Which GC riders lost time on stage 3 of the 2021 Tour de France
Carapaz and Alaphilippe stay safe as Pogacar and Thomas lose 26 seconds and Roglic drops 1:21 amid crash-filled final
Stage 3 of the Tour de France brought another day of carnage to the peloton as multiple crashes ruined the final run to the line in Pontivy. With it came sizeable time losses for multiple general classification contenders, with some challenges possibly already over before any of the major showdowns of the race.
In the end, only Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) managed to finish among the front group with stage winner Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix).
Race favourite Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) suffered the biggest blow, falling from fourth to 20th in the standings after losing 1:21 at the finish. The Slovenian crashed nine kilometres from the line, shredding his jersey and shorts after touching Sonny Colbrelli's wheel in the peloton.
Despite a furious chase with several of his teammates – including a bloodied Steven Kruijswijk – he was unable to make it back to the peloton. The crash was more bad news in addition to the earlier loss of Robert Gesink, who abandoned after a fall.
Tour de France: Tim Merlier wins crash-marred stage 3
Thomas suffers dislocated shoulder and Gesink abandons after Tour de France crash
Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan among crash victims on stage 3
Tour de France: Primoz Roglic crashes with team boss stating his leader was 'bumped and sent flying'
A slew of GC men finished in the second group on the road, crossing the line 14 seconds down on the leaders. Enric Mas (Movistar), Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Pierre Latour (Team TotalEnergies) all managed to limit their losses.
The next group on the road, 26 seconds down, was led home by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who was held up by a crash in the peloton four kilometres from the line.
He was joined in losing 26 seconds by EF-Nippo pair Sergio Higuita and Rigoberto Urán, Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), the BikeExchange duo of Esteban Chaves and Lucas Hamilton, and Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën).
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Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), who dislocated his shoulder in the crash with Gesink, also finished in that same group at 26 seconds.
Movistar pairing Alejandro Valverde and Miguel Ángel López finished in the Roglič and Kruijswijk group, 1:21 down. Further back, Israel Start-Up Nation leaders Dan Martin and Michael Woods finished at 2:11, while Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) finished 2:46 down.
The stage was the end of the Tour of Bahrain Victorious rider Jack Haig, meanwhile, after he abandoned having been involved in one of the crashes in the final kilometres.
Check below for the updated overall standings featuring the major GC contenders.
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix | 12:58:53 |
2 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:08 |
3 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:00:31 |
5 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:00:38 |
6 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:39 |
7 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:40 |
8 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
9 | Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies | 0:00:45 |
10 | Sergio Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Education-Nippo | 0:00:52 |
11 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
12 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
14 | Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Team BikeExchange | |
15 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-Nippo | |
16 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:55 |
17 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana-Premier Tech | |
18 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:01:07 |
20 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma | 0:01:35 |
21 | Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Team BikeExchange | 0:01:42 |
24 | Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious | 0:01:47 |
25 | Sergio Henao Montoya (Col) Qhubeka-NextHash | 0:02:21 |
27 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:02:33 |
28 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | |
33 | Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | 0:03:15 |
35 | Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious | |
38 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma | 0:03:28 |
40 | Ben O'Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team | 0:03:31 |
41 | Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:03:34 |
42 | Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team | 0:03:43 |
60 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:07:12 |
62 | Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange | 0:07:22 |
70 | Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:08:30 |
83 | Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates | 0:10:24 |
91 | Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation | 0:11:18 |
97 | Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates | 0:11:48 |
99 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:12:17 |
104 | Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech | 0:13:41 |
105 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:13:44 |
107 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | 0:14:08 |
159 | Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma | 0:25:28 |
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.