Tour de France 2025 stage 3 preview

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

The only pimple on the parcours comes with around 33km to go, with the category four ascent of Mont Cassel (2.3km at 3.8%), but its shallow gradients are unlikely to put any riders into difficulty.

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

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