The riders know these roads well from the Ardennes Classics, particularly Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The course starts flat but gets increasingly rolling towards the finish. A key moment will be the 6km climb of the Col du Rosier, a Liège staple but tackled today from the opposite direction to usual.
The puncheurs who make their names in the one-day Classics will be queuing up to attack here, while the sprinters and their teams will be determined to limit the deficit over the climb and bring back any breakaways in the final 12km from the climb to the finish.
Stage profile
TOPICS
-
'A wild day of racing' – First pro race in Europe and a bunny-hop enabled first podium for New Zealand's Ben Oliver at Vuelta a Andalucía
The mountain biker who turned pro on the road with Modern Adventure Pro Cycling claims third in sprint finish on opening stage of five-day race -
How Remco Evenepoel's missed chance at landing a statement performance on brutal UAE Tour climb makes the next races more essential in his Tour de France build-up – Analysis
Belgian loses big time and momentum from early-season victories after getting dropped on the first mountain test of the stage race -
Four French ProTeams among selection of 21 squads set to race fifth edition of Tour de France Femmes
Field includes all 14 WorldTour and seven second-tier squads for August 1-9 competition -
As it happened: opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve decided by messy bunch sprint
The peloton race 185.6km from Vila Real de Santo António to Tavira
