Frankfurt am Main - Heidelberg   

Heidelberg is about 90km south of Frankfurt, but this stage takes an indirect route and meanders alongside the Rhine valley with several short and sharp hills punctuating the route. The riders’ course winds south, then from Mannheim heads upstream along the Neckar river that will lead them to Heidelberg.

Stage 4 will have rewarded talented hill riders and the top sprinters may have had success in stages 2 and 3, but...

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Heidelberg is about 90km south of Frankfurt, but this stage takes an indirect route and meanders alongside the Rhine valley with several short and sharp hills punctuating the route. The riders’ course winds south, then from Mannheim heads upstream along the Neckar river that will lead them to Heidelberg.

Stage 4 will have rewarded talented hill riders and the top sprinters may have had success in stages 2 and 3, but this route into Heidelberg will put some of these riders up against each other in a stage that has a sting in its tail.

The finish in Heidelberg, home to a prestigious university, is on Königstuhl hill upon which the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory sits. This astronomical observatory has been important historically for the identification of nebulae and asteroids. Here, the first Trojan asteroid Achilles was found, 135km in diameter, a Jupiter Trojan, orbiting the sun 60 degrees ahead of Jupiter’s position.

Fortunately for the riders, the finishing point for the race is Heidelberg castle at 80 metres up the hillside rather that at the 567 metre summit, meaning that it is one for the hill sprinters rather than the climbers. Positioning riders at the base of the hill is crucial here as it will be difficult to make up ground on when the sprint is launched on the 10% slopes of the Königstuhl.

Sprinters unaccustomed to hills will struggle here, and those riders are likely to find the sprinting classification overall will favour riders with ability on the hills. The profile today may tempt some well-rounded GC contenders into competition, but their efforts may be better saved for the tough latter stages of the tour.

At the halfway point of the tour little has been decided. The route, which so far has offered more for sprinters, will turn its attention to the general classification which will be shaken up thoroughly by the coming trio of crucial stages.