Tim Merlier (Alpecin Fenix) has emerged from the chaos of the Tour de France stage 3 finale to claim victory in a sprint from the front group.
The only Irish rider in the race, Dan Martin (Israel Start Up Nation), lost 2:11 today. He finished in a group, in 121st place, alongside team mates Chris Froome, Michael Woods and Reto Hollenstein.
The 182.9km stage from Lorient to Pontivy was billed as the first opportunity for the sprinters. And while that went to script, not much else that unfolded in the stage went to plan.
A series of crashes saw several of the big favourites fall hard, while others were held up by crashes. Valuable time was lost by many of the fancied men as the penultimate crash - with 4km to go - split what remained of the main peloton.
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By the time the front group swept onto the finishing straight it numbered no more than 20 riders, with Alpecin Fenix leading it out; yellow jersey Mathieu van der Poel among those helping to set up Merlier to win.
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) were on the wheels of the final two Alpecin Fenix riders, ready to launch their sprints, as the finish line neared. However, Ewan and Sagan crashed hard just inside 200m to go.
Sagan was able to get up off the tarmac, after a fashion after such a heavy and high speed crash, but Ewan was much worse and his Tour is over, with a suspected broken collarbone.
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With that crash happening behind Merlier and his team mate Jasper Philipsen, they were free to sprint in for 1st and 2nd, ahead of Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea Samsic).
The front group contained 17 riders, with yellow jersey Van der Poel in there as well as Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and stage 1 winner Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step). After that front group there were gaps back to several other groups as the crash with 4km to go had caused splits.
Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) led home the first chasing group, which contained 17 riders and was 14 seconds down on Merlier. Then Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) led home the second chasing group, which contained 42 riders and was 26 seconds down on the front group.
Most of the big favourites were in that group with Pogačar, including Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). The Welsh rider had crashed early in the stage and apparently dislocated his shoulder before getting back onto the peloton.
But one man missing from the second chase group led home by Pogačar was his main rival for the final yellow jersey, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma). With 9km to go Roglič crashed at the side of the road and took a prolonged period to get back on his bike.
While his team waited for him and they finally got going again, they were well over one minute down as they started their chase. And that chase was delayed by the crash in the peloton with 4km to go as the group of Roglič had to pick its way through delayed vehicles and riders.
On the finish line, Roglič was 1:21 down on the front group and so lost that time to GC danger men Alaphilippe and Carapaz. Roglič also lost 55 seconds to Pogačar and Thomas, and the other main favourites who were in that second chase group.
To cap a very difficult day for Jumbo Visma, Robert Gesink crashed out of the race early in the stage after coming down in the same fall as Geraint Thomas. However, Jumbo Visma's Wout van Aert was in the front group today.
The result today means Van der Poel retains his yellow jersey and his team took a 1-2 on the stage, their second stage win in as many days. Most of the other GC men can live with the time they lost, though Carapaz gained on all of them. Roglič was the big loser; not only losing time but also looking battered as he crossed the line.
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