Tour de France Femmes stage 4 LIVE: 21km Dijon TT decisive for GC battle

Lotte Claes 28:25

Lotte Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech) sets the new fastest time of 28:25.

She was 24 seconds faster than Sandrine Tas.

Next off is Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) she is racing in the green points jersey.

We know she is fast and has speed and power but we are not expecting her to go full gas in the TT.

Urška Žigart (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) is underway.

The first kilometre in Gevrey-Chambertin is testing in the town centre streets, with cobbles and road gullies.

It will be important to start fast and perhaps take a few risks.

60 riders have started the TT, with around 80 still to start.

Check out our interactive times to see who is closest to Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarché Ladies). For now she is in the hot seat.

Dutch journalist and former rider Thijs Zonneveld rode the TT earlier and highlights the impact of the tail wind, especially off the mid-stage rise.

The time checks show the difference in speed on the different parts of the course.

New best time

Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarché Ladies) has pulled off a surprise.

She was 10 seconds slower than Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise) at the time check but finished fast and set a new fastest time of 28:49.39, that’s just 0.96 second faster than Le Mouël.

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Our photographers are out along the course to get the best shots.

We love these early pics from the vines of the Côte d’Or. This is Elena Cecchini at speed.

Early fast time

Romina Hinojosa (Lotto Intermarché Ladies) finishes with a time of 31:24. She is soon beaten by Noémie Abgrall (Ma Petite Entreprise) who sets 30:33.

Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise) beats that and goes into the hot seat with a hot time of 28:50.

Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise) is the French TT champion, so is racing in the iconic red, white and blue colours.

We have highlighted how the TT is vital for the TDFF GC battle. Today’s stage will create the first significant time gaps and so shape how riders will have race in the days to come – on the attack or defence.

The podium of the most recent World Championships time trial gives us an simple indication. There Marlen Reusser (Movistar), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) and Demi Vollering (FDJ) showed they can gain time on their rivals.

Who is your pick for the race against the clock?

Have your say and take part in our poll at the top of our live coverage.

I voted for Zoe Bäckstedt because I’m sure she is motivated, strong and ready to a few risks, all while performing at her very best.

OFFICIAL START

Here we go!

Romina Hinojosa (Lotto Intermarché Ladies) starts her ride. She is the first rider off.

These are some key rider start times.

It’s 10 minutes to the start of the time trial and many riders are already warming up near their buses.

The fans and ice vests are out in the shade of the team buses because it is 34C on the ground in central France.

We’re loving the bidon hunting vibes at the TDFF.

This is the technical start to the TT. Precious seconds can be lost here.

Riders face extra pre-race checks by race judges after suspicions that some riders are looking for an extra marginal gains.

Read our special TT preview for details of the 21km course and the riders in action.

As always, we will have full live coverage of all the action from the 21km individual time trial to Dijon.

We are expecting some great individual performances but also a GC battle as every second counts.