Approaching a cobbled stage at the Tour de France should be treated in the same way you would approach a mountain stage, according to Britain’s former Classics hardman Roger Hammond, and only the under-prepared should fear the pavé.

Stage four of the 2015 Tour includes 13.3km of pavé and Hammond, who finished on the podium at Paris-Roubaix during a career which saw him make a name for himself tackling the cobblestones of Belgium and Northern France, is pleased to see the cobbles return to the Tour route for a second consecutive year.

And the former British champion believes that by including cobbles in the race, the eventual Tour champion in Paris can be viewed as a true all-round rider.

He told RCUK: “For me, the Tour de France – being a three-week stage race – should test the rider in all sorts of environments.

“You will always get riders who can’t ride the mountains, complaining about them, so you will always get riders who can’t ride on the cobbles complaining about them too.

“I think a Grand Tour should test a rider in all situations though – you get the flat stages and the crosswinds, you get the hors categorie mountains, they are purgatory for the sprinters, and I do feel it should test the riders skills in all environments.

“Vincenzo Nibali won last year and you never heard him complaining about the cobbles because he knew he could do it.”

Roger Hammond’s guide on how to ride the Paris-Roubaix pave

Hammond has shared advice for riding the cobbles with us before, and believes that any general classification rider previously uncomfortable with taking on the cobbles has no excuses for being under prepared for the fourth stage of the Tour.

“At the start of the Tour, you know it’s there,” he explained. “The riders have been preparing for the Tour de France for a long time so they’ve had plenty of chance to get out there and ride it.

“That’s where they need to get themselves used to the complexities of the cobbles. Nowadays, you wouldn’t have riders not go and recce a mountain stage of the Tour de France.

“They go out and practice those mountain stages every day, until they become second nature, so to my mind you need to give as much time – if not more – to the cobbles, where they won’t be as comfortable.”

Hammond also believes you have to forget the form book on the stage, given the role many of the riders who shone in the spring Classics will have to play for their GC men.

Lars Boom benefitted 12 months ago from riding for a team, in Belkin, who – though they had GC ambitions with Bauke Mollema – were not strong favourites for the race overall, giving the Dutch rider a free licence to go and win the stage.

But, having joined Astana, Boom’s duty this year will be to protect defending Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali, while the likes of Geraint Thomas have yellow jersey Chris Froome to protect and even Peter Sagan may find himself in the service of Alberto Contador.

“There are a few riders trying to win stages, and there are others trying to ride GC, but the Tour de France for most of the others is about trying to help their team-mates achieve those goals,” he said.

“You put a Classics specialist in [your squad] in the hope he will be so at ease on the cobbles he will protect his leader. But it’s just the same theory as in the mountains, where you will have your specialist climbers [to protect your leader and not win stages].

“There’s no difference in approach, and invariably the Classics specialists will be good for other stages – those comfortable riding on the cobbles are usually the guys that get put on the front for the flat stages.

“Some [Classics riders] will be allowed to ride for themselves, but it will be those guys who don’t have a GC contender who is a massive favourite for the race.

“They’ll be allowed to have a bit of fun out there, tick the boxes and ultimately [if they win] they can call it a successful Tour de France – like with Lars Boom and Belkin last year. But for Nibali, Quintana, Chris Froome – their cobbled riders have a hugely [support] important role to play on the day.”

Froome will start the stage in the yellow jersey, with the likes of Thomas, Tour debutant and top ten Paris-Roubaix finisher Luke Rowe and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Ian Stannard for company on the cobbles.

And Hammond, speaking even before Froome’s second place finish on the Mur de Huy saw him claim the race lead, believes the British team are perfectly placed for this year’s Tour.

“It’s hard to see beyond Sky at the moment,” he admitted. “The number of riders who have stepped up this year is incredible, and it’s not because they have a weak leader – they have an extremely strong leader with several strong riders around him.

“For Nibali, he won the Tour last year but the mentality will be different this time out. He’s got that psychological advantage over Chris Froome, who has a point to prove after last year, but Sky seem to have learned their lessons and stepped up a lot this year.”