Yesterday's stage proved that favourites like Ryder Hesjedal and Vincenzo Nibali do not want to waste any opportunity to put Bradley Wiggins under pressure and today's fourth stage seems to be another such chance to see just how strong the British favourite is. The top of a gradual category 2 climb will be crested with just 6,5km to the finish and the riders will probably make up for the lack of steepness by another display of aggressiveness in what could be another huge drama. Starting at 14.15 you can follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

The GC riders have to be very careful on the fourth day of racing which offers the climbers the first opportunity to take time out of the time triallists. The peloton continues its run along the western coast in a mammoth 246km stage from Policastro Bussentino to Serra San Bruno. The first 191,9km are completely flat and only the wind has the potential to pose some danger for the riders. The racing gets, however, serious when the riders head inland to tackle the category 3 Vibo Valentia climb (14,9km, 3,0%, max. 10%). A short descent and a few kilometres of flat roads lead to the bottom of the day's final ascent, the category 2 Croce Ferrata (12,8km, 5,5%, max. 10%). The climb is a regular one with its maximum gradient just before the midpoint, and the final half is easier than the first part. From the top 6,15km of rolling terrain and a short pave section with 1km to go remain before the race finishes in Serra San Bruno at the end of a very long day in the saddle.

Traditionally the favourites take a defensive approach in the first uphill test in a grand tour and since the final climb is not very steep, everything would suggest that the key riders would prefer to stay calm. However, yesterday's action showed that Nibali and Hesjedal want to test Wiggins on every possible occasion and so we can once again expect dramatic action on the roads to Serra San Bruno. Due to the climb's nature we will probably not see any time differences between the biggest favourites but we could see a much smaller group arrive at the finish than the 30-rider bunch that most people expected prior to the race.

The stage has a number of different possible scenarios. Since the stage has no obvious favourite, it is not completely impossible for a long-distance breakaway to stay away all the way to the finish line - especially since the length of the stage will take its toll on any team wanting to control the race. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that Paolini will be able to keep his jersey in a stage like this and so Katusha may choose to save their energy for later in the race. Finally, a successful escape would suit the Sky team perfectly since Wiggins is in a position to inherit the lead from Paolini and there is no doubt that Brit prefers to stay away from the stress of being race leader as long as possible.

Nonetheless, the stage is a perfect opportunity for an in-form Mauro Santambrogio to take a stage win and if Vini Fantini is not represented in the early breakaway, they could choose to bring it back together for the final climb. Other teams with such interests could be the Movistar and Bardiani teams and so the most likely scenario seems to be that the favourites will battle in out on the Croce Ferrata climb.

Since it will be hard to make a real selection on the climb, we will probably see a sprint from a small group at the end, and this automatically marks Santambrogio, Cadel Evans, Ryder Hesjedal and Samuel Sanchez out as favourites. Outsiders could be Miguel Angel Rubiano, Enrico Battaglin and Giovanni Visconti who are all fast and could be capable of surviving the slopes of the final ascent. There is, however, also the possibility that some opportunist may sneak away on the climb as it may very well be unclear who has to chase such a move down.

Starting at 14.15 you can follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

CyclingQuotes' stage winner picks: Mauro Santambrogio, Cadel Evans, Samuel Sanchez

Outsiders: Giovanni Visconti, Miguel Angel Rubiano, Enrico Battaglin