Tour de France Stage 4: Amiens – Rouen (174.2k)

[Cookster15]

Would be great to see Pogacar send an early message ahead of the TT (like Indurain 1995). But more likely I am thinking MVDP can prevail again here. Pog and Vingo will be close behind. Hopefully Remco stays in touch with the big two.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Finish good for an in-form Johnny Narvaez

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Alaphilippe will smash

 

[topcat]

Alaphilippe will attack. They will look to Mvdp to chase and he'll downright refuse.
Hopefully, Remco will not lose time to tweedle dee and tweedle dum.

 

[Tonton]

At this stage of the race, I want to see Matthieu keep la traje de luces, dominate, green jersey hopes maybe...and fight for le maillot jaune. Keep it. Neither Tadej or Jonas want to gift seconds to each other, they will be there. A lone ranger? Remco should give it a shot if he's fine, maybe a snake dance behind will occur. I hope that (more than) one Frenchmen go/es for it and steal/s it.

 

[Kwaremonster]

It's far from a foregone conclusion that Mvdp wins this imo. His team is good for positioning him, but if this stage gets ridden hard, he is on his own. Then he needs to hope that a team (probably UAE) controls the race enough so he can win, without drilling every hill. A lot of ifs and buts.

 

[Froome]

Ramp saint hilaire is super tough. There will be gaps between the top riders tomorrow.

I saw the climb in the cronoescalata, and the climb is actually of 1.3 km at 9%. The last 800 m at 11.6%.

 

[Miss Violet Smith]

Any chance at all of a Roglstomp™ ?

(I know, I know.)

 

[CyclistAbi]

I am sceptical of van der Poel being in the mix. Pogi on the other hand will want to win a stage, take yellow and 100th career victory. Jonas will likely try to prevent from it to happen, Remco took a hit on stage 3 so hard to say, Rogla, penultimate climb is his terrain. So maybe not for the win but utilising stomp to mitigate, that would be good outcome. Especially if one team member at his side and one at front.

 

[Gratemans]

My prediction: Pogacar takes this but it'll be close.
Between him and #2/3/4 that is. Some GC contenders will probably lose some time though.

 

[Pantani_lives]

If MvdP wins this, he should go to the Flèche Wallone next year.

 

[Miha81]

If UAE controls it for him again

Or maybe Alpecin will want to try and control it this time since Jasper is out and it is perfect stage for them to win?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Hopefully we get some solid breakaction today. MvDP would want to defend the jersey, which probably means he will also fight for the stage win. Head says another win for the riding advertsing sign, heart screams Vauquelin.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Ramp saint hilaire is super tough. There will be gaps between the top riders tomorrow.

I saw the climb in the cronoescalata, and the climb is actually of 1.3 km at 9%. The last 800 m at 11.6%.

Yeah, just checked profiles in details and it's harder than I thought (in terms of max. steepness and also total elevation gain). Sharp turn at the start of steep section will slow down cyclists. Wind of 15-20 km/h will make attacks harder but it's not totally headwind (more like head-crosswind) and its effect should be kinda diminished by big gradient. Maybe we will see a major acceleration by Pogacar and Vingegaard troubling MVP.

 

[KZD]

If Pogacar wants he will drop everyone apart from maybe Vingegaard in that last climb. I hope he does this time.

If he doesn't attack though Van der Poel should be the favourite but that little plateau after the last climb is a good place for Vaquelin to attack.

 

[Heston]

Will the GC guys risk it the day before the TT?

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

What's the hardest climb MVDP has ever won/gotten over with the top guys?

I feel like he sometimes gets slightly overrated on gradients above 8% but maybe that's just my selected memory.
I could see a scenario where he isn't among the first few to crest but because GC guys like Pog and Vingegaard will cancel each other out he comes back and wins from the reduced group.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Or maybe Alpecin will want to try and control it this time since Jasper is out and it is perfect stage for them to win?

I mean controlling the last few kilometers, they‘d need UAE for that

 

[Cycling111]

The intermediate sprint is just before the first climb. All teams will be fighting for position. There could be a massive crash.

The intermediate sprint is bad positioned.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

The intermediate sprint is just before the first climb. All teams will be fighting for position. There could be a massive crash.

The intermediate sprint is bad positioned.

All teams will be fighting for position anyway coming into that climb, I think the intermediate sprint will work to string out the bunch a bit maybe.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

What's the hardest climb MVDP has ever won/gotten over with the top guys?

Probably this Suisse stage in 2021 he won solo.

Litschstrasse:

Carapaz, a still-world class Alaphilippe and a still-good Schachmann and Woods were all there.

 

[Red Rick]

Probably this Suisse stage in 2021 he won solo.

Carapaz, a still-world class Alaphilippe and a still-good Schachmann and Woods were all there.

I know it's Cipressa, but hanging on to Pogacar on Cipressa is probably his best climbing performance by far.

 

[Cycling111]

If MvdP wins this, he should go to the Flèche Wallone next year.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1942489713283051981

View: https://x.com/laflammerouge16/status/1942489713283051981?t=srtx0Du7GMp68iKx9ukAdA&s=19

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I don‘t think the climbs should bother MVDP that much. Even the final climb is only 800 meters, you won‘t find any shorter in the final of a Tour stage.

 

[Earns1985]

What's the hardest climb MVDP has ever won/gotten over with the top guys?

Stage 5 Tirreno Addriatico 2021.

Climbs included, which they had to ride 4 times had been:
1,5 km with 10,1%
1 km with 7,2%
0,6 km with 8,1 %

He won there with a solo attack 64 km from the finish and saved 10 seconds on Pogacar at the finish line.