Maldon-Chelmsford   

As the peloton set off from Maldon the hillers and time-triallists may consider their work done and the sprinters come to the fore in a flat 170km route to Chelmsford. The bus drivers will face only 16km drive to Chelmsford, but the cyclists a rather longer winding route past Basildon, Romford and Dagenham before heading into Chelmsford on Roxwell and Rainsford Road for a flat and fast finish. The breakaway riders will struggl...

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As the peloton set off from Maldon the hillers and time-triallists may consider their work done and the sprinters come to the fore in a flat 170km route to Chelmsford. The bus drivers will face only 16km drive to Chelmsford, but the cyclists a rather longer winding route past Basildon, Romford and Dagenham before heading into Chelmsford on Roxwell and Rainsford Road for a flat and fast finish. The breakaway riders will struggle to stay away with motivated sprinting teams willing to work hard, perhaps having saved themselves on the previous two stages for this grandstand finish.
The final approach to Chelmsford is technical with traffic islands to negotiate but is completely flat giving a great opportunity for powerful sprinters. The yellow jersey holder is likely to be willing to finish in the safety of the bunch but with bonus seconds available he may need to be on his guard as we see the winning team celebrate and the curtain come down on the Essex tour for another season.