Finishing in the town of Tours, home to the finish of the late-season Paris-Tours race, stage 3 is another stage tailor-made for the sprinters. Another chance for McEwen et al to show they can make light work of three approximately 1km, Cat 4 climbs and three intermediate sprints to take the stage victory. The two later climbs, at 161.5km and 179.5km should make the selection for those contesting the sprint come 5 o'clock. The last time Tours hosted a stage was in 2000, and it welcomes the Tour back with a probable exciting sprint finish. This is a stage very well suited to a sprinter such as Fassa's Alessandro Petacchi; but without the presence of Ale Jet at this year's Tour, and a number of sprinters on song, look to riders such as Baden Cooke to stamp their authority on the early stages after a mostly forgettable couple of seasons since winning the green jersey in 2003.
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Cyclo-cross World Championships: Mathieu van der Poel demonstrates brilliance with record win in elite men's race in Hulst
Tibor Del Grosso earns silver with move on final lap ahead of Thibau Nys, who takes bronze -
GP La Marseillaise: Bryan Coquard surges in bunch sprint for first victory of season
Steffen De Schuyteneer and Alex Molenaar complete the podium in fast finish -
Trofeo Palma: Arne Marit sprints to victory in final leg of Challenge Mallorca
Another win for Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe ahead of Max Kanter and Alessio Magagnotti -
Cyclo-cross World Championships: Leonie Bentveld scores another Dutch win in the under-23 women's race
A solo victory for Bentveld ahead of Viktória Chladonová and Célia Gery
