'The stakes are high, everybody goes blind' – Crashes ripple through Tour de France peloton as headwind and 'easy' day breed chaos

Crashes are a part of the Tour de France, but the conditions on stage 3 of the 2025 race brewed up perfectly for the chaos that ensued en route to Dunkerque, with an easy parcours, no breakaway to chase, a headwind run to the line and bends in the finale seeing several riders hit the deck.

The busy finish line on the coast showed a juxtaposition of excited fans and battered and bruised riders from the chaotic run-in, where several incidents wreaked havoc in the peloton. Riders arrived with ripped jerseys, others with road rash and some even sporting blood on their heads.

Having already lost green jersey Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to a brutal high-speed crash at the intermediate sprint with 60km to go, the rest of the nervous finale left some of the sprint rivals simply racing for the safety of the team bus, with victory no longer a priority.

"To be honest, every time when I hear behind me crashes, my heart rate goes to 300, so I felt super sorry for the guys who crashed, including Philipsen," said Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) at the finish.

"It's not nice to see someone crash, especially if it's super high speed, and I'm super happy to finish safe today. In one moment, I really realised I thought today, if I finish safe, I will be happy.

"I was almost close to stopping pedalling because it's super hard. [I had] no idea what was going on today, I'm happy just to finish safe."

Girmay's team performance manager, Aike Visbeek, also saw it as a natural occurrence on such a stage, with rider behaviour changing significantly as the third stage progressed. The prizes are so great that the risk increases.

"On the back of an easy stage, this is what you can expect," said Visbeek at the team bus.

"The stakes are high, and there are a couple of guys where this is one of the last chances for the sprinters, then everybody goes blind, and it is dangerous."

Amid the chaos, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was the highest profile GC rider to go down in the madness, with the Olympic champion finishing fine but with his hand on his ribs.

For GC-focused teams, it was purely a day of survival, knowing that crash-marred stages such as this one are a by-product of the Tour de France circus.

"It's always the thing with the headwind. It's like a bit of a Mexican standoff, and then it's gung ho," Ineos Grenadiers DS Zak Dempster told Cyclingnews at the team bus.

"There's a lot on the line. It's a much higher level than the sport you can't find [anywhere else], so I think it's normal that guys are willing to put their bodies on the line. But at the same time, I think common sense should prevail."

Connor Swift came down for the British team, but they confirmed he was OK given the circumstances, while veteran Geraint Thomas described the situation on stage 3 as the "perfect storm" for what occurred, speaking to ITV's microphone.

"Everyone was fresh, and everyone was fighting. If you're a lead-out man, you want to do a good job for your sprinter. If you're a sprinter, you want to finish the job that everyone does for you," said Thomas. "Maybe I'm just old now and see the danger more, but just… chill."

A final nasty crash 300 metres from the line brought the likes of Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) and Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) down, with the latter reading into the barriers and finishing last with a bloody tissue in his mouth.

Penhoët's teammate Lewis Askey also described the chaos as he arrived at the finish, with the young Brit putting the carnage again down to the easy stage and headwind.

"When the day is relatively easy, it just means the final is even more hectic. I think you saw that again with I don't know how many crashed," said Askey at the finish line.

"Obviously, the speed is so high, everyone's so fresh, and it's the Tour, so everyone puts everything on the line. The headwind sprint is dangerous, too, because of the waves that just keep on coming.

"Stuff where people would normally touch their brakes, they decide to risk it on days like today, so it means we get a finish like this."

The Tour's medical report only has six riders listed, with Philipsen suffering a displaced fracture of his collarbone and Jeanniere injuring his face. Four others were listed as having abrasions: Laurence Pithie, Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) and Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).

It's to be expected from the first proper bunch sprint finish of the Tour de France, with the crosswinds making the opening day in Lille much safer, but the ugly reality of cycling has once again reared its head, and it won't be for the last time this Tour.

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