The third stage in the Tour de France – a 193.5 km ride from Amorebieto-Etxano to Bayonne – was won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin). Adam Yates’ yellow jersey was not in danger.
Philipsen turned out to be the strongest in the first mass sprint of this Tour de France after great work by teammate Mathieu van der Poel.
The first print of this Tour de France was counted in advance between the big sprint bombs. Of course, riders were allowed to ride away in the first instance. Laurent Pichon and Neilson Powless served the duo. The latter did this mainly to collect the intermediate mountain points and succeeded in doing so.
Once that was accomplished, he dropped back and left Pichon alone. But 35 km before the finish, the Frenchman was also struggling. The peloton was back together and raced towards the finish, while the sprinter teams positioned themselves.
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So the game was on. Who was going to take the first sprint victory? Jakobsen? Green roads? Phillips? Or the cunning Mark Cavendish? It eventually became Philipsen.