The Belgian continued his upward trajectory at the French Grand Tour.
The race said goodbye to Spain and headed to France through the Pyrenees for an unusually hard stage 3, the combination of high temperatures and 4000 vertical meters making it really difficult for many riders, including the sprinters, who were dropped on the first climb of the day and formed a gruppetto that concluded the day around half an hour behind winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).
Louis Vervaeke was one of the 18 riders to animate the stage from a breakaway that opened a gap after more than two hours. It was an intense start, with dozens of riders - including Valentin Paret-Peintre - attacking in the hope of being part of the lead group. Vervaeke did a good effort, but the peloton allowed them to open a gap of just three minutes, and as a result, most of the escapees were reeled in on Collada de Toses, the hardest and longest climb of the stage.
Just like on the Montjuic, it came down to an uphill sprint from a reduced GC group, and despite the last 200 meters being too explosive for his taste, Ilan Van Wilder rode a strong finish. Thanks to this, he continued to gain places in the overall standings and jumped to tenth after three stages.
“It was an incredibly hard start to the stage. Very hot and a fierce battle that went on for two hours before a breakaway was formed. The finale was a punchy one and really difficult for me to fight for a good result, but I’m happy now that another stage is behind us and I’ve managed to climb to tenth on the general classification”, Ilan said at the finish.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
