Geraint Thomas says his Sky leader at the Tour de France, Chris Froome will not fall victim to the mammoth stage four of the race, which is 223.5km long from Seraing to Cambrai and features 13km of cobbles.

Last year, Froome crashed out before he even reached the cobbles and Alberto Contador lost over two and a half minutes to Vincenzo Nibali, who would go on to take Yellow in Paris.

Thomas told Sky Sports News HQ: “The cobbled stage will be a really stressful day. Everybody wants to be at the front because there is less chance of being caught up in any accidents.”

“One hundred and eighty bike riders wants to be in the front 10, but the road is only so wide and it can get pretty chaotic.”

“It’s all about keeping Froomey up there at the front and once you are on the cobbles, it’s not too bad. If Chris did a time trial over them, I am sure he would be right up there with everybody else, so it’s just about getting him there in the right position, which is the difficult bit.”

The other key stage outside of the mountains may be stage nine, the 28km team time trial. Sky lost time to Astana and BMC during the Criterium du Dauphine on a similar course. Thomas wasn’t present at the Dauphine, but says he and the Tour team are going to look at that stage today to ensure they lose no time to other GC favourites.

“They had a bit of bad luck at the Dauphine and a couple of guys weren’t quite on it and I think the team as a whole will be a little bit stronger.”

“We are going to have a look at the team time trial route on Wednesday and then head over to the start in Holland. I’m confident we will do a lot better there.”