The Tour of Britain Women 2026 continues through Mid Wales on Saturday 22 August, with Stage 4 taking the riders 138 kilometres from Llanidloes to Hay-on-Wye on the most climbing-heavy day of the race.
The stage starts at 11:00 BST, with the finish expected at approximately 14:53 BST. Live coverage will again be available through the Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel and TNT Sports, while ITV4 and ITVX carry highlights.
Saturday also begins with the GC much clearer after the Great Orme. Kim Le Court-Pienaar leads the race by 26 seconds from Liane Lippert, with Lorena Wiebes and Caroline Andersson both 35 seconds down. Femke de Vries is fifth at 40 seconds, Karlijn Swinkels sixth at 42 seconds and Lauren Dickson ninth at 45 seconds.
The wider Tour of Britain Women 2026 UK viewing guide covers the full five-stage broadcast picture, while the Tour of Britain Women 2026 route guide explains why the Llanidloes to Hay-on-Wye stage is one of the most important days of the race.
What time does Tour of Britain Women Stage 4 start?
The key timings are:
Date: Saturday 22 August 2026
Start: Llanidloes
Finish: Hay-on-Wye
Distance: 138km
Stage start: 11:00 BST
Expected finish: Around 14:53 BST
Stage type: Hilly / medium mountain
That gives viewers a window of just under four hours, although the exact finishing time can move depending on race speed and how aggressively the GC teams approach the repeated climbs through Mid Wales.
Unlike Friday’s Great Orme stage, there is no single short summit finish around which the entire day can be planned. Stage 4 contains repeated climbing across the route, making the final two hours particularly important but also creating the possibility of an earlier tactical move.
How to watch Tour of Britain Women Stage 4 live for free
The official Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel remains the easiest free live option for UK viewers.
The women’s race is also being shown live on TNT Sports, giving viewers a subscription television alternative, with HBO Max providing the corresponding streaming option.
The main UK viewing choices are therefore:
- Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube: free live stream
- TNT Sports: live television
- HBO Max: live streaming
- ITV4 and ITVX: highlights
The Tour of Britain Women 2026 UK viewing guide has the broader television and streaming details for the remainder of the race.
Is Tour of Britain Women Stage 4 live on TNT Sports?
Yes.
TNT Sports will show Stage 4 live in the UK, alongside the official YouTube stream.
That makes the race relatively easy to follow compared with many Women’s WorldTour events, because viewers have both a free live option and a conventional subscription broadcast.
HBO Max provides the streaming alternative for viewers who prefer to watch online.
Is Stage 4 live on ITV4 or ITVX?
ITV4 and ITVX are providing daily highlights, rather than acting as the main live home of the race.
Anyone wanting to follow the GC attacks through the Elan Valley and the final run towards Hay-on-Wye as they happen should therefore use the Tour of Britain YouTube stream, TNT Sports or HBO Max.
ITV4 and ITVX remain useful for viewers catching up later in the day.
Photo Credit: GettyTour of Britain Women Stage 4 viewing details
Date: Saturday 22 August 2026
Route: Llanidloes to Hay-on-Wye
Distance: 138km
Start: 11:00 BST
Expected finish: Around 14:53 BST
Free live stream: Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube
Live TV: TNT Sports
Streaming: HBO Max
Highlights: ITV4 and ITVX
The full Tour of Britain Women 2026 start list has the complete field still contesting the five-day Women’s WorldTour race.
When should viewers tune in?
Anyone wanting the entire stage should be ready for the 11:00 BST start.
For viewers mainly interested in the GC battle, around 13:00 BST onwards should be the most important viewing window. That leaves enough time to see the race through much of the decisive second half and to understand which teams have already begun applying pressure.
Anyone only interested in the finish should aim to be watching by 14:15 BST rather than waiting until the predicted 14:53 finish. Stage 4 contains enough difficult terrain before Hay-on-Wye for the winning move or decisive GC attack to happen well before the final kilometres.
That makes Saturday quite different from Friday. The Great Orme had an obvious point where the stage would explode. Stage 4 can begin changing much earlier.
Kim Le Court-Pienaar starts Stage 4 in control
Friday fundamentally changed the race.
Kim Le Court-Pienaar won Stage 3 on the Great Orme and moved into the overall lead, creating the first meaningful GC gaps of the week.
She now begins Saturday with a 26-second advantage over Liane Lippert, while Wiebes and Andersson are both 35 seconds down.
That gives Le Court-Pienaar room to defend rather than forcing her to attack, but the gaps are nowhere near large enough for AG Insurance-Soudal to relax.
The Tour of Britain Women 2026 contenders preview identified Le Court-Pienaar as one of the riders best suited to the overall balance of climbing and finishing speed, and the Great Orme has now put her in the position everyone else has to attack.
Lorena Wiebes remains a genuine Stage 4 contender
Lorena Wiebes’ Stage 3 performance keeps her firmly in the Stage 4 conversation.
She finished the Great Orme only 37 seconds behind Le Court-Pienaar and remains third overall at 35 seconds.
That is significant because Saturday may actually suit Wiebes better tactically than the summit finish did.
There is no climb directly to the line. If she loses a small amount of ground on the final ascent, SD Worx-Protime still have road available to organise a chase before Hay-on-Wye.
That means the climbers cannot simply drop Wiebes briefly. They need to create enough separation to make sure she does not return.
If Wiebes reaches the finish with the leading group, she immediately becomes one of the strongest favourites for the stage victory.
Caroline Andersson has a major opportunity
Caroline Andersson begins Stage 4 fourth overall, level on time with Wiebes at 35 seconds, and should be one of the riders with the strongest incentive to make the race selective.
Her Great Orme result showed that she can compete with the strongest riders on the harder terrain, while Saturday’s longer and more attritional route should suit her even better.
Andersson does not want a large group arriving in Hay-on-Wye with Wiebes still present.
Her best scenario is a hard race from further out, where repeated climbing begins removing the faster riders and reduces the final GC group.
That makes her one of the key riders to watch once the race reaches the more sustained Mid Wales terrain.
Femke de Vries can move further up the GC
Femke de Vries starts Stage 4 fifth overall at 40 seconds, close enough that one successful attack could move her onto the podium.
The Visma | Lease a Bike rider should benefit if the stage becomes more attritional than the Great Orme.
Friday’s finish rewarded acceleration over a short climb. Saturday places much more emphasis on endurance across several hours.
That should suit de Vries well.
She also has less reason than Le Court-Pienaar or Wiebes to wait for the finish. If the stage becomes hard from relatively early, her climbing can become more important while sprint speed becomes less relevant.
Karlijn Swinkels remains only seconds from the podium
Karlijn Swinkels begins the stage sixth overall at 42 seconds, only seven seconds behind Wiebes and Andersson and two behind de Vries.
That makes the fight behind Le Court-Pienaar particularly tight.
Swinkels does not necessarily need a dramatic long-range move. Her consistency gives her a chance to move up simply by surviving another difficult day better than the riders immediately ahead.
She also has enough finishing speed to contest a reduced arrival if Wiebes has already been removed.
For viewers, that means the podium battle could remain active even if Le Court-Pienaar’s overall lead is never seriously threatened.
Lauren Dickson remains firmly in contention
Lauren Dickson sits ninth overall at 45 seconds after an encouraging Great Orme performance during her return from injury.
That places her only ten seconds from the current third-place position and means Saturday can still become a significant GC day for the British rider.
The longer stage should provide a more complete test of Dickson’s condition than the short Great Orme climb.
She has already shown during 2026 that she can handle sustained climbing and difficult stage-race terrain, and the route through Mid Wales offers several opportunities to use those strengths.
If she has recovered well from Friday, Dickson has every reason to race aggressively rather than simply protecting a top-10 position.
Stage 4 could be decided before the final climb
One of the biggest reasons to tune in early is that Saturday’s stage does not have one obvious decisive point.
The race passes through the Elan Valley before continuing over repeated rolling terrain towards Knighton and Hay-on-Wye.
Teams can use those earlier climbs to reduce the number of domestiques around Le Court-Pienaar and Wiebes without necessarily launching an outright GC attack.
That matters because a leader isolated with 50 kilometres remaining has a much harder race than one reaching the final climb with four teammates.
Andersson, de Vries, Dickson and other riders chasing the GC therefore have every reason to make the race difficult before the final 20 kilometres.
The final climb could still decide everything
The last significant climb comes with roughly 16 kilometres remaining, giving the GC contenders one clear late opportunity to create separation.
By that point the riders will already have accumulated most of the day’s climbing, meaning even moderate gradients could become much more damaging.
The difference from Stage 3 is what happens afterwards.
There is still a descent and a faster run towards Hay-on-Wye, meaning anyone who attacks has to keep committing after the summit.
That creates an interesting tactical problem.
A climber may be able to put ten seconds into Wiebes on the ascent, but ten seconds may not be enough if the chasing group works well.
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Photo Credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
Wiebes forces the climbers to keep attacking
Wiebes’ position in the GC changes how the final part of the stage has to be raced.
If she survives the last climb with the main contenders, nobody wants to take her to a sprint.
If she is dropped by only a small amount, the riders ahead cannot afford to start looking at one another.
That means the likes of Andersson, de Vries and Dickson need more than one acceleration.
They need sustained separation.
Le Court-Pienaar also has a strong finish, which adds another complication for riders whose best weapon is climbing.
The faster GC contenders can afford patience. The riders without that sprint need to create the race.
Stage 4 is the final major GC opportunity
Sunday’s final stage around Royal Leamington Spa remains difficult enough to produce tactical racing, but it does not contain the same accumulated climbing as Saturday.
That makes Stage 4 the final obvious opportunity to take substantial time through terrain alone.
Anyone leaving Hay-on-Wye 30 or 40 seconds behind Le Court-Pienaar will face a much harder task on the final day.
That is why Saturday should become increasingly aggressive as the race approaches its final hour.
The Tour of Britain Women 2026 route guide explains why the Welsh stages were always expected to provide the main GC separation of the race.
For viewers, the key information is straightforward: Stage 4 starts at 11:00 BST, is expected to finish around 14:53 BST and can be watched live and free through the official Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel, with TNT Sports and HBO Max providing the subscription alternatives.
