Tour de France contenders Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali will be thinking about conservation and preservation as the Grand Boucle returns home on Tuesday.
Following three exciting stages in England, capped by unbridled enthusiasm from millions of fans lining the roads, the Tour will grace French soil in the fourth stage from Le Touquet to Lille.
The 163.5km run has a few bumps with two fourth category climbs but is expected to end in a bunch sprint.
Ahead of the cobbled stage five’s tribute to the epic Paris-Roubaix Spring Classic, the contenders will be trying desperately to stay out of trouble on Tuesday.
And they are also trying to avoid focusing on that fifth stage from Ypres in Belgium to Arenberg before its time.
Nibali will wear yellow when the French leg of the Tour begins and he says stage four shouldn’t be underestimated, despite the excitement about the cobblestones to come.
“We’ll have the chance to think about it when we get there,” said Nibali.
“(Tuesday) will be another nervous stage. Let’s get past (that), another day without any great problems, and then when we get to the cobbles stage we’ve got the material we need.
“Certainly we’ll try to ride it well and stay close together (as a team). We know what problems can happen, it can be dangerous and it’s best not to crash.”
Reigning champion Chris Froome said Tuesday’s stage would be much the same as Monday’s in terms of simply avoiding any unexpected banana skins.
“I’m feeling good. (Tuesday) we can expect a similar day (to Monday) but on day five we hit the cobbles and that will be quite a shake up, literally,” he told British broadcaster ITV4.
According to former French cyclist Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, the stress and pressure of these opening stages could come back to haunt the favourites.
– Can anyone stop Marcel Kittel? –
“Normally, in the past, the favourites sat in the middle of the peloton, avoided splits and it was the sprinters who managed things (the first week) but here they’ve had to manage the race,” he said.
“You’ll see that straightaway in the Alps, this pressure they’ve been under, because after this fast week we’re into the Vosges and then the Alps and it will be up to them to play their cards right.
“Whoever hasn’t been able to recover from this first week will pay.”
The big question on Tuesday will be can anyone stop Marcel Kittel.
The muscular German has won two of the opening three stages and has been imperious in the sprint finishes.
Having won four stages in last year’s Tour he has already claimed half as many again this time around.
In Monday’s third stage from Cambridge to London he was given the perfect lead-out by his Giant-Shimano team and was never challenged by any of his sprint rivals.
The 26-year-old wasn’t making any predictions about how many stages he could win but he does have his eye on Tuesday’s.
“So far I’ve won two, from now on I’ll take it day by day, there are still other chances coming for us, I hope it works well. We will see,” he said.
For sprint rival Bryan Coquard, who was fourth on stages one and three and has been picking up useful points in the green jersey race at intermediate sprints, as imposing as Kittel is it is his team that makes the biggest difference.
“For sure, just by his physique, next to me Kittel is impressive,” said the 22-year-old, who stands around 20cm shorter and 30kg lighter than the German.
“The most impressive thing is his team — they put him in place to the millimetre, he doesn’t make any effort.”
But Coquard still believes he can trump Kittel, as he has done before.
“I think he’s beatable. Last year he was beaten (at the Tour). OK, not yet this year but maybe that will come.
“Last year I beat him at the Tour de Picardie so why not at the Tour de France?”