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After the thrills and spills of the first two days came a more sedate stage three, as the peloton decided to ease off on the attacks and a breakaway failed to emerge. Instead the sprinters gathered themselves for a fight to the line in Turin, where Biniam Girmay produced a stunning kick to become the first black African to win a Tour de France stage.
They took it easy partly with today’s stage in mind: the race finally leaves Italy (which has made for an even better starting destination than organisers could have hoped) and enters France, via a brutally hard day’s climbing on the first mountain stage of the 2024 Tour.
Tracking uphill from the very start, the peloton will snake west from Pinerolo along the relentlessly long Sestrieres climb (39.9km at 3.7%) and plenty of riders will already find themselves dropped by the top. Then they will cross the border into France on the way up the Col de Montgenevre (8.3km at 5.9%), another testing ascent.
After a quick descent comes the mostrous Col du Galibier, the first hors categorie climb of the race. The first rider over the top will win this year’s Souvenir Henri Desgrange for clearing the highest point of the Tour (2,642m), and more importantly there are bonus seconds of eight, five and two for the first three at the summit. From there, the riders will rush down to the stage finish at Valloire.
Pogacar’s UAE Emirates will be determined to protect his yellow jersey, which will require a close eye on any breakaway that forms early in the day. The Galibier will whittle out anyone who isn’t feeling fresh and only the strongest climbers will be left in a small group at the front by the end of the climb. That group may be only two riders as Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard go to war in a duel that will reveal the first real clues about who might win the maillot jaune in Nice.
Whatever happens, it is bound to be an absorbing, action-packed stage.
Stage 4 map and profile
Full stage-by-stage guide to the 2024 Tour de France.
Start time
The stage is set to begin at 12.15am BST, and is expected to conclude at around 4pm. Find out how to watch on TV here.
Prediction
Everything is set up for Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to duel near the top of the Galibier, and if they do, few will be able to live with them. And if Vingegaard can stick on Pogacar’s back wheel, he has the slightly superior descending skills to out-do his rival and win the race to the line in Valloire.
