Stage 3 is the first hilly stage of the tour with a nasty 2 km kick up at the end. The true flat sprinters will probably not rule the day today. Sagan, however, sits in a great position with his combination of power and weight. There are 5 low category climbs on the day including the Cat 3 Cote des Religieuses to the finish.
| Stage Type | Hilly |
|---|---|
| Stage Distance | 212.35 km |
| Estimated Time | 05:06:35 |
| Avg. Peloton Speed | 41.56 km/h |
| Avg. Pulling Power | 353.65 watts |
| Avg. Pulling Yaw | 7.25 ° |
The finish is a bit too steep for the true sprinters, but the punchy high power 1-3 min riders could really do well here. Look for Sagan or Greg van Avermaet to have a go on this course. They sit in a perfect spectrum of Watts/Kg where they put out a lot power and are not so heavy that the grades will impact them too much. For the same Watts/Kg smaller riders will go a bit slower on these grades. Check out scenarios for the final climb by zooming in on the Time Analysis tab and adjusting power and weight for different sized riders to see the impact.
Analysis was performed by modeling the peloton as a single rider using front of the pack drag characteristics and pulling power targets. Take a look at the entire race plan that was used for this analysis, which includes additional features, metrics and downloadable files.
Stage 3 Race Plan: https://www.bestbikesplit.com/client/71227