Stage 4: Longest Stage of this year’s Tour de France

Stage 4 is the longest stage in this year’s tour. Starting in Searing, Belgium the Tour will finally make its entry into France when it finishes at Cambari. The stage will include the cobblestones. Last year, Nibali took advantage of the cobblestones in the 5 stage to open up a big lead his main rivals. Froome had crashed out in that very stage.

The cobblestone sections, which are technically more difficult to transverse over asphalt will run for a total length of 13.3 km split over seven different stretches of road. The first stretch will take place on the 101 km mark. 137 km into the stage, there will be an intermediate sprint which the sprinters will attempt to gain points. Except Greipel and Sagan to be in the thick of it. From the 175.5km onwards the stage gets tricky. Six cobble sections including the toughest section (which will start from 198.5km) are there. Following the end of the final section of cobbles, the riders have clear road for the final 10kms or so to the finish in Cambari.

Expect the GC riders to be accelerating through the cobbles to try and outdo each other. Each will more than likely have their main supporting rider leading them through. If they can match what Nibali did last year, a lucky contender might just be able to gain in the excess of 2 additional on his major rivals. The last 2 stages have been thrilling indeed with unexpected surprises, do not expect this stage to be a quiet one.

Also, unfortunately, Fabian Cancellara has had to withdraw from the Tour with 2 fractured vertebrae suffered in stage 3. The 34 year old Swiss rider has worn the yellow jersey on 29 different occasions.

The General Classification standings look as follows

Other notable riders outside the top 20.

Jean-Christophe Peraud (21,   +2’07”)
Andrew Talansky (23, +2’39”)
Romain Bardet (26, +2’54”)
Thibaut Pinot (27, +2’58”)
During Stage 4, the jersey’s will be worn by

Maillot Juane (Yellow Jersey)

The Yellow Jersey will be worn by Chris Froome of Team Sky. The 2013 Champion had 2 stellar days, gaining time on his main rivals on both the days. His strong finish up Mur de Huy on stage 3 allowed him to gain 6 bonus seconds, to lead Tony Martin and Tejay van Garderen by 1 and 13 seconds respectively.

Maillot Vert (Green Jersey)

The Green Jersey will be worn by Andre Greipel of Lotto-Soudal. Winning stage 2 and performing well on the intermediate sprints of stages 2 and 3, The German leads the standings with 75 points and will be looking forward to wearing this jersey beyond tomorrow

Maillot Blanc (White Jersey)

Peter Sagan of Saxo Tinkoff wears the White Jersey. Having been second, he automatically moved into the number 1 slot here by finishing the stage when pervious holder, Tom Dumoulin crashed out on stage 3. He has a 36 second lead over Frenchman Warren Barguil.

King of the Mountains Jersey (Red Polka Dot Jersey)

With the first categorized climbs taking places, Mountain climbing points are now being awarded to those who reach the summit of such climbs (these are not the same points given to those for the points standing in the Green Jersey competition. It is separate). Team Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez who won the stage, finished a category 3 climb first to be awarded 2 points. There are 3 other riders, including Chris Froome who are on 1 point in joint second place.

Best Team

Team BMC continue to lead the standings. They now hold a 27 second lead over Etixx-Quick Step in second place. BMC riders will wear their numbers on a yellow background.

Most Combative Rider

This award is selected by a jury after the stage. It has been awarded to Jan Batra of Bora-Argon 18.