Article #71048

• Fans were banned from stage three finish amid fire risk

• Tour organisers insist stage four goes ahead in 40C heat

Tour de France organisers have insisted that the fourth stage on Tuesday, from Carcassonne to Foix, will go ahead, despite furnace conditions in southern France and predicted temperatures of more than 40C (104F).

The 182km stage, scheduled to run through the heat of the afternoon, comes after the Tour’s third stage to Les Angles was held without the usual publicity caravan and only small numbers of fans, to avoid increasing the risks posed by wildfires raging in the eastern Pyrenees.