Tour de France Stage 4 Predictions: Vauquelin offers each-way value

A sprint finish to stage three of this year's Tour de France played out as expected on Monday as European champion Tim Merlier claimed the second Tour stage of his career and first in four years.

The day was not without incident, however. Points classification leader and stage one winner Jasper Philipsen was forced to abandon the race after a crash at the intermediate sprint, while there were two more crashes inside the final three kilometres.

Philipsen's team-mate Mathieu van der Poel managed to avoid the chaos and retained the yellow jersey - and the Dutch superstar will be looking at stage four on Tuesday as a great chance to consolidate his position at the top of the general classification.

Read on for my Tour de France Stage 4 predictions.

The route

Stage four begins in Amiens, the birthplace of French president Emmanuel Macron, and ends in the Normandy city of Rouen, home town of one of the Tour's greatest sons Jacques Anquetil.

Five-time Tour winner Anquetil won in his home town en route to his first yellow jersey in 1957 and Tuesday's victor will also need to showcase their climbing abilities.

Tour de France Stage 4 Odds 

A lumpy 175km test culminates in an extremely testing final 40km which comprises five categorised climbs.

The day's final ascent of the Rampe Saint-Hilaire, 800m at over 10 per cent, should provide stage hunters with the perfect chance to get the jump on the rest, before a sharp descent and drag up to the finish line. 

Kevin Vauquelin each-way @ 14/1

Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin is already a Tour de France stage winner from last year and Tuesday's route bears a striking resemblance to his landmark win in Bologna.

Vauquelin slipped the field on the second and final climb of San Luca before dashing down to victory in the Italian city.

The 24-year-old may be looking at the super steep Rampe Saint-Hilaire as another springboard to victory and he has shown up well at the Tour so far.

Sixteenth on stage one was followed by a highly creditable eighth against some of the race's big boys a day later, and Vauquelin, who finished second to Tour favourite Tadej Pogacar at La Fleche Wallonne, a race which ends on the mightily steep Mur de Huy, should relish Tuesday's finale.

Mattias Skjelmose each-way @ 80/1

There was a time when Mattias Skjelmose was being earmarked as a potential Tour challenger of the future.

The Dane has endured an interrupted season and didn't race at all between the end of April and June.

However, he returned with victory at the mountainous Andorra Classica, where he beat a very good field, and the route should interest him as a winner of this year's Amstel Gold.

Skjelmose beat Pogacar, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel and multiple Grand Tour stage winner Wout van Aert to win that prestigious spring Classic, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he left this year's Tour with a stage win to his name.

That may come on Tuesday when the GC race could explode into life.

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