Stage 4 of the Tour de France sees the riders go uphill all day, but the long gradual rise shouldn’t prevent the sprinters from having their second opportunity at victory. Join The Roar for live coverage from 10pm (AEST).
The stage will see the riders complete the relatively flat 207.5-kilometre journey from Mondorf-les-Bains to Vittel. As mentioned earlier the stage travels uphill, but nothing that should intrigue the riders, with the stage only increasing in elevation by 150 metres from the start to the end point.
The first 150 kilometres are fairly pointless to put it bluntly. You can call today a transition stage, as tomorrow we will see the first mountain top finish at the top of La Planche des Belles Filles.
The intermediate sprint comes after 157.5 kilometres, with it being immediately followed by the only categorised climb of the day, the fourth category climb of the Col des Trois Fontaines. The climbed is punchy, averaging 7.4 per cent for two kilometres.
The final five kilometres of the stage are quite tricky, with the run into the finish getting technical about 2.5 kilometres from the line. Two 90 degree bends just outside the final kilometre will make positioning paramount on the final run up to the line.
With lead outs being poorly executed on Stage 2, the teams of the sprinters will be needing to present their sprinter into perfect position to launch at 150 metres to go. Any earlier and they will be get swamped by their competitors in the finale.
It will be hard to bet against Marcel Kittel (Quick Step Floors) today, with the German currently in the green jersey after a superb victory on Stage 2, where he come from a long way back in the final 500 metres to cruise to victory.
Join The Roar live coverage of Stage 4 of the Tour de France from 10pm (AEST).
Lionheart
Guest
I fell off with about 30k to go, but see the news this morning. Quite a dramatic finish. Wasn't Cav complaining that he got a shove at the finish of stage 3? or maybe it was his body language.
League table speaks
Guest
Well my first react was Sagan in the wrong....this morning he's out! The overhead shot looks terrible for him, though a tree was blocking the seconds before. Some say Cav had nudged Sagan first? It was an ugly move on its own. Sagan veers right with the elbow when he should have been veering left to follow i thought. Hmmmm....
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Well, such a boring stage completely transformed in the final 10 kilometres by two key crashes, and a fabulous sprint win from Arnaud Demare; the Tour never disappoints. It will be interesting to see the reaction from both Sagan and Cavendish in the aftermath of their crash. Thanks for joining the Roar's coverage of Stage 4 of the Tour de France. I will be back tomorrow from 9:20 pm AEST with action from the first mountain top finish of the Tour.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Demare moves into the Points classification jersey.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Few pictures on twitter with Sagan at the Dimension Data team bus talking with Eisel.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Not sure what to think after that crash. Cavendish rode into a closing gap, however Sagan's elbow went into the direction of Cavendish. I am of the view similar to McEwen's, in the fact that the crash was already going to happen, but it doesn't look good on Sagan's part.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Top 5 on the stage. 1. Arnaud Démare 2. Peter Sagan 3. Alexander Kristoff 4. André Greipel 5. Nacer Bouhanni
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Sagan will definetly have some questions to answer about that elbow on Cavendish.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Cavendish crosses the line, but not in a good way.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Great win from Demare, that has been coming for a few years.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Griepel seemed to clip the back of one of the riders in front as Roelandts pulled off. Ultimately it lost him the chance of victory.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Cavendish still down as Johh Degenkolb and Swift also fell.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
DEMARE WINS THE FIRST SPRINT WINNER FOR 10 YEARS.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Cavendish down.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Crash for Thomas.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Eisel doing a superb job as the riders go around the last corner.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Cavendish and Griepel in superb position.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
2 to go.