Tour de France LIVE stage four: Fernando Gaviria wins sprint photo finish from Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel

The peloton returns to the road as one for a 195km route from La Baule to Sarzeau, via a jaunt into the heart of Brittany, setup for the sprinters

How Chris Froome won his fourth Tour de France

Stage four offers another chance for sprinters like Mark Cavendish, Fernando Gaviria and Peter Sagan to shine while the general classification contenders like Chris Froome, Richie Porte and the rest will just be hoping to keep out of harm's way following the choas of the opening two stages.

After yesterday's stage-three team time trial, Greg van Avermaet is the man in the yellow jersey, the BMC rider who will aim to defend that status for as long as possible through the coming days, but will face plenty of challenges no doubt, not least from Team Sky and Geraint Thomas, their foremost rider in the overall standings.

Although today's 195km route from La Baule to Sarzeau via a jaunt into the heart of picturesque Brittany is a relatively flat one, the stage finishes on a slight uphill drag for around 2km which could take out the short-burst sprinters and will favour the riders who can sustain power for longer, like Michael Matthews and perhaps Marcel Kittel. Follow all the action with our live blog below:

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Stage four profile

Stage four profile (letour.com)

Route map

Stage four route map (letour.com)

Prediction

There are all sort of riders who could win this type of stage, but the uphill drag to the finish makes us think Michael Matthews can pull off something special.

Odds

Fernando Gaviria 7/4
Dylan Groenewegen 4/1
Marcel Kittel 4/1 
Peter Sagan 11/2
Arnaud Demare 15/2

How to watch on TV

Stage four will be shown live on ITV4 from 12pm, and on Eurosport from 11.45am.

Key Points

• Stage three report: BMC edge out Team Sky in TTT
• Stage four preview: A route for the sprinters to shine
• Stage-by-stage guide to the 2018 Tour de France
• Team-by-team guide to all 176 riders on the start list

[10 July 2018 16:03 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

Greg van Avermaet is positioned close to the front of the main bunch, surrounding by his BMC team-mates.

[10 July 2018 16:04 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

Here's a bit more from the little crash which halted the peloton's charge:

[10 July 2018 16:13 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

Thomas de Gendt hits the front and floors it in an effort to give his sprinter, Andre Greipel, every opportunity at the end of this race, which I sense is going to be explosive. A reminder that this stage ends with a long, straight 4km drag which culminates in a slight incline for the final 2km. There are lots of riders in this pack who will fancy their chances here – Fernando Gaviria is perhaps the favourite, but Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan and many more will be trying to win it. 

[10 July 2018 16:24 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

25km to go

The peloton still need to achieve their first task of dragging back the break and at present, the front four are still more than two minutes clear. Still plenty of time for that to be eroded, of course.

[10 July 2018 16:33 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

Quick-Step Floors are now controlling the pace on the front of this peloton, with Niki Terpstra and Philippe Gilbert leading the way. This a delicate balancing act for the Belgian team. They have huge strength in depth, but don't to burn out Terpstra and Gilbert – two Tour of Flanders winners – and weaken their lead-out train when they get to finish and attempt to pull Fernando Gaviria into position for the sprint. Will anyone else help them shut this breakaway down? The leading quartet remain around 1 min and 50 sec clear of the pack. 

[10 July 2018 16:38 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

It has not been a very interesting day's racing, let's be honest with each other, but it is setup to be an intriguing finish. 

[10 July 2018 16:42 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

10km to go 

The gap is now down to barely a minute as this race approaches Sarzeau. 

[10 July 2018 16:47 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

Quick-Step still doing most of the work...

[10 July 2018 16:49 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

5km to go

A crash! This could be really influential, as half the peloton are involved and could lose significant time. It looks like Tony Gallopin is badly injured, and he lies on the road receiving treatment. 

[10 July 2018 16:52 · Vithushan Ehantharajah]

3km to go

Team Sky hit the front now, with Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas attacking, perhaps looking to put some time between themselves and those who were affected by the crash. There doesn't seem to be any major GC names hurt by that incident. The breakaway are moments from being caught, right at the last!