Stage four of the 2014 Tour de France was an instant classic, with Vincenzo Nibali putting on a masterclass over the cobbles while wearing the yellow jersey, as Chris Froome crashed out of the race and Alberto Contador lost precious time. While the general classification battle was absorbing in all its drama, at the head of the race, Lars Boom was out in one of his best days on the road bike to claim the stage win. Boom hasn`t raced the Tour since, while the pave of the north has featured just once since the instantly iconic stage. With the unveiling of the 2018 Tour de France parcours and eye-catching stage 9 to Roubaix, Boom could be set for a return to the French Grand Tour. `I think it is really nice to have a stage like this in the Tour,` Boom told Cyclingnews at the Tour of Guangxi with limited access to the full parcours of the Tour. `I am looking forward. It is stage 9 so it`s a little bit further away then 2014, but it is good.`ADVERTISEMENT The inaugural Chinese WorldTour race is the final road event on Boom`s programme in 2017, with his focus on aiding Dylan Groenewegen in the sprint stages. Looking over his season, Boom explained after a challenging spring his year improved, with the Tour of Britain a highlight. `The beginning of the year was bad so I was unhappy. I worked hard to get back into a good level at the end of the year, so in the end the last few months were quite good, I think,` he said. Gibbons feeling the pain of Beihai crash Jack Haig keeping things fun in China
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