Tour de France 2021: Geraint Thomas loses time after crash as Tim Merlier wins stage three
- Published
Merlier claimed his second Grand Tour stage of the year
Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic were both involved in crashes as Tim Merlier won a dramatic stage three of the Tour de France.
Thomas dislocated his shoulder early on the 182.9km stage, while Roglic lost time after falling in the final 10km.
Caleb Ewan also crashed late on, taking down former world champion Peter Sagan as both wound up for a sprint finish.
Mathieu van der Poel retained the leader's yellow jersey, finishing just behind Alpecin-Fenix team-mate Merlier.
"I'm living a dream I think," said Merlier, who has now claimed maiden stage wins at both the Tour and Giro d'Italia this year.
"After the Giro I was already really happy and now I win a stage on the Tour, the biggest race in the world. I can't believe it."
A relatively flat parcours had promised a largely uneventful day, with fireworks expected on the final sprint where Mark Cavendish was hoping to collect his 31st stage victory, five years on from his last.
However, it proved anything but uneventful with Jumbo's-Visma's Robert Gesink being forced to abandon as a consequence of Thomas' fall inside the opening 50km.
The Welshman looked in agony as he sat on the tarmac but eventually carried on after receiving roadside attention to put his shoulder back in place, bridging a three-minute-plus gap to regain contact with the peloton after team-mates dropped back in support.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
As sprint trains assembled and with the peloton at full speed, Groupama-FDJ's French rider Valentin Madouas fell with 12km remaining, causing a snarl-up which denied Cavendish, who damaged his bike, the opportunity to contest the final sprint.
Roglic hit the deck painfully 10km from the line while defending champion Tadej Pogacar was held up by a crash that ended Jack Haig's Tour.
Ewan, arguably the fastest man in the field had talked up his chances of winning in Pontivy, suffered a broken collarbone after losing control of his bike and colliding with Sagan in sight of the finish.
Lotto Soudal later confirmed that their Australian sprinter would be leaving the Tour because of his injuries.
General classification battle reshaped
While Van der Poel and Julian Alaphilippe stayed first and second in the GC battle, a day of major incidents saw a raft of changes below them.
Thomas' Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Richard Carapaz profited from steering clear of trouble in a chaotic conclusion to climb 15 places into third overall, while Wout van Aert rose to fourth from 19th.
Pogacar, who came home in a group containing Thomas, 26 seconds behind Merlier, compared the finale to the stage with a "war zone".
And Roglic, who had been fourth overnight but conceded almost a minute to his fellow Slovenian, finished one minute and 21 seconds after the stage winner.
Stage three results:
1. Tim Merlier (Bel/Alpecin-Fenix) 4hrs 28mins 01secs
2. Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Fenix) Same time
3. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Arkea Samsic)
4. Davide Ballerini (Ita/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
5. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain Victorious)
6. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
7. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Fenix)
8. Cees Bol (Ned/DSM)
9. Anthony Turgis (Fra/TotalEnergies)
10. Max Walscheid (Ger/Qhubeka NextHash)
General classification standings after stage three
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Fenix) 12hrs 58mins 53secs
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +8 secs
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) +31secs
4. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo Visma) Same time
5. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe) +38secs
6. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE-Team Emirates) +39secs
7. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +40secs
8. Nairo Quintana (Col/Arkea Samsic) Same time
9. Pierre Latour (Fra/TotalEnergies) +45secs
10. Sergio Higuita (Col/EF Education-Nippo) +52secs
Starstruck: The one-night stand that has blockbuster consequences
Advice from former Love Islanders: What do they wish they had known before entering the villa?
