Stage four: Cheshunt to Welwyn Garden City (87.8km) – Thursday May 10, 2014
The Women’s Tour starts and finishes in two towns with connections to two of Britain’s best female cyclists on stage four: Cheshunt is the home town of Laura Trott and the track at Welwyn Garden City was the first cement track on which Victoria Pendleton raced.
QOM contenders at the Women’s Tour will have other concerns on their minds, however, the first of which comes after just 11.3km: the 1.4km ascent of the Hertford Road Climb – one of the longest in the race. It tops out at 95m after gaining 32m of elevation from a starting point of 62m. Melanie P tops the existing Strava leader board with a time of 3.40, achieved at an average speed of 22.1km and with an average power output of 153 watts.
The second climb comes at the end of the stage. The foot of Digswell Hill is reached after 85.3km and its 1.4km slope will deliver the riders almost to the finish line. With an average gradient of three per cent on a steadily steepening slope, the current leaderboard indicates a climb to be taken at speed: current QOM, Bethany Hayward, completed the climb in a time of 2.45 at an average speed of 30kmh.
