Verberie to Noyon is an uphill slog into the Forest Domaniale de Compiegne, and onward into Compiegne, followed by fifteen miles of lumpiness once the course heads out of town. It loosely follows the line of the L’Oise river which is flowing in the opposite direction south west towards Paris where it eventually flows in the river Seine. The first half of the stage is almost exclusively uphill, and thereafter it’s just undulating up and down in long lumps which dip every time the road gets anywhere near water.
One of the issues with this stage is that while some of it is on high quality, fast roads, it’s also pretty dangerous: much of the stage is spent on dual carriageways that by-pass towns on the route so it’s best to get lit up like a Christmas tree and put the hammer down: on a smart trainer, that would look pretty cool.
The rollout is straight and tacking north east towards Lacroix Saint Quen which it trundles through on three miles: trundles is the operative word because the town is halfway way up the long climb to Compiegne. However, before getting there, the D932a, to give the road its official handle, gives way to the D1131 at the Carrefour de l’Abbaye roundabout after five miles. The left turn off that roundabout is followed by a straight on at the next before the road crosses the L’Oise river at six miles. Soon after that, the road crosses under the main N31 autoroute before hanging a right at the roundabout straight after and joining the dual carriageway heading north east.
The autoroute passes by the Compiegne Margny Airfield at nine miles before the route splits from the N31 onto the D1032 heading north past Bienville on the right followed by Coudun and Giraumont on the left: between Coudun and Giraumont, the route crosses over the Aronde river which flows into the L’Oise a couple of miles north of Compiegne.
As the terrain flattens out, the profile settles into a flat rhythm, dipping only to cross the Le Matz river at fourteen miles and the Ru du Moulinet three miles later. Approaching that river, the road hangs a long looping right hander around the north western side of Ribecourt Dreslincourt before swinging back left again into the finish between the communities of Maison Bleue and Les Ecazieux alongside the Chiry Ourscamp metro station.
Distance: 20 miles / 32 kilometres
Ascent: 315 feet / 96 metres
RGT Magic Road: oYzAgsERKggE
Max elevation: 1064 ft
Min elevation: 881 ft
Total climbing: 314 ft
Total descent: -359 ft
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