards Ion Izagirre And Jesus Herrada he could instead try a medium-range attack.
Other riders who are now out of the rankings and who can try to win by breaking away from afar are the Italian Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), although his condition remains to be verified, the German Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), French Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty) and then again the Dutch Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek), the Venetian Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), The Australian Chris Hamilton (dsm firmenich-PostNL), the Swiss Sebastien Reichenbach (Tudor Pro Cycling) and the beret Xabier Mikel Azparren (Q36.5 Pro Cycling).
Bag of the Favorites Fourth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
***** Adam Yates
**** Richard Carapaz, Mattias Skjelmose
** Joao Almeida, Egan Bernal, Sergio Higuita, Einer Rubio
* Felix Gall, Oscar Onley, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Tom Pidcock, Kevin Vauquelin
Predicted weather for the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2024
Partly cloudy. Chance of precipitation: 30%. Humidity: 70%. Wind direction S up to 19 km/h. Expected temperature: minimum 6°, maximum 16°.
Major pitfalls Fourth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
The altitude difficulties of this stage will all be in the last 35 kilometers and for the runners it will be a crescendo of effort and tiredness. The two final GPs are not particularly difficult, but many will want to try to attack to put their direct rivals in difficulty. The stage reaches above 2000 meters above sea level and some runners may suffer from the high mountains or temperatures well below 10°C.
Altimetry and Plan of the Fourth Stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2024
Timetable Fourth Stage Tour of Switzerland 2024
Tour of Switzerland 2024 Stage 4 Time table
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