Staying in the north of France, stage three is a 178km run from Valenciennes to Dunkerque, with the finish line near the Calais coast. It’s a largely flat day in the saddle but for the return of the category-four climb of Mont Cassel, so important to the Tour’s organisers that they’ve included it twice, on both stage one and three.

A pan-flat route means a perfect opportunity for the pure sprinters on stage 3 of the Tour de France. The only pimple on the parcours comes with around 33km to go, with the category four ascent of Mont Cassel (2.3km at 3.8%), but its shallow gradients are unlikely to put any riders into difficulty.

BBC Sport looks at the 21 stages of the Tour de France, with pointers to where the race could be won and lost.