Mads Pedersen wins for a second time at Circuit de la Sarthe on stage 3(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
In the final sprint in Sablé-sur-Sarth it was Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) the first to cross the line(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Mads Pedersen is congratulated by Trek-Segafredo teammate after second victory in three days(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Rain clouds depart on the final 12.5km circuit for the breakaway(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) in breakaway(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
EF Education-EasyPost's Georg Steinhauser attacked off the front with less than 7km to go(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Breakaway of six riders on final circuit(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Peloton rides along 176.5km stage 3 route with signs of spring in blooming fields(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) rides in peloton(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) rides in peloton(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Rainy day for stage 3 (Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Luke Plapp of Ineos Grenadiers in the best young rider jersey does not like the rain that began to fall(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) stops to put on his rain gear(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Breakaway of six riders head onto final circuit with advantage dipping below 38 seconds(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Ukraine champion Andrii Ponomar of Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli in the breakaway Sidermec (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Tony Hurel of Team St Michel - Auber 93 and his son celebrate winning the most combative rider(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Kevin Vauquelin of Arkéa - Samsic celebrates winning the Best Young Rider Jersey(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Mads Pedersen retains overall lead after stage 4 victory(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Mads Pedersen (Trek - Segafredo) receives an orange jersey for winning stage 4(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Mads Pedersen produced another powerful sprint to win stage 3 of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe - Pays de la Loire. The Trek-Segafredo rider accelerated early on the rising finish to catch and pass Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa-Samsic) just a metre before the finish line.
Pedersen won by less than a wheel, with the French rider holding on for second and Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) third after trying to come past Pedersen.
Thanks to his second stage win in three days, Pedersen extended his overall race lead. He leads Vauquelin, now in second place by 23 seconds, with Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) in third and Axel Zingle (Cofidis) fourth in the same time.
“It’s cool to win again, my team worked really hard for this,” Pedersen explained.“The guy from Arkea did a good move, so I had to do a long sprint. “I had to go early and hope to catch him. It worked out well for us. I passed him just five metres from the finish.
“It’s a good week, it’s nice to have good shape like this, especially with Paris-Roubaix coming up."
The 176.5km stage covered a long loop before seven laps around Sablé-sur-Sarthe. The wind and rain made for a hard day out for the 96 riders left in the race. Tim Declercq (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) was a notable abandon, his team saying he was struggling with illness.
The stage again started fast with a break of six riders getting away and testing the peloton. In the move were Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies), Emiel Vermeulen (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Tony Hurel (St. Michel-Auber 93), Andrii Ponomar (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) and Laurent Pichon (Arkéa-Samsic).
They opened a 4:00 lead and kept it until 85km to go as the race passed through Sablé-sur-Sarthe. Trek-Segafreo lead the chase and the gap fell to 1:30 with 45km to go but the six held the same lead until 27km and two laps to go.In the final 10km, Steinhauser attacked alone and opened a 20-second gap on the high-speed peloton.
He looked set to hold off the chasers but as the road rose, his gap fell quickly. He was caught with a kilometre to go and then Vauquelin counter-attacked. He seemed set for victory until Pedersen went long and early to catch him on the line.
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Brief Results
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
2
Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
3
Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
4
Paul Penhoët (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
5
Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
6
Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
7
Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
8
Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies
9
Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
10
Thomas Boudat (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
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General classification after stage 3
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
12:37:48
2
Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
0:00:23
3
Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
4
Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
5
Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
0:00:28
6
Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
7
Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
0:00:29
8
Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
0:00:30
9
Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
0:00:40
10
Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
0:00:41
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
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