The route is mostly played out on nearly flat roads until the Passwang appears around the halfway mark. The 11 kilometres climb is marked by gradients of 4 to 5%. After the descent the route continues to go up at even shallower gradients to enter the finish loop around Arlesheim, a place just south of Basel. The punchy Hochwald climb – 3.4 kilometres at 9.4% – is crested twice, the last time with 14 kilometres remaining. A short uphill kick at the end of the downhill leads to a flat run-in to the line.
The 4th stage of the Tour de Suisse features an altitude gain of 1,980 metres, virtually all in the second half of the race.
It’s been a while since the Tour de Suisse visited Arlesheim. The 2006 edition saw a successful breakaway battle it out for the stage honours in the outskirts of Basel. Nick Nuyens outsprinted Linus Gerdemann, Jörg Jaksche and Koldo Gil in the streets of Arlesheim.
The race is expected to finish around 17.20 local time.
Other interesting reads:
– live race report
– GC after stage 3
– GC favourites
Tour de Suisse 2019 stage 4: route, profile, videos
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