Tour de France 2016 Favourites stage 4: A Degenkolbish kind of finish

At 237.5 kilometres, stage 4 is the longest in the 2016 Tour de France. The rolling roads start to get more hilly in the last 50 kilometres and the race is set to conclude with a sprint on an uphill arrival, opening up chances for the toughest among the fast men. (Slideshow route/profile)

It would be a well-deserved reward after a long recovery when John Degenkolb is to power to victory in Limoges. Last January he and several of his teammates collided head on into a car that drove on the wrong side of the road during a training ride near Calpe, Spain. He nearly lost a finger and after a three month lay-off he was back racing in May. Today’s arrival is a demanding one and that’s the kind of sprint Big John likes. Yet the same goes for Michael Matthews and Peter Sagan.

After a race on rolling roads the finale is ushered in by a 500 metres climb at 6% with 8 kilometres to go. The last 500 metres go up at 5%. After his brilliant performance in stage 2, we should Sagan consider to be the top-favourite.

Favourites 4th stage Tour de France 2016:

*** John Degenkolb, Peter Sagan, Michael Matthews
** André Greipel, Alexander Kristoff, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Julian Alaphilippe
* Greg Van Avermaet, Alejandro Valverde, Jens Debusschere, Mark Cavendish, Dylan Teuns