Three weeks in the Tour de France offer many occasions to shine, to be frustrated and, unless fate takes you out of the race, to bounce back to the highest summits after surviving the darkest lows. On day 1, Tim Merlier couldn’t sprint for the Maillot Jaune he had dreamt of before the Grand Départ in Lille. Yet the Belgian sprinter was all smiles when he took his revenge on Monday, narrowly edging Jonathan Milan in Dunkirk.
Meanwhile, Jasper Philipsen was assessing his injuries after a hard tumble that saw him leave the race while wearing the green jersey he wanted to take all the way to Paris. Alpecin-Deceuninck’s dream of the Tour took a serious hit. But stage 4, with an explosive finale in Rouen, offers Mathieu Van der Poel a fresh opportunity to display his Maillot Jaune and avenge his teammate and friend.
To triumph in Rouen, past the Côte Jacques Anquetil and four more ascents packed inside the last 30 kilometres, the Flying Dutchman will need to be at his best. That’s not really a matter of concern for his team.
But he will also need to tame rivals such as Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, 2nd and 3rd in Boulogne-sur-Mer, as well as a cohort of French hopefuls. Romain Grégoire was born to win races. Julian Alaphilippe has shown great signs of strength. And nobody knows what Kévin Vauquelin’s limits - not even himself -, especially with a stage win on his Normandy roads in sight, and potentially the Maillot Jaune to come along.
