Stage 3: Cambridge – London 155km

Stage three will be the final chance for British cycling fans to see their heroes on home soil, and certainly offers a less testing parcours than the previous two stages. In fact, with the exception of the final run into Paris, this is probably the easiest stage of the whole three weeks.

From the start in Cambridge the route sweeps south into Essex on wide roads with a few small climbs which should enable the early break to slip clear quickly. The peloton will then meander through the Essex lanes for a couple of hours, often on narrow roads which could cause problems were they not so far from the finish.

The roads widen for the intermediate sprint at Epping Forest and from there it’s wide well-surfaced roads as the race makes its way through east London and the Olympic Park before the final rush along the Embankment towards the finish on the Mall. With almost no obstacles in the final 15km expect this to be a battle of the sprint trains to deliver the fast men to the top of the Mall in as good a position as possible.

Rider to Watch: Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano)

The finish on the Mall has some fairly obvious similarities with the fabled charge down the Champs-Elysees that the riders will tackle three weeks later. As well as the spectacular setting, the run-in is on uncomplicated, wide roads, with a dead straight charge to the line. For a well-drilled leadout train with one of the fastest men in the world sitting on the rear this should be bread-and-butter stuff.

Marcel Kittel staked his claim as the fastest sprinter in the world with his four stage wins at last year’s Tour and certainly hasn’t slowed down since then. The German took two stage wins in the Giro d’Italia before being forced to withdraw with a fever, and recently took a stage win at the Ster ZLM Toer, comfortably outsprinting Tyler Farrar.

One of the most powerful sprinters in the peloton, Kittel is at his best when he’s led into the final 200m at top speed, and will therefore look to his leadout men to keep the speed high in an attempt to nullify the superior acceleration of Mark Cavendish. In Albert Timmer, Tom Veelers, Koen de Kort, and John Degenkolb, Giant-Shimano certainly have plenty of firepower at their disposal and should thrive on the wide streets of London, putting Kittel in prime position to spoil Cavendish’s party in London. 

Stage 4: Le Touquet-Paris-Plage – Lille-Métropole 163.5km

Back in the motherland for what looks to be a typical ‘first-week-of-the-Tour’ stage with a day of rolling but unspectacular northern French scenery culminating in an inevitable sprint finish.

Once again a lumpy start to the stage should allow the early break to slip clear early allowing the peloton to relax for much of the day. The intermediate sprint comes after 92km, and is rather cheekily located atop the Casselberg (2.3km at 5%), a regular feature of Gent-Wevelgem and surely an opportunity for Peter Sagan to take a few points in the fight for the green jersey.

From there the race turns south, flirting with the Belgian border on its way to Lille. The final 15km takes the peloton through the centre of the city where some narrow streets and a number of tight corners could provide a springboard for late attacks. But with 3.5km remaining wider roads should allow the sprint trains to regain control as they race towards an unglamourous finish in the eastern suburbs, sandwiched between a retail park and the Stade Pierre Mauroy, the home of the LOSC Lille football team.

Rider to Watch: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol)

As has been the case through much of his career Andre Greipel seems to have been overlooked in the build-up to this year’s Tour de France. As the cycling world looks forward to the battle between Kittel and Cavendish, the other big German has been slowly building form and is in arguably the best shape of all of the fast men.

Indeed Greipel has racked up more wins in 2014 than any other rider, crossing the line first on eleven occasions so far this season, compared to Cavendish’s nine and Kittel’s seven. The most recent of these victories came at the Ster ZLM Toer at the end of a successful four weeks that also yielded stage wins at the World Ports Classic, the Tour of Belgium, and the Tour of Luxembourg. After suffering a broken collarbone in Gent-Wevelgem in March, Greipel will be happy to be back to winning ways, and will surely have high confidence going into the Tour.

With leadout man Greg Henderson also in form, having taken a stage victory for himself at the Ster ZLM Toer, following on from a podium finish in the Ronde van Limburg, and the ever-reliable Marcel Sieberg and Jurgen Roelandts also in the team, Greipel can depend on an experienced team to navigate him through the streets of Lille in perfect position.

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