Tour de France 2025 stage 3 preview

By last updated

Monday, July 7, 2025: Valenciennes - Dunkerque, 178 km

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Profiles of the 2025 Tour de France stages and climbs
Profile of stage 3(Image credit: A.S.O.)

A pan-flat route means a perfect opportunity for the pure sprinters on stage 3 of the Tour de France.

Strong winds can always cause issues when the peloton is so close to the coast, but the approach towards the finish in Dunkirk means that the riders are unlikely to be exposed to any crosswinds in the run-in.

Race leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has to watch out for a cagey attack from Tour de France GC favourites Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) who are within 10 seconds of him in second and third on the GC standings.

But more likely the stage will be a bunch sprint, with a chance for redemption for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) who missed the split on the opening stage.

Stage 3 Sprints

  • Isbergues, km. 118.2

Stage 4 Mountains

  • Mont Cassel (cat. 4) km. 147.4

How to watch stage 3 of the Tour de France

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Country

Broadcaster

Start time

UK

ITV4 / ITVX (FREE)

14:30 BST

UK

TNT Sports / Discovery+

12:00 BST

US

NBC / Peacock

06:30 ET

Canada

Flobikes

07:00 ET

Australia

SBS / SBS On Demand (FREE)

21:15 AEST

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► Full guide: How to watch the Tour de France 2025

Joseph Lycett

Joseph Lycett is a freelance writer for Cyclingnews and has been covering professional cycling since 2022, writing for outlets such as GCN and Cycling Weekly. Joe is also a keen cyclist himself, regularly racing in his local crit races and time trials.

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