Gilbert favourite for win number 2 on Tour

Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert is being tipped to continue his dream start to the Tour de France when the peloton faces its second hilly finish within four days of racing on Tuesday. Classics king Gilbert opened his account on the race in style on Saturday when he rode away from Swiss Fabian Cancellara in the final 400 metres of the 2km climb to Mont des Alouettes. Gilbert's maiden victory on the race gave him the leader's yellow jersey, which he swapped for the points classification's green jersey after his Omega-Pharma team failed to challenge in Sunday's team time trial. Jersey or not, Gilbert's former manager at FDJ, Marc Madiot, believes Gilbert has only one thing in mind on his fifth Tour de France. "If he picks up a jersey, great. But he's a killer, a winner and all he's interested in is raising his arms in triumph," said Madiot. "Out of the two or three uphill finishes left, he's going to put another one of them away." Tuesday's fourth stage -- and to a lesser extent stage six -- provides the perfect opprtunity. It is a 172.5 km ride from Lorient to Mur de Bretagne, often compared, by cycling-savvy locals, to the legendary French alpine climb Alpe d'Huez. At a difficult 2km long with an average gradient of 6.9 percent, and pitches in the first kilometre hitting a painful 10 percent, the Mur is still small fare compared to the Alpe d'Huez's 14km and 21 legendary hairpin bends. However it suits Gilbert to perfection, especially in a season which has seen him become only the second rider to sweep the hilly Ardennes classics -- Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonnne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Australian Simon Gerrans has seen first-hand the uphill finishing power of Gilbert, having finished a career-best third place behind the Belgian at Amstel in April. While he believes the Belgian won't be the only 'puncher' contending victory on Tuesday, he says Gilbert sticks out from the rest. "For the stage I see Philippe Gilbert being the main threat," Gerrans told AFP prior to the start of Monday's third stage. "I haven't raced the Mur de Bretagne but I know a lot of the hills around here because I often raced as an amateur in Bretagne. "It's a tough climb, but we're talking about two minutes full gas." Although Gerrans would normally be a contender, his own ambitions will be determined by his Sky team's priorities. Heading into stage three teammates Geraint Thomas and Edvald Boasson Hagen were only four seconds off the overall lead of Norwegian Thor Hushovd of Garmin. However Gerrans believes Hushovd, who has climbing skills himself, will still be in the lead come Tuesday's finish. "I'm feeling good, you always have a tricky first few day on the Tour and sometimes that means it's not ideal sensation-wise," added Gerrans. "At the moment the plan is to continue working away for the team. But I can't see Thor losing the yellow jersey."