As it happened: Philipsen takes hotly contested sprint on Tour de France stage 3

Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 3 of the 2023 Tour de France!

We've seen two brutal days of racing in the Spanish Basque Country with Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) and Victor Lafay (Cofidis) taking the wins. Today should be the first opportunity for the sprinters to stretch their legs in a bunch finish into Bayonne.

We've had a change of route due to safety concerns for today with the stage extended to 193.5km to avoid dangerous road furniture.

Read about the full changes and why they've been made here.

The riders are gearing up for the start in Amorebieta-Etxano, a location which has hosted it’s own one-day uci race, the Klasika Primavera, since the 50s and has been won by the likes of Alejandro Valverde and Carlos Sastre.

There were no more abandonments after stage 2 thankfully, despite a scare for Lotto-Dstny lead-tour rider Jasper De Buyst. The Belgian team tweeted that he and young prospect Maxim Van Gils would start the stage today after they were cleared.

They will be working in aid of Caleb Ewan today.

The riders are underway from start line in Amorebieta-Etxano. We've of course, got our neutralised start as the riders pass more lines of Basque fans out in great support.

Here is another look at the profile for today's 193.5km stage before we get to kilometre 0. You can see the four categorised climbs coming in the first 100km of racing, so expect a fight for the break to fight it out for those king of the mountains points.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) should certainly be trying to get in the break and he currently leads that KOM classification by four points ahead of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

193.5KM TO GO

Here we go! Official start is taken and racing is fully underway. It's, as expected, Powless who immediately shoots off the front to ensure he is in the fight for king of the mountains points so he can defend his jersey.

He is joined by Laurent Pichon (Arkéa-Samsic)

The gap to the duo out in front has already grown past 30 seconds as the peloton settles in to the start. It won't take long for us to get onto the first climb which comes in 6km at the Côte de Trabakua (4.1km at 5.4%).

Powless has clearly prepped for the exact move he made as the flag was waved, as he is in his skin suit and ready for a day of chasing KOM points.

We're heading out of Durango at the moment where the fans have again come in masses to support the riders. Cycling is well known to be a religion in the Basque Country, but the crowds have been quite incredible throughout the Grand Depart. 

Here's a look at the four jersey wearers from today's start: Lafay in green after his incredible stage win yesterday, Yates in the maillot jaune after holding onto it on stage 2, Powless who is already in the break to try and gain more KOM points and Pogačar, who will be delighted with the start his UAE team have made to the 2023 Tour so far. 

Spirits are high at the front with Powless and Pichon sharing a laugh at the head of the race. No team in the peloton has got on the front to establish any sort of control as of yet, with the gap now approaching 2:00 as they ride the first climb of the day.

Tim 'El tractor' Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) has taken up his position at the front of the peloton for the Belgian side that has on many occasions dominated the sprints. He and his teammates will be working in aid of Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step) who won the first stage at last year's Tour de France.

180KM TO GO

Powless takes the first full haul of two king of the mountains points over the first climb as he eased ahead of Pichon. The American even gave us a small bike lunge as he and Pichon continued their relaxed journey at the head of the race. 

Powless and Pichon are leading the descent towards the next town of Markina Xemein as the riders continue heading north back towards the coast. Once they reach Lekeitio, they will turn right and start heading up the Bay of Biscay coastline into France. 

While we have this more quiet period of racing, make sure you take a chance to read some of Cyclingnews being produced on the ground at the Tour de France.

Tech Editor, Josh Croxton, has been keeping an eagle eye on the latest tech, newest bikes, and tricksiest hacks on show at the Grand Depart. Take a look at Josh's gallery of the best tech highlights including Caleb Ewan's prototype bike and Mark Cavendish's limited edition Willier below.

Tour de France mega tech gallery: All the nerdy highlights from the Grand Depart

Adam Yates is back at the team car having his race radio adjusted in his yellow jersey.

165KM TO GO

Powless and Pichon's advantage out in front has gone out further to 2:44 with no urgency behind to start even thinking about reeling them in yet.

Jakobsen, one of the favourites for the day has just had a bike change and is now riding to get back into the peloton. 

The two leaders have entered the second categorised climb of the day, the Côte de Milloi (2.3km at 4.5%). 

Powless has set off to gain the solitary KOM point atop this second climb of the day. He's eased over the line ahead of Pichon with his arms aloft and his thumbs up. He's certainly enjoying his day in red shorts and in the break. 

We've got some of the main teams with a sprint focus coming to the front of the peloton, albeit with one rider each for now. Soudal-Quick Step for Fabio Jakobsen, Alpecin-Deceuninck for Jasper Philipsen, Jayco AlUla for Dylan Groenewegen and Lidl-Trek for Mads Pedersen.

The gap to the leader is now out to 3:30.

Take a look below at Neilson Powless having the time of his life in the polka-dot jersey for EF Education-EasyPost

Ridiculous crowds in Lekeitio to cheer on our two leaders. Everyone is out on the roads cheering on our two leaders in the Basque sunshine. They are now making the turn back up the Bay of Biscay's coastline as they go towards the French border.

Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) has had a puncture but is in no form of panic as the bunch is still incredibly calm. He's being aided back to the peloton by Alexey Lutsenko and Yevgeniy Federov.

Today could be the first chance for the Manx Missile to try and get that record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win, which would see him overtake Eddy Merckx at the top of the all-time Tour stage wins leaderboard. 

148KM TO GO

Tadej Pogačar has had a back wheel puncture which is now being changed back at the team car. He's, of course, not stressed with so long left in today's stage. 

Take a look below at the fantastic Basque fans in Lekeitio watching the peloton fly past them. The red, white and green of the Basque flags have been seen all over the roads across these opening three stages, showing just how important cycling is to this region. 

Here's Victor Lafay looking great in the green jersey, which he earned after his heroic victory on stage 2 yesterday. His attack under the flame rouge was too much for the rest of the reduced bunch at the head of the race and he powered away to take Cofidis' first win at the Tour de France since 2008.

Check out Lafay in the green jersey below. 

Lafay has just made his way off the front of the peloton in his new green jersey. He'll be looking for more points in the green classification at the intermediate sprint into Deba. He knows he probably won't feature in the bunch sprint today, so this is his best chance to mop up more points. 

130KM TO GO

Lafay is in time trial mode and is making short work of the leading duo's advantage. He's already gained a minute on them and is now 1:36 away from the breakaway. 

Pichon takes the intermediate sprint with Powless in second. They take 20 and 17 points respectively and Lafay is set to gain 15 more points for crossing the line into Deba in third. 

Lidl-Trek nail the lead-out for the intermediate sprint again with Mads Pedersen taking the remaining top prize of 13 points. Quinn Simmons, Jasper Stuyven and Alex Kirsch was the order and they look a well-oiled machine so far. We'll see how they go in the final bunch sprint later today, if there is one.

Jordi Meeus (Bora-hansgrohe) crossed the line next after Pedersen with Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) the next best and taking the 10 points.

It's job done for Lafay who has extended his points total to 80. There are only three sprinters who could overtake or equal that total should they win today and take the full 50 point haul: Van Aert (36), Pedersen (31) and Philipsen (30).

120KM TO GO

Lafay has now been re-absorbed and the gap to the leading duo has been reduced to only 1:50 with Alpecin-Deceuninck and Jayco-AlUla sitting on the front.

Powless has taken two more KOM Points atop the Col d’Itziar (5.1km at 4.6%) and he will only want to repeat that on the final categorised climb of the day, the Côte d’Orioko Benta (4.6km at 6.3%), before he knocks off his effort. 

We've got a status quo in the peloton again as the gap to the duo out in front has been allowed to go out to 2:33. We're still going up the Bay of Biscay coastline with our one categorised climb remaining before we pass back through San Sebastián and approach the French border.

Declercq is back on the front for Soudal-Quick Step and is likely settling in for a very long turn on the front. All the sprinters are sat very calmly in the bunch for now with no real urgency or pressure required for the current, calm race situation. 

Ben O'Connor is having chain issues off the back of the peloton and has had to change his bike twice. There's still nothing to worry about, but he'll hope for some better luck as the stage enters the final 100km of racing.

Read Cyclingnews' recent news piece on the Australian that details how his ambitions are still high despite having a difficult opening two stages.

Ben O’Connor - ‘The simple matter is I’m not good enough at the moment, weirdly’

100KM TO GO

We've gone at a relatively slow pace throughout the opening 93.5km, but we're now entering the final half of the race. There's a long way to go, but once the sprint teams get interested, the pace will accelerate very quickly. 

There's still great vibes in the front group as Powless and Pichon share another joke once they hit the bottom of the final categorised climb of the day, the Côte d’Orioko Benta (4.6km at 6.3%). The sprinters behind should be fine as the pace has been so low all day.

Juan Pedro López is leading the peloton up the climb behind with 'El Tractor' Tim Declercq alongside him. Slightly contrasting frames on the two domestiques working for their respective sprinters today. 

Here's a beautiful view of the Atlantic coastline passed by the riders on today's stage.

Van Aert stopped as I was writing that for what appeared to be a re-lubing of the cleat on the bottom of his shoe. He'll chase back on easily as they complete the climb. 

Powless takes another KOM sprint and the final one of the day that completes his successful day of riding in the breakaway. Job done from the American who has clearly learned well from teammate Magnus Cort who entertained the crowds at each KOM sprint in Denmark last year. 

90KM TO GO

We've got a traffic jam at the bottom of the climb due to the narrowing of the road. It's helped Wout Van Aert easily make it back to the peloton. Riders were stood as the inclines were so steep and there simply wasn't enough room for all the riders to fit. 

The peloton have once again slowed massively at the back of the bunch, and we can see British national champion Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) is bleeding from his left elbow and must've been down. He's chasing back onto the peloton now. 

We're getting a second look at San Sebastián during this Tour as the riders are about to pass through the beautiful coastal city. Powless and Pichon are still leading and are loving the huge crowds that line the entry to the city. They've shared a fist-bump at the front after a successful days riding. 

Powless has sat up after completing his KOM charge for the day and has allowed Pichon to go off on his lonesome up the road. He's taking his musette and getting some lunch into his system.

Pichon has the crowds all to himself and he will be roared on for every single pedal stroke from now until he is caught by the peloton. 

Here's a look at our two escapees from the day on the final climb. 

76KM TO GO

Make sure to read Simone Giuliani's feature on one of the big contenders for the day, Sam Welsford (dsm-firmenich), who is on Tour de France debut. As I write this, he's actually stopped at the side of the road to get some adjustments made to his stem, but he should feature prominently in today's finish.

Sam Welsford – Time cuts, debut goals and a Tour de France stage win dream

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) is the next to change his bike today and is now riding with Welsford and a teammate to make his way back to the bunch. Pascal Eenkhorn has dropped back to bring the Australian back to the peloton.

Neilson Powless has returned to the peloton and is guaranteed to wear the polka-dot jersey again tomorrow's stage. 

It's puncture-city out here with Alexey Lutsenko (Asian Qazaqstan) and Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) the next to require a back-wheel change.

Lutsenko was pointing at his back wheel to some fans on the side of the road, suggesting we may have more tacks being, very sadly, thrown onto the course.

Read the full Cyclingnews piece which shows some of the tacks in rider's wheels after the stage 2 finish yesterday below.

Tacks in the road spark mass punctures in finale of Tour de France stage 2

We're just about the head into France across the border in Irun with Simmons riding on the front in his American national champion's jersey for Lidl-Trek. 

I appear to have cursed Sam Welsford by talking about him, as he's been forced to change another wheel on his bike. Hopefully his last issue of the day. 

Declercq is back on the front in full tractor mode. 

60KM TO GO

The Spanish Basque Country is saying goodbye as Laurent Pichon is about to say bonjour and cross back into France, the motherland. The peloton will cross the river Bidasoa as they enter the French Basque Country and continue their journey towards Bayonne. 

Pichon is still pushing on, but is showing just how tight some of the corners are in these first few kilometres of French roads. Hopefully everyone stays safe. Barring some incredible injustice, the Frenchman should surely have secured today's combatively prize. 

Pichon's advantage at the head of the race is melting away as the peloton starts to wind it up behind. His gap is now 1:10.

Simmons has been doing his fair share of work in aid of the sprinters today, alongside Declercq who you can see in the background of the image. Stars and Stripes in full flight for Lidl-Trek. 

50KM TO GO

Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) is the next to suffer a puncture at the back of the bunch.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) are both making their way back into the bunch. 

There's now only 39 seconds separating our lone leader, Pichon, and the peloton. He'll be reeled in quickly, but who will take up the mantle of leading the peloton once he is back in the bunch? 

While you still have a chance, make sure to read Cyclingnews' article with insight from lead-out experts Michael Mørkøv (Soudal-Quick Step) and Mark Renshaw. Renshaw long acted as Cavendish's last lea-out rider and was hired as a sprint advisor for Astana Qazaqstan before the Tour.

Tour de France sprinters ready to take over after 'hardest start in 20 years'

Pichon's adventure out in the day's break is over and full focus will now turn to the sprint lead-outs.

The tension has built with a change in wind direction and it's very difficult to move up any positions in the bunch. 

Today's finish location, Bayonne, is at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers and is the capital of the French Basque country. It may seem a relatively simple finish on paper with a bunch sprint on the cards, but the riders have got a very tricky finish on their hands.

There are four roundabouts between 5km to 3km to go which will be furiously fought for by the GC teams and the sprint lead-outs.

Following this, at 2km to go, there is a u-turn to tackle which could cause riders to lose their trains or fall back multiple positions which could put them out of the sprint. The first bunch sprint of the Tour de France is always hectic, but today's could be absolute chaos. 

26KM TO GO

The nerves are high in the bunch as the washing-machine effect is happening in full force. It's so difficult to stay up towards the front of the peloton, and all the teams are working so hard to keep their sprinters and leaders safe from any danger. 

The teams all know exactly what they are getting into today, a hectic finale where luck will be very important. They'll all be hoping to stay out of trouble and launch their sprinters at the line. Lotto will also have a less than 100% Jasper De Buyst who crashed yesterday and had some serious issues with tendons in his wrist. He thankfully, took the start today, but may not be able to help Ewan in pursuit of his sixth Tour de France stage win. 

Uno-X are showing themselves nicely on the right-hand side of the road. This is their debut Tour de France and they have the experienced Alexander Kristoff to work for on today's finish. He'll be led out by Classics specialist, Rasmus Tiller and U23 time trial World Champion, Søren Wærenskjold. 

20KM TO GO

Can Mark Cavendish take the record for stage wins at the Tour de France?

He put on a heroic performance, with the help of some old friends, to win the final stage of the Giro d'Italia. He's made enough history in his illustrious career, but could make more today with another victory.

The Manx Missile will be hoping to either work in tandem with Cees Bol, but could also latch onto one of his rivals' wheels and try to launch out of their slipstream. 

Soudal-Quick Step are showing all their experience and dominating the left side of the road. They'll want to keep Jakobsen safe with Mørkøv, which should allow the duo to get to work in the final kilometre. 

15KM TO GO

Current line-up at the head of the race from left to right is: Soudal-Quick Step, Groupama-FDJ, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, Bahrain Victorious, Bora-hansgrohe, Alpecin Deceuninck and Jumbo-Visma.

De Buyst has understandably dropped off the back of the peloton so won't play any part in helping Ewan. Florian Vermeersch and Victor Campenaerts will likely slot into that last-man role. 

Jumbo-Visma have split into two clusters of riders in the peloton. One side has Dylan van Baarle looking after Jonas Vingegaard and the other has Christophe Laporte and Wout Van Aert together. As I type, they've all joined together now, but Vingegaard's safety appears to be their no.1 priority. 

We're getting our first taste of roundabouts that characterise today's finish and we can already see the affect it can have on stringing out the bunch and pushing riders out of position. 

10KM TO GO

Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) is sitting comfortably in the middle of the bunch for now and his team are only now just moving up to the front. He's one of the out and out fastest riders if given a shot at the line, so expect him to be right amongst the action. 

Philipsen and his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates are sat directly behind the Jumbo-Visma train for the moment, but will want to move up as soon as possible before we enter the multiple roundabouts. 

Remi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step) is lighting things up on the front for Jakobsen and they Lotto Destiny are the only team able to match the Frenchman for now. We're seeing more and more roundabouts squeezing the bunch down from six trains wide to just two. Nervous times. 

Mark Cavendish has two teammates with him for now and they've manoeuvred well to hit the front on the left side of the road as we look at it. 

Jumbo-Visma are keeping Vingegaard safe and Van Aert in good position. Will the Belgian superstar go for the bunch sprint? It wouldn't be a surprise after his rage-filled disappointment from yesterday. 

We're on one of the rises now as the road isn't just pan flat all the way. We're into the roundabouts. Who will survive the twists and turns in the road best?

5KM TO GO

INEOS have taken up position on the front alongside QuickStep and we will now have the huge charge to make it to the 3km safe zone for the GC riders. Uno-X are making another charge in their red and yellow jerseys and they are set up perfectly for now. 

Some of the big favourites' teams are absent from the front of the peloton and have huge amounts of work to do. Uno-X, Arkéa-Samsic and Soudal-Quick Step are the most prominent at the front for now. 

3KM TO GO

Bahrain Victorious are working well for Phil Bauhaus in his first Tour de France. He's been successful in chaotic sprints in the past, so will fancy today's technical run in. 

Jakobsen is in prime position for now! There are shoulders being thrown throughout the front of the bunch as the battle for position heats up even more. 

hairpin taken with Quick Step still dominating the front- they've played it perfectly so far. Can they finish the job?

1KM TO GO

Girmay in great position! Cavendish, Ewan, Sagan, Philipsen, they are all here to fight for this first bunch sprint. 

Alpecin suddenly hit the front with three riders! Philipsen looks fantastic, but will he time it right?

Van Aert is sat in third wheel!

STAGE FINISH

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) wins stage 3 of the Tour de France! Jasper 'Disaster' is far from it, with a fine charge at the line to take the first bunch sprint of the 2023 Tour de France. What a sprint, what a lead-out. 

Van der Poel did a tremendous job to launch Philipsen ahead of Van Aert. He closed to the barriers and put in another dig as Bauhaus and Ewan kicked out of the slipstream.

The Belgian was able to hang on as he sprinted all the way to the line where he raised his arms aloft. 

Here is today's stage winner, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) celebrating his win in Bayonne on stage 3 of the Tour de France. His Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates came to the front under the flame rouge, where they launched their lead-out. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) did the final turn before Philipsen launched to the barriers and out-kicked Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) to take his third Tour de France stage victory. 

The jury are reviewing the sprint for now, as Philipsen could be relegated for a deviation in his sprint line. For now, here's what runner-up on the road, Bauhaus had to say after the finish.

"It's something special, we are here for GC but all those guys, they did their best. They did amazing. Matej [Mohorič], Fred [Wright], Nikias [Arndt], Pello [Bilbao], they are all amazing bike riders so it's really a pleasure for me in my first Tour that they help me in the sprint."

"I was confident, I felt really good and I knew I had to be more towards the front. It's a really close battle and fortunately today ended up good for me. I believed for a few seconds that I could win, but Philipsen kept the speed, he was the strongest."

"It's a great result, I say in the future that I' proud of that day, but to be honest as a sprinter you need to win. It's my dream to win one stage."

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has been confirmed as the winner of stage 3 of the Tour de France! It was a painful wait, but here's what he had to say after the stage.

"It was a bit in doubt, but it did make it really exciting in the end," Philipsen said about his arduous wait for the jury to make their decision. "It was tense, but it's the Tour de France and there are no presents to nobody, so I think everybody goes all in and I think I can be really happy with our team performance today."

"We had a great lead-out with Jonas [Rickaert], who took the first part and then Mathieu [Van der Poel] did a fantastic job, I'm really happy to keep it to the finish line."

Philipsen got an incredible final turn from Van der Poel, here's what to had to say on his superstar teammate's performance: "If he can have the space to go then for sure he has the speed and you know that no other lead out will pass it."

"It was a tricky final with an s-bend in the end, so I tried to take the shortest road to the finish and I'm really happy to get first over the line."

"I think we try to aim for another stage win after, but I'm just already super happy that we can take the first sprint."

Take a look below at Pogačar watching closely with his good friend and former teammate Philipsen as the Belgian sprinter waited for the jury to decide on the stage win.

There we no changes to our jersey wearers after the first bunch sprint of the 2023 Tour de France. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) remains in the yellow jersey, Victor Lafay (Cofidis) holds on to his green jersey thanks to the 15 points he gained at the intermediate sprint, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) went into the break to solidify his lead in the polka-dot jersey and Tadej Pogačar, of course, is still in the white jersey. 

Make sure to read Alasdair Fotheringham's full stage report from today and check out our growing image gallery of the action.

Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen wins stage 3 after impressive lead-out from Mathieu van der Poel

Take a look also at the full results from today's sprint stage thanks to FirstCycling.

Van der Poel played no part in the opening two stages, despite being touted as one of the favourites for the Basque Country opener, but had said his legs were fine and he that he was saving them to help Philipsen. Here's what he had to say after Alpecin-Deceuninck's first win of the Tour.

"Yesterday, I just tried to save as much energy as possible because I knew it would be really hard today, the first sprint stage. Everybody still has the legs so it's difficult to make a difference. In the end I think we did a perfect lead-out today."

"My goal is to go for a stage win. Coming in here, I knew the shape was good, but the  last two days I was not riding with the legs I had before the Tour, but I mean it's three weeks and there are still a lot of chances to come and I'm really happy we already have this one with the team and now we try to go for a second one."

"Tomorrow is another sprint opportunity, but it's going to be difficult to deliver him [Philipsen] like this every-time, but we will try."

That's a wonderful Grand Depart in the Basque Country done and dusted. We've had three hectic days of racing and it's only going to get better as we head further into France and into the Pyrenees.

Tomorrow's stage is another sprint opportunity from Dax to Nogaro and should be another tension-filled day that finishes in a big bunch charge to the line. Can Philipsen double-up on stage wins? Or will Mark Cavendish break Eddy Merckx's Tour de France stage win record?

Check back tomorrow with Cyclingnews and find out.