Tour de France Femmes 2026 stage 4 preview - 21km individual time trial with one mid-race climb 'super hard to predict'

• Stage 4: Gevrey-Chambertin - Dijon
• Date: August 4, 2026
• Distance: 21km
• Elevation gain: 255 metres
• Start time: 14:51 CET
• Finish time: 17:55 CET

After a two-year absence, the individual time trial returns to the Tour de France Femmes with a 21km route from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon.

The first eight kilometres are almost flat through the Côte d’Or vineyards before the road goes up the Lacets de Marsannay. The 1.8km, 6.9% climb starts with three steep hairpins before the road straightens through the forest and past the intermediate time check after 9.7km.

A short downhill is followed by another slight uphill section through the village of Corcelles-les-Monts, reaching the highest point of the course after 12km. In total, the course includes 255 altitude metres.

The descent to Dijon is not very steep, on a road without any real turns for 7km. The last 2km include three 90-degree corners and a long, sweeping turn onto the 420-metre finishing straight on the Cours du Général de Gaulle.

“It's not very technical. It's a hard one, but it's a nice one. It has a lot in it. The first part looks flat on the profile, but it's not. It's up, it's slightly down, slightly up, passes through a town," said Visma-Lease a Bike Sport Director Jos van Emden ahead of stage 3.

"Then you have the climb. It's flattish at the top, and then there's a very fast descent. You need to be a complete rider to do well."

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) must have had this stage marked in her calendar ever since it was presented. The 34-year-old Swiss rider is the time trial World Champion, having taken the title on a challenging course in Rwanda, and laid the foundation for her Tour de Suisse victory by winning the stage 4 ITT in Aarburg. Unless things go massively wrong, Reusser should put time into all of her GC rivals.

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) is another favourite for the stage victory. She was only 11 seconds slower than Reusser in the Tour de Suisse ITT of similar length, defended her British time trial title and won a short time trial in the Baloise Ladies Tour in mid-July.

“It’s super hard to predict. You really can't predict what it's going to be like, whether it's going to be a super good day for the climbers or if it's going to be a super good day for the time trial riders,” the 21-year-old Welshwoman told Cyclingnews ahead of stage 3.

A crucial aspect will be how riders recover from the hot and hard stage the previous day. A possible overexertion on stage 3 may not have shown up in the results but could come very costly in the time trial.

Of the GC contenders, Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) ought to do well and gain time while Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) has to undergo a medical check-up after her stage 3 crash. If she is unaffected by the crash, she should also perform well, hoping to put time into Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The defending Tour champion has not competed in a time trial for over five years. She was never among the very best in the discipline, but her sport director is nevertheless optimistic about his leader’s chances.

“You have to do the best possible time trial and then see at the end what the result is. Pauline has done many sessions on the TT bike, she is dedicated to her task and does everything to get the best result,” Jos van Emden said after stage 3.

Surprise stage 3 winner Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) will be the last rider off the start ramp, wearing the yellow jersey. She has a buffer of 2:10 minutes in GC on Reusser, and this might just be enough to defend yellow.

The Dijon ITT is expected to take 27 minutes, and Haugset finished 11th in the 2025 World Championships ITT, 3:15 minutes slower than Reusser over an effort of 43-46 minutes.

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Time Check

• Lacets de Marsannay, km. 9.7