Tuesday’s 190.8km trek was the second-longest of the week.
Stage 3 of the “Race to the Sun” travelled from Vierzon to Dun-le-Palestel, the small town in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region located not far from the famous Monts de Blond. Spread out over a distance of ten kilometers, this natural site is home to some of Europe’s oldest megaliths dating back to the Neolithic period, when the societies of the time were trying to establish their unique identity and territorial ownership.
The peloton wasn’t interested in this, but more in the hilly final part of the day, seen by many teams as the perfect platform to increase the tempo and drop the sprinters. Wearing the green jersey following the spectacular victory he had taken Monday afternoon, Fabio Jakobsen was among those to lose contact with the bunch on the challenging gradients with around 25 kilometers to go.
An uphill finish awaited in the last kilometer, and it made for a messy bunch sprint, as some riders were involved in a crash just as they were preparing to kick out. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) took the win, while Zdenek Stybar ended the day as the best Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider and sits seventh overall ahead of Wednesday’s individual time trial.
Photo credit: ©Bas Czerwinski / Getty Images
