Chris Boardman has called the riders' protest an "emotional reaction" on ITV4.

Boardman, who won three stages at the Tour in the 1990s said that the roads of Brittany have not changed and suggested "the intensity and behaviour of the riders," needs to be looked at.

He adds: "It is within the riders gift to make it safer by using their breaks and giving ground but that is something none of them want to do."

No Caleb Ewan today of course after he was involved in a horrible collision approaching the finish in Pontivy on stage three.

The Australian, who was arguably the fastest man in the race, broke his collarbone and has already said farewell to his Lotto Soudal team-mates.

I could quote you the rulebook verbatim but a short summary might be better.

If a rider suffers a mechanical or crashes in the final 3,000 metres of a stage then they are awarded the same time as the group they were with at the time of the incident.

Speaking prior to the stage Lotto Soudal's old stager Philippe Gilbert, who has previously consulted on safety matters with the UCI, cycling's governing body, said: "The most important thing is to open the dialogue with the different families of cycling."

A number of current and former riders in the peloton have criticised the route taken towards the end of stage three, saying that it contributed to a series of serious crashes.

And the Professional Cyclists' Association (CPA) has issued a statement, external this morning after talks with the riders calling for the UCI to adapt the 3km rule to "avoid circumstances such as those which occurred in yesterday's stage."

Image source, Getty Images

There have been conflicting reports during the course of the morning over whether the peloton will stage some sort of protest during stage four.

And I can tell you that has now been confirmed.

The peloton has stopped for a minute at kilometre zero on the roll out from Redon and are going to go slow for the first 5-10km.

Anyway strap in. Here we go again.

Image source, ASO

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

All that chaos contributed to a major reshuffle on the general classification...

Image source, Getty Images

The 2020 runner-up Primoz Roglic hit the deck pretty hard on Monday.

In scenes reminiscent to March’s Paris-Nice, the Slovenian looked bloodied and bruised as he crossed the finish line having also conceded a decent chunk of time to the defending champion Tadej Pogacar and Geraint Thomas.

Jack Haig, the Bahrain Victorious rider saw his race come to premature end when he and a number of other riders were felled by a crash 4km from line.

And then Caleb Ewan crossed wheels with Peter Sagan with the finish line in sight.

All on a day that was meant to be relatively trouble-free and for the sprinters.

And did I say crashes.

I can't quite remember anything like what went down on stage one (with the spectator, the French police have been looking for) or indeed the final 12km of stage three, which were utter chaos.

And that came after Geraint Thomas dislocated his shoulder and had it popped back into place and Robert Gesink was forced to abandon.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

What a few days we've had.

Glory, despair, drama, tears, bravery and crashes. And the race is barely three days old.

Welcome to the Tour de France.