Stage 4: Norwood - Strathalbyn, 124km
January 21, 2011
The Adelaide Hills will again be the scene of some tough, but stunning racing as the peloton heads through the historic tourist towns of Lobethal and Hahndorf before the finish at Strathalbyn.
As always on this route south, Checker Hill could provide an opportunity for a breakaway at the 27 km mark but this well-travelled route south is a testing one and there will be some tired legs at the end of the day.
Rabobank's Graeme Brown says:
It's a nice hard start to the race going through the Gorge. Any Australian has probably ridden through the Gorge about a billion times. Stuart O'Grady's bike just rides through there by itself. Checker Hill is hard and it's quite steep, although it's less than a kilometre. It's hard to go up the hill – the road is dead straight but it's all about being in the right position with two kilometres to go because you turn onto a smaller road. It's more of a Belgian Classics style of ride.
If you're at the front it's a piece of cake. If there's one lesson I've learnt for this stage it's not to ride on Lance Armstrong's wheel like I did last year because you get hit by hands all the time going ‘There he is! There he is!'...
It will be a bunch sprint again but it will hurt. Sprinters that don't have top form or don't climb quite as well are going to struggle because it's just up and down all day.
Map
Image ©: Santos Tour Down Under
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Tour de France stage 4 Live – Racing is underway on a punchy, exciting stage to Rouen
Short, steep climbs litter the run-in to Rouen on a day made for the puncheurs -
'An enormous lack of respect' - fans standing on cemetery graves to watch Tour de France stage 2 finale sparks indignation
Spectators massing eight kilometres from line used gravestones to get better view -
Amazon Prime Day 2025 Live: All the best deals as soon as we unearth them
We're trawling Amazon and beyond to bring you some absolute bargains -
'Now the road to recovery begins' – Jasper Philipsen undergoes collarbone surgery following Tour de France crash
Tadej Pogačar 'super sad' to see sprinter abandon the Tour, while other stage 3 crash victims race on with minor injuries