Three weeks of racing oblige, there cannot be only exhilarating days on the Tour de France. After a weekend crisscrossing the Spanish Basque Country, the peloton returned to France on Monday July 3, thanks to a third stage of 194 kilometers in relatively flat terrain, despite four listed climbs. A route promised to “pure sprinters” which without much surprise… ended with the first massive sprint of this 110e editing.
On arrival in Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was the fastest, ahead of the German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and the Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny). The Belgian signs his seventh victory of the year and his third in the event, after two successes last year, in the last two bunch sprints.
“The profile of the final [de cette troisième étape] will give the teams the possibility of maneuvering to assemble the wagons of their train”, predicted, before the start, the boss of the Grande Boucle, Christian Prudhomme. Ideal therefore for Alpecin-Deceuninck, who built his squad for the Tour with this ambition. “What happened today will give us confidence for the future”rejoiced Philipsen.
Monday, “everyone did their job perfectly”, added his teammate Silvan Dillier. Starting with the Dutch star Mathieu Van der Poel, who brilliantly launched the winner of the day. “It’s not easy to stay in one’s wheelrecognized the Belgian, in a press conference. When we are taken to the sprint by Mathieu, we have to win. »
Endowed with a rich track record, including four monuments (a Milan-San Remo, a Paris-Roubaix and two Tours of Flanders) in his bag, the Dutchman is not reluctant to the task of transforming himself into a “fish-pilot” of luxury. “Since Jasper has been on the team [en 2021]there is less pressure on him, explains Adrie Van der Poel, his father, at the foot of the Belgian training bus. When they arrive together in the sprint, Mathieu is very precious. »
This victory also helps to boost the morale of the troops, a little damaged, by their own admission, after the first two days, when they expected better results from the grandson of Raymond Poulidor (37e SATURDAY ; 107e Sunday).
“It was pretty calm, until the last 40 kilometers”
In a postcard setting, largely along the northern coast of Spain, the riders were able to recover from their emotions of a nervous weekend, accelerating only a few tens of kilometers from the finish. . Once is not custom, they even crossed the line later than the less optimistic hourly estimates established by the organizers. “The first two stages were tough, the peloton rode at a fast pace. The battle was intense up front, but at the back we suffered a lot too.”slipped Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal Quick-Step) before the start of Amorebieta-Etxano.
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