Verviers > Herve 189km The Queen stage went the way of the breakaway, the peloton made a right mess of the chase. Corbin Strong is still in the race lead, and he’ll be confident of holding onto it until Friday. Stage 4 is one that could go the way of the sprinters, but the finale isn’t the easiest, some of the puncheurs will fancy their chances too.

Arlon > La Roche-en-Ardenne 192km Day 3 and it’s the Queen stage, and we’re in for a treat, 192km and 3481m of climbing. This is a tough day in the saddle, full of steep climbs and it should be a very selective stage. It ends with two full laps of a 29.5km circuit, one that features two classified climbs and a few unclassified ones too. 

Saint-Ghislain > Ouffet 188km The second stage of Tour de Wallonie sees the riders head east towards Ouffet. There’s 188km and 2095m of climbing, so it’s still not too hard for the peloton, but this finish is harder than the opening stage. This time it should be a fight between sprinters and puncheurs. 

Tournai > Fleurus 178km The Tour might be over, but there’s no rest for the wicked. Tour de Wallonie kicks off with a sprint stage, but one that will still test the sprinters that don’t climb very well. Not only that, but there’s three cobble sectors to deal with too, it’s an interesting start to the race.

Monaco > Nice 33.7km ITT Some were complaining about UAE before the stage started, saying they were being greedy, I wonder what they think now! UAE were brutal, it looked like they had decided before the stage that Jorgenson wouldn’t be allowed in the break. Of course, this is their own choice, but cyclists have long memories. Anyway, Pogačar took his 5th stage win, and Vingegaard showed true grit to put time into Evenepoel. One more stage to go, and it’s an ITT from Monaco to Nice. 

Nice > Col de la Couillole 133km The final mountain stage of the race, a day with hardly any flat. The peloton is down in Nice, a place where many riders call home, some have extra motivation today. It’s another short stage, just 133km, but it has 4574m of climbing. After another dominant display by Pogačar, the fight for the yellow jersey is over, which should give the break a great deal of hope. The good news for the break is that the gap between the podium and everyone else is huge, almost all riders should have freedom. 

Embrun > Isola 2000 145km Welcome to the end game of the Tour de France. 145km of racing with 4463m of climbing, it’s a very hard day in the saddle. Visma always hoped that Vingegaard would be at his best at this point in the race, but what happened on Wednesday won’t have filled them with confidence. Vingegaard has made it clear, he’s not happy settling for second, we’ll have to see what plan Visma come up with for this stage.

Gap > Barcelonnette 179km Today was insane, I’ve never seen anything like it. Visma seemed to go ballistic, attacking at every opportunity, I think they were testing out the UAE domestiques. Yes, they did end up with satellite riders to help Vingegaard limit his losses, but surely all that attacking wasn’t just for that. I’m a big fan of how Visma have approached races over the last number of years, but I wasn’t impressed today, they looked desperate. Stage 18 should be another for the break, but nothing is certain in this race.

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Superdévoluy 178km It’s a stage where UAE could control for a Pogačar stage win, but it’s likely they’ll throw the rest of the teams a bone and “let” the break take the day. This is stage many will have marked in their road book, it’s a wonderful day for the break. We’ve seen how the other break stages have started, the fight to get in the move could well take a long time, we could well see riders from UAE and Visma looking to get up the road. The final 40km is tough, you need to be a...

Gruissan > Nîmes 188km The third week kicks off with a sprint stage, the final opportunity for the quick men. Quite a lot of teams have lost riders, meaning fewer men left to chase, but there should still be enough teams interested in making sure this day ends in a sprint. There will be quite a few riders looking to get in a break, the opening kilometres will need to be managed carefully to make sure a strong group don’t get up the road.