Tour de France 2018 - Stages 3-5

Introduction
After a very tough opening three days it's back to the standard Tour opening week with three flat stages. Stages 3 and 5 hold very few surprises and should be a physically easy but mentally stressful couple of days. Stage 4 is much harder but could still end in a bunch sprint, albeit with a reduced field. With relatively few sprint stages on offer in this Tour the sprinters teams will definitely not want to miss out on these three stages.

Stage 3 - Lille - Charleroi - 181.5km
This is a long stage for this race but coming just four days in it won't cause the riders many difficulties. There is only one categorised climb out on the route and that's only ranked at cat 4 so it will be a straightforward day. One slight difficulty might be the final 3km which rises all the way to the line, it's not steep at all though so expect to see all the sprinters make it, the biggest difficulty will be for the lead out guys who will have to measure their effort on the grippy run in.










Stage 4 - Charleroi - Charleville - 135.7km
There's just under 2,000m of climbing packed into the 135.7km long course. With all four categorised climbs coming in the last 90km it's going to be too much for the pure sprinters who will be left spread throughout the Belgium countryside. This is a stage for the classics riders like Kristoff or Degenkolb, depending on how it's raced though it might be too difficult even for them and it might be a stage for the Ardennes classics riders. If it's wet then the finale will be treacherous, there's a steep descent from 6km to go until just under 2km to go. Immediately after the red kite there's a 90 degree corner and then a dead straight with a slight rise to the finish.




Stage 5 - Charleville - Chalon-en-Champagne - 140.8km
There won't be much intrigue on this stage, it's almost entirely flat with the exception of a couple of rolling hills at the start of the stage. The one minor issue might be the wind blowing over the Marne which, if it's strong enough, might split the peloton apart. Apart from that though it's going to be a relatively relaxing day for the GC contenders who will be facing their first major test, the time trial up Planche des Belles Filles, in just two days time. The run in is quite technical so, again, if it's wet expect to see the GC teams come towards the front.

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