As it happened: An 85km solo attack is rewarded with the stage victory and the leader's yellow jersey

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes.

Today's stage sees the Tour leave Switzerland and enter into France, via a hilly 156.5km stage from Geneva to Pologny.

It should be another great day of racing. and we will again have all the coverage with detailed updates.

Get up to speed on what to expect today, via our detailed stage preview. Lorena Wiebes starts the stage in the leader's yellow jersey but can she keep it?

Tour de France Femmes 2026 stage 3 preview – The race heads into the hills of France and could see a breakaway succeed

At the start in Geneva, it's time to pin-on the numbers, sign-on and prepare for another day in the saddle.

Visma-Lease a Bike were given a huge cheer on the podium at the start. Today we could see Marianne Vos go on the attack, while GC leader Pauline Ferrand-Prévot stays in the peloton before Tuesday's 21km key time trial.

The riders will leave Geneva in 30 minutes, with the official stage start given after 10.2km, outside the city centre.

The peloton will heading north from Geneva and cross into France after 5km, the road rising from the start even before the Col de la Faucille (11.4km at 6.3%) officially starts.

The first cat. 1 climb of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes should cause splits in the peloton and may see a break of strong climbers get away.

UAE Team L'IMAD sign-on with Paula Blasi in the best young rider's white jersey.

On stage 2 Blasi was asked to work on the flat, sparking more questions about her role and future in the team.

To look back on stage 2, check out our full stage report and see our photographs and full reports.

Tour de France Femmes: Lorena Wiebes powers to stage 2 sprint victory as late-race soloist Riejanne Markus is caught close to the line

The French Ma Petite Entreprise team is next on stage, with Océane Mahé wearing the polka-dot jersey.

The small team have enjoyed a superb start to the Tour but Océane Mahé faces a battle to join the break today if she is to defend her jersey. Yesterday she struggled after her stage 1 attack but seems happy to be riding into France today.

The stage includes 4 categorised climbs, with the first one, the Col de la Faucille, a category 1 and so awarding a lot of points.

That is just one reason why we expect many attacks on the Col de la Faucille.

Listen to the cheers for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

We're 15 minutes from the roll out in Geneva and so it is time for race leader Lorena Wiebes to sign-on with her SD Worx teammates.

Lorena Wiebes spoke briefly at the sign-on.

La star du jour!

We can see the riders line-up at the start for the roll out, with the jersey leaders on the front of the grid.

The tension is rising as the minutes countdown. Some teams warmed-up on the rollers before the start and so we're expecting an explosive start to the racing when the flag drops.

With the climb coming soon, even positoning behind the race directors car for the long neutralised sector will be important.

3-2-1 C'est Parti!

The speaker shouts our his usual phrase and the riders roll out of Geneva.

STAGE START

The riders rolled out from the Plaine de Plainpalais in central Geneva and are now have a 10.2-kilometre neutralized sector before the official start of the race.

This was the selfie vibe at the start.

After 5km the stage leaves Switzerland and crosses into France.

The Tour has enjoyed a great Grand Depart in the last few years and it should be a similar success in 2027, when the Femmes starts in Britain.

This is the view from the race director's car.

Dani Ostanek and Matilda Price are on the ground at the Tour for Cyclingnews, producing news, interviews and analysis.

Dani spoke to Lorena Wiebes team to write this revealing profile.

'Quite shy' and 'an absolute killer' – The two sides of Tour de France Femmes sprint dominator Lorena Wiebes

Lukas Knöfler and Matilda Price worked on this explainer why Paula Blasi is leading the best young rider competition despite being over 23.

It's all down to ASO's decision to widen the competition to older riders this year.

Why is Paula Blasi in white? - Tour de France Femmes quietly changes under-23 jersey to under-24

OFFICIAL START

They're off!

The race director has waved the flag and so the stage is officially underway.

There are 139 riders in the race and they face 156.5km of racing.

The peloton is all together on the easier roads to the foot of the climb. We expect things to explode when the gradient kicks-in.

Victorie Guilman crashed but the Cofidis rider quickly gets back on her bike.

The Col de la Faucille climb is 11.4km long at an average gradient of 6.3%.

It will surely make for a huge selection when the attacks begin.

The question is what happens afterwards. If Wiebes feels good and is not too far behind at the summit, then perhaps SD Worx will ride for her and a sprint finish.

If we see Lotte Kopecky in the attacks and if the GC riders also race hard on the climb, then all of the sprinters may never see the front of the race again.

That is why today's stage is another fascinating day of racing.

The Col de la Faucille will start after the village of Gex and climb over the Jura mountains that naturally divide France and Switzerland.

The climb includes several switchbacks as it climbs to 1323m.

The pace is steady on the lower slopes but some riders are already suffering at the back and are being dropped.

Crash!

EF involved and Demi Vollering too.

World champion Magdeleine Vallieres was also involved in the crash with Demi Vollering. Both got up and chased back to the peloton but the crash only raised the tension in the peloton.

A group of riders have already been dropped, including Alison Jackson.

Fortunately the stage profile does include lots of descents to close the gap but it will be a hard day in the saddle.

The crowds were out on the climb as the peloton rode at speed.

5km to the summit.

There are no attacks yet. That's a surprise but the real moves may come later in this early section of climbs.

Some footage of the early crash has emerged, showing how Vollering went down and had to chase back to the peloton.

Sadly Dina Boels of the Lotto Intermarché Ladies team has abandoned the Tour.

The Belgian rider crossed the finish line just inside the time limit yesterday. She was dropped from the peloton quite early on stage 3.

Her abandon means the Lotto Intermarché Ladies is down to three riders for the reamaining six stages.

The final part of the climb is hurting many on the peloton.

A number of sprinters are being dropped, including Lorena Wiebes and green jersey Elisa Balsamo (Lidl).

Urska Zigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) is also suffering.

The summit is near and then the riders face a fast valley road and the 3.6km Côte de Lajoux. Only after that climb will the team make decisions on their stage tactics.

Wiebes is 50 seconds down. She will try to chase but SD Worx might opt for their Plan B, which is probably Lotte Kopecky today.

Wiebes is at 1:20 with other sprinters. That could be too big a gap to close and will surely inspire other teams to up the pace.

SD Worx road captain Elena Cecchini is with Wiebes in the sprinters group. There are around a dozen riders in the chasing group.

This is the official results for the Col de la Faucille QOM.

As we noticed on stage 2 Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) chased the points.

She was the first to the summit of the first climb.

These are the other points scorers:

1. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech), 10
2. Nikola Nosková (Cofidis), 8
3. Liane Lippert (Movistar Team), 6
4. Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility), 4
5. Maëva Squiban (UAE Team L’Imad), 2
6. Sara Casasola (Fenix-Premier Tech), 1

Pieterse now has a total of 12 QOM pointys, so she is the virtual leader of the QOM classification. She could pull on the polka-dot jersey after the stage.

Meanwhile, the Wiebes chase group is 1:45 behind. The elastic is stretching....

The leaders are quickly onto the Côte de Lajoux climb. There is no respite today.

The Côte de Lajoux ends but the riders will remain on the high plan and ride at over 1000m.

The gap between the 110-rider peloton and the Wiebes chase group is up to 2:40.

It now looks difficult for them to close the gap and they may have eased-up.

The attacks and tactical game have started with Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) going away alone.

Will anyone try to join her to form a break?

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) is chasing Brand on the plateau roads.

This is another clever move by Lidl. Brand has forced the peloton to accelerate in pursuit and so that makes it harder, or even impossible for Wiebes to get back on.

Elisa Balsamo is also in the Wiebes group but she can sit on. Lidl arguably have a better chance of winning the stage with other riders. The important factor is to ensure Weibes does not return for a sprint finish.

This is the sped of the front group.

We expected more attacks and they came. 9 riders have surged across to Bland.

Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), Célia Gery (FDJ United-Suez), Rosa Kloser (Canyon-SRAM), Lotte Kopecky, Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime), Liane Lippert (Movistar) Loes Adegeest, Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal), Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Premier Tech)

The 11 riders are going away from the peloton. Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) is also there.

Their lead is up to 30 seconds on the fast plateau roads.

The presence of Lotte Kopecky and Nienke Vinke for SD Worx-Protime, confirms their change in plan.

Only UAE Team L’Imad and EF Education-Oatly do not have riders in the 11-rider attacks. That is why they are chasing and why the gap is still only 25 seconds.

The Wiebes group has lost more ground and is timed at 4:10.

There is now little chance they can catch the peloton and contest the sprint.

The riders will soon start the 5.6km Col de la Savine climb, adding another twist to the racing.

We expected the break to be caught but another move to go away.

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Gruppo compatto or almost on the Col de la Savine.

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) is the only rider out front now.

But we expect more attacks over the top of the climb.

95km to go

The average speed for the second hour is 43.5km/h.

Lorena Wiebes and the other sprinters are now at 9:00. A gruppetto are further back and so also have to be careful with the time limit.

80km to go

The reduced peloton of 90 riders appears to be letting Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) hang out front on the country roads of the Jura.

She leads by 40 seconds but is alone.

The road climbs again but will soon descend gradually to the intermediate sprint at Champagnole.

The sprint comes with 56km to race, so in 20km.

Bam! A new attack from Lotte Kopecky.

She wants to be in the race today.

The question is, who will try to join her on the attack.

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) stays out front, with a lead of 1:30 but Kopecky is coming.

It's 34C out on the road and in the finish in Poligny, where our journalists Matlida Price and Dani Ostanek have arrived.

The riders will feel the heat more as they drop down off the Jura plateau.

The front peloton has let Kopecky go, with FDJ doing the steady chasing.

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) is out front, Kopecky is at 1:10, and the peloton at 2:15.

This is becoming very interesting, also because there are only 85 riders in the peloton, with team numbers limited, so the chase power is also limited.

60km to go

The roads through the Jura, in Eastern France are stunning.

Tonight the riders will transfer north for Tuesday's 21km time trial. It will be a vital day for the GC battle.

Dani Ostanek spoke to Belgian neo-pro Sandrine Tas on tackling her third sport as a professional. She leads the Lotto-Intermarché team, with an eye on the Dijon time trial.

'My longest race was seven minutes and now it's three or four hours' – Sandrine Tas trades ice skates for a road bike at debut Tour de France Femmes

55km to go

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) has pushed out her lead on the peloton to an impressive 4:10 on the peloton.

Kopecky is in the middle, at 1:20 and surely thinking about if she is doing the right thing by going solo.

It's time for the intermediate sprint in Champagnole.

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) will take the maximum points, with Kopecky taking points too, which could help her if she is targetting the green jersey.

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) wins the sprint, while behind there is an attack to score a few other points.

Now it will be interesting to see who leads the chase in the peloton.

Haugset is currently 5:10 ahead. Who has the riders and desire to close that big gap in the final 50km? In this 34C heat?

Kopecky is 1:20 down on Haugset but she is also going away from the peloton.

Kopecky's attack means that SD Worx do not have to chase. FDJ might been keen but other riders and teams are thinking of Tuesday's TT, so the likes of Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon) also wont do the work.

This was the moment that Kopecky attacked. We like her courage and ambition.

She could even go on to fight for the stage win and yellow jersey.

Here is Kopecky as she chases Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility)

40km to go

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) is pushing on. She will be the most combatif rider today for sure.

She could pull off an 85km attack today.

The peloton is starting to work together and be more organised but the gap is still 4:40.

We can see FDJ and Visma riders up front, doing the work on the front.

The race is spread across 20 minutes and numerous kilometres.

The Wibes-sprinters-gruppetto is now at 13:00.

A three-rider ultra-gruppetto, including Alison Jackson, is at 20 minutes.

35km to go

This is a historic breakaway by Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility).

She is a known attacker and time trialist, having pulled off attacks like this before in her career.

Indeed her riding has forced Lotte Kopecky go very deep to chase here.

The gap is slowly falling as the peloton awakens but is it enough? The biggest problem for Haugset and Kopecky is the crosswind.

Thatb makes everything harder and may help the peloton, who can share the work in the crosswinds.

It's important to remember that Haugset could also take the yellow jersey to complete a perfect day.

She is only 1:14 down on Wiebes but with the Dutch sprinter dropped, Kim Le Court-Pienaar is her biggest threat. The AG Insurance - Soudal rider is only 14 seconds behind on Wiebes, so Haugset needs to finish 1:00 ahead.

That is possible, although the headwind for the final 15km will be a factor.

Haugset is giving her all to hold off the peloton and hold off Kopecky.

We're seeing a pursuit match out on the road.

25km to go

The race hits the 1.8km Côte de Chaux-Champagny Cat 4 climb.

This will be a test for Haugset and Kopecky., so we will carefully measure the time gaps at the top.

Haugset reaches the top of the climb but there are attacks from the peloton.

Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) kicked-off the attack and dragged some GC riders with him.

Other riders are chasing and scrambling to get back up to the GC riders.

Ahead, Lotte Kopecky is only 30 seconds down on Haugset.

But as the GC riders reach the summit, the gap to Haugset is down to 2:20. Will they ride and try to win the stage or look at each other?

Surely they should ride, to distance any GC rivals who are behind.

Due to the crosswinds and long, hard stage, we suddenly have a GC day.

The GC riders on the attack include Ferrand Prévot, De Vries, Vollering, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Niedermaier, Longo Borghini and Le Court-Pienaar.

Reusser, Gery and Fisher-Black are chasing them, as are others.

20km to go

And suddenly we are at 20km to go.

Haugset is still time trialing to the finish. Kopecky has been chasing her for an hour but can't close the final 30-second gap.

The GC chasers are at 2:30, with other riders, including Paula Blasi (UAE) at 2:50.

Lotte Kopecky is just 15 seconds down on Haugset.

This could be fatal for the Norwegian after her long, long attack.

The chasers are at 2:00 as Kim Le Court-Pienaar makes a surge. She is riding to take the yellow jersey and stop Haugset taking it.

Kim Le Court-Pienaar knows she has to pull the gap to Haugset to below a minute.

That is possible as the GC group increases in number but Haugset could be joined by Kopecky and so help her to stay away.

10km to go

The GC riders probably know that Anna van der Breggen is in the GC peloton, so 20 seconds down on Vollering and others.

Fortunately for van der Breggen, the GC group slowed ands so the two groups came together.

They seem to have accepted that they will now not catch Haugset and Kopecky.

We will have a fight for the stage victory and for the yellow jersey. Plus a fight for the 4 bonus seconds.

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) is suffering and trying to stay aero to hold off Kopecky.

That will be first victory of the day. Then the yellow jersey could be a second huge prize.

Kopecky might have cracked and even given up.

She is timed at 22 seconds down on Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset.

5km to go

Kim Le Court-Pienaar has accepted she will not take yellow today. She is also not working in the GC chase group.

Kopecky also knows she will not catch Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility). She tried hard but the Norwegian is riding to a huge. huge victory.

Chapeau to Sigrid! This is a huge ride!.

Too right!

On a late climb Demi Vollering attacks again with Kim Le Court-Pienaar.

There is a split!

Where is Pauline Ferrand-Prévot? She was caught behind.

2km to go

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset is being cheered to victory and can start to savour it all.

This is a record breaking attack.

LAST KILOMETRE

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset smiles but keeps racing hard.

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) wins the stage with an 85km solo attack!

Lotte Kopecky finishes a tired and disappointed second at 1:25.

There will be a sprint for the final 4-second time bonus.

Marianne Vos (Visma) won the sprint for third place, perhaps to take the four-second time bonus away from Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's GC rivals.

This is the first shot of Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) winning the stage.

This is another great shot.

This is a dream come true victory for Sigrid Haugset.

It is her first WorldTour victory

She is the first Norwegian to win a stage at the Tour de Frances Femmes.

She is the first Norwegian to wear the yellow jersey.

She pulled of one of the longest solo breakaways in the history of women's racing.

Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) day was a dream come true.

"I haven't been thinking about it because I never thought it was possible. So standing here, it's unreal," she said.

"When I went, it wasn't many seconds and I thought she (Lotte Kopecky) would catch me. Then I thought I should just drop down to her… Second is good. But I kept on. The team car was amazing, pushing me.

"I was thinking about all my teammates, everyone cheering from home and so I had to give it my all. I can't believe that Lotte didn't catch me. All done in the Norwegian jersey too, it's fantastic."

Sigrid Haugset joked about celebrating her win because she was so tired.

"I was so dizzy at the end. I know my boyfriend would be so angry at me for not celebrating, but I couldn't. I could not leave my arms off the bike. It was impossible," she said.

It was a tough day out on the hilly roads of the Jura but all the riders finished inside the time limit.

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) lost yellow but kept the green points jersey.

Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) attacks on the early climb got her the QOM polka-dot jersey.

Paula Blasi (UAE) kept the best young rider's white jersey.

We love this photos of Sigrid Haugset.

Tuesday will be a very different but very intense day for the GC riders. It's TT day on the roads of Dijon and the racing will be as hot as mustard.

Check out stage preview.

Tour de France Femmes 2026 stage 4 preview

Make sure you read our full stage report to understand all the action from the stage and to see the best photographs and full results.

Tour de France Femmes: Sigrid Haugset stuns field with long-range solo attack to land signature stage 3 victory and swipe yellow jersey

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Thanks for joining us for our full live coverage of stage 3 of the TDFF.

It was a long day in the saddle but worth it.

Join us on Wednesday for all the action from the stage 4 time trial.