Tim Merlier won the 3rd stage of the Tour de France in Dunkirk in the sprint. The Frenchman won two heavy falls in a chaotic finale. Jonathan Milan finished second, the German Phil Bauhaus finished third. Jasper Philipsen, who had to give up beforehand, was unlucky.
Philipsen is “converted” and has to give up
Pech had Philipsen, who had started in the green jersey of the best point and had won the 1st stage. A few meters before the intermediate sprint 60 kilometers before the finish, Philipsen fell hard to the right side – the 27 -year -old had to give up afterwards. Before the Belgian, two drivers came into the enclosure, Brian Coquard came from pedals and turned a Schlenker to the left. This literally converted Philipsen behind it and has no chance. Philipsen was then treated on the roadside for a long time.
Only 800 meters of altitude to Dunkirk
After the wavy final on the day before and the exchange of blows of cycling stars, a real flat stage was on the program on the third day of the tour. On the 178 kilometers from Valenciennes to Dunkirk, only 800 meters of altitude had to be overcome. So the profile was made for a mass sprint.
Only the wind could have thwarted here. But there was good news for the Sprinter teams before the start. Headwind was predicted for the complete final. The dreaded wind edge should therefore be absent. However, decent gusts of wind were also predicted.
Small talk instead of attacks after the start
It started like the day before with rain and cool 16 degrees. Many professionals wore rain jackets at the start. Because of the unusually large number of tire defects after the neutral start, the race was released with seven minutes late.
After the start there were pictures that have not yet been seen in the varied first two stages. The pace in the field was leisurely, you saw the driver chatting and laughing. Understandable, the first two racing days were intense, hectic and stressful for the professionals. The rain had also stopped drying the streets.
Only 36 km/h in the first hour of race
Also curious: Matej Mohoric and Jonas Rickaert started an early test, but quickly separated and found themselves in the field after a few kilometers. Only after a little more than 20 kilometers did Alpecin Deceuninck lined up with Mathieu van der Poel in the yellow jersey at the front and increased the pace. But there were no attacks. The weather forecast should also have played a role: decent headwind was expected for the last 60 kilometers. Before that, the wind always blew off the side. In the first hour of racing, the average speed was only 36.2 km/h. After 78 kilometers it was 38.8 km/h.
Milan wins intermediate sprint without resistance
The first big excitement was then the fall of Philipsen before the intermediate sprint. Almost a minor matter became that Jonathan Milan won the rating. The Italian had no resistance because the other professionals had put back after the Philipsen crash. Milan drove the sprint from the front and hadn’t noticed the drama behind him.
There was also no fight for the only mountain ranking of the 4th category 31 kilometers before the finish. Tim Wellens had previously settled alone and passed the rating with a minute lead. Wellens takes over the mountain jersey from its team -mate Pogacar. Both have three points on the account, but Wacens won a mountain ranking more.
4. Stage promises exciting finals
The 4th stage on Tuesday promises another exciting final. Four mountain ratings from the 3rd and 4th category are on the last 30 kilometers. The section leads over 173 kilometers and 2,000 meters from Amiens to Rouen.