The furnace is on full blast as Stage Four of the 2026 Tour de France reaches its boiling point – literally. Temperatures are expected to soar to 40 degrees Celsius, putting the world's top cyclists to the test in a battle against the blistering heat. For Tadej Pogacar, still basking in the glory of his Stage Three victory and new race leadership, it's a worrying trend: 'dangerous' he called it, if riders don't keep their body temperature down.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG is pulling out all stops to keep its riders cool – water and ice are at hand as they try to beat the heat. But it won't be just the scorching sun beating them down – four categorised climbs await on a lumpy stage that promises to test even the fittest of legs. Quinn Simmons summed it up yesterday: 'it was ridiculous' temperatures, and today's stage looks set to be an even tougher challenge.
Remco Evenepoel had a close call when he got a flat tyre during the neutralised roll-out from Carcassonne – but he managed to avoid losing ground. As the peloton hits the road again, several riders are eyeing up the breakaway – will Michal Kwiatkowski or Magnus Cort be among them, as veteran cycling scribe William Fotheringham suggests? Today's stage is set to be a nail-biter.