Tour de France 2024 stage 4 preview – Pogačar, Vingegaard, and the Galibier as the race reaches France

Following the Tour de France‘s Grande Partenza in neighbouring Italy – featuring a scorching hot opening weekend through the Apennines and a comatose sprint stage across the Po Valley – the race hits France and the Alps on stage 4.

The race has never headed into the mountains this early, though it isn’t going the way of the Giro d’Italia or Vuelta a España with a first-week summit finish. In the 2,642-metre high Col de Galibier, however, the peloton will be tackling the first hors catégorie climb of this year’s event and its second-highest mountain pass.