This stage leaves Toul without heading straight for the hills. The first part of the roughly 106 km ride follows the Moselle and canal corridor towards Nancy, passing close to the city centre and its Place Stanislas setting. After that, the Meurthe valley takes over: Lunéville and its château, smaller towns, water, railway lines and forest edges. From Baccarat onwards, the Vosges begin to show in the shape of the land. Raon-l’Étape tightens the valley, then the road rises gradually into Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. Not a mountain stage yet, but the terrain has changed.
