Tour de France 2022: everything you need to know about the 4th stage between Dunkirk and Calais

After a day, not of rest but of transition to return from Denmark, the peloton sets off for a stage whose final promises to be tricky between the seaside and the final bump 10 km from the finish.

Here is what to remember from the menu offered to runners.

Calais first

Calais had never hosted a Tour de France finish.

But she had been twice in the past leaving town.

The first time in 1994 for a team time trial to the entrance to the Eurotunnel under the Channel, 66.5 km long.

Another era.

That year, the Belgian team GB-MG of Belgian Johan Museeuw won.

And the latter had put on the yellow jersey.

The second time was in 2001. In Antwerp, it was again a Belgian, Marc Wauters, who had a double blow with the stage victory and the taking of the yellow tunic.

Favorite: Mathieu Van der Poel

Raymond Poulidor's grandson is in good shape and proved it during the first stage against the clock.

The terrain suits him perfectly and is reminiscent of the Breton roads where he stole the yellow jersey from Julian Alaphilippe in the second stage last year.

Its explosive qualities can help it, for this quest, in the final bump of Cap Blanc-Nez.

The eye of Thierry Gouvenou, course manager

“In the general design of this Tour de France, we wanted to highlight punchers like Wout van Aert, Mathieu Van der Poel or Julian Alaphilippe, before his withdrawal, who are spectacular riders.

So we decided to give them the ingredients to put themselves forward.

This is clearly the idea of ​​this 4th step.

There are good climbs and a course quite exposed to the wind.

The last climb 10 km from the finish, which is called Cap Blanc-Nez, could be a springboard for this type of runner.

Then, we can imagine a 10 km struggle between those who have attacked and the peloton.

The suspense will be there.

In this stage, it may recall that of Épernay in 2019 when Julian Alaphilippe took the yellow jersey.

It's less hard but we're a little in this type of perspective because we can arrive at the last climb very blunt because of the wind.

»