Despite not being a mountainous stage – and only featuring two fourth category climbs – at the end of this stage, the Tour will arrive in the Alps. Although those two climbs are the only ones to count, the altitude rises steadily from 46 metres at the start in Nîmes to 599 metres at the finish in Digne les Bains. The route crosses Provence and the Luberon wine area between Mont Ventoux and the Côte d'Azur before finishing in the spa town in the shadow of the high mountains that divide France form its neighbour Italy.
Digne les Bains is a fairly regular host to the Tour, having been a stage town eleven times before. Last time – in 2005 – David Moncoutié took the second of his two career stage wins after attacking the break on the road from Briançon to the north.
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As it happened: Movistar blow-up the Giro d'Italia on the 14km Cozzo Tunno climb but UAE and Lidl-Trek celebrate in Cosenza
Stage 4 in Calabria proves there is never a quiet day in the Corsa Rosa -
Panic and doubts as Egan Bernal dropped on innocuous climb at Giro d'Italia
Netcompany-Ineos rider fights back on the descent but performance doesn't bode well for GC prospects -
Giro d'Italia GC standings – Italian makes a career-long dream come true as race hits home soil
Giulio Ciccone assumes pink jersey as Silva is dropped on a late climb -
Giro d'Italia: Jhonatan Narváez sprints to stage 4 win as Giulio Ciccone grabs bonus seconds to seize pink jersey
Ciccone takes third behind Orluis Aular in Cosenza as former maglia rosa Thomas Silva is dropped on stage's only climb
