photo credits @ Le Tour
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) won a thrilling uphill finish to claim stage 3 of the Tour de France today.
The Slovakian rider pulled his right foot out of his pedal in the closing meters as BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet was moving in fast on him, but the Belgian challenger couldn’t take advantage of the stumble. Sagan regained his footing, and was too strong, proving he is still the best overall sprinter in the world.
As a result, Van Avermaet slipped to fourth on the stage. Michael Matthews came from deep out in the final train to nip Dan Martin at the line for second place. After wet, crash-filled Stages 1 and 2, there should be no lasting damage from Stage 3, which reminds us that this sport can sometimes be normal and fun.
Earlier Highlights
A hardy breakaway was hauled in late. What began as a six-man group became nine when Thomas de Gendt, Lilian Calmejane, and Romain Sicard broke from the peloton with roughly 60 kilometers to go. Eventually the break was whittled to Calmejane, de Gendt, and Pierre-Luc Périchon, then just Calmejane, who broke from de Gendt on the last Category 4 climb, vainly hoping to hold his 50-second gap.
Calmejane, a strong, promising 24-year-old French rider, may be a force in the Tour in the future. Just under the 10k banner, however, he was caught, and the jostling for position at the front of the peleton for sprint position ratcheted up.
Van Avermaet and BMC led the steep, technical descent before the short final climb. Van Avermaet’s teammate, Richie Porte, flashed ambition of a solo win before being caught by the pure muscle of Sagan and company behind him in the final 300 meters.
Stage 3 Results SVK 1 SAGAN, Peter (BORA – HANSGROHE) 5:07:19 AUS 2 MATTHEWS, Michael (SUNWEB) IRL 3 MARTIN, Daniel (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) BEL 4 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) ITA 5 BETTIOL, Alberto (CANNONDALE DRAPAC) + 2 FRA 6 DEMARE, Arnaud (FDJ) DEN 7 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA) GBR 8 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) GBR 9 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) POL 10 MAJKA, Rafal (BORA – HANSGROHE) COL 11 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOVISTAR) FRA 12 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) BEL 13 WELLENS, Tim (LOTTO SOUDAL) AUS 14 PORTE, Richie (BMC RACING) BEL 15 BENOOT, Tiesj (LOTTO SOUDAL) FRA 16 MARTIN, Guillaume (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) ITA 17 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) ESP 18 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TREK – SEGAFREDO) COL 19 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (CANNONDALE DRAPAC) COL 20 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA – SCOTT) FRA 21 LATOUR, Pierre Roger (AG2R LA MONDIALE) BEL 22 GILBERT, Philippe (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) COL 23 BETANCUR GOMEZ, Carlos Alberto (MOVISTAR) RSA 24 MEINTJES, Louis (UAE Team Emirates) CZE 25 KREUZIGER, Roman (ORICA – SCOTT) ESP 26 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (SKY) NOR 27 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (DIMENSION DATA) GER 28 BUCHMANN, Emanuel (BORA – HANSGROHE) ITA 29 ULISSI, Diego (UAE Team Emirates) AUS 30 CLARKE, Simon (CANNONDALE DRAPAC) + 10 FRA 31 VUILLERMOZ, Alexis (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ESP 32 HERRADA LOPEZ, Jesus (MOVISTAR) KAZ 33 LUTSENKO, Alexey (ASTANA) GBR 34 YATES, Simon (ORICA – SCOTT) COL 35 HENAO MONTOYA, Sergio Luis (SKY) BEL 36 PAUWELS, Serge (DIMENSION DATA) SUI 37 FRANK, Mathias (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 38 MOLARD, Rudy (FDJ) FRA 39 GESBERT, Elie (FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT) + 15 FRA 40 BARGUIL, Warren (SUNWEB)
General Classification after Stage 3 GBR 1 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) 10:00:31 GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 12 AUS 3 MATTHEWS, Michael (SUNWEB) SVK 4 SAGAN, Peter (BORA – HANSGROHE) + 13 NOR 5 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (DIMENSION DATA) + 16 FRA 6 LATOUR, Pierre Roger (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 25 BEL 7 GILBERT, Philippe (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) + 30 POL 8 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (SKY) + 32 BEL 9 WELLENS, Tim (LOTTO SOUDAL) GER 10 ARNDT, Nikias (SUNWEB) + 34
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