2017 Tour de France: Stage 3 News, Notes and Quotes

After a start in Dusseldorf and a night in Belgium, the 2017 Tour de France entered France in today’s 215km 3rd stage from Verviers to Longwy. Peter Sagan took his 8th TdF stage win and notched the first win at the tour for his BORA-hansgrohe team.

Peter immediately thanked his teammates for their role in his win. “First I’d like to thank all my BORA-hansgrohe teammates – they did an amazing job today. They were pulling all day on the front and it wasn’t easy, with the headwind and the technical section at the end – it was really stressful in the peloton. Then in the end it was a pretty hard climb – BMC did a good job for Richie Porte who then attacked in the last 800m. He created a small gap and went to the front, then I decided to go for it, but we were still at 400m to go and it was too early. It was still far away and I said to myself that again I was in the wrong position. Then I started my sprint and I unclipped – again I thought ‘another mistake – what’s going on today?’ but I went ahead. Matthews nearly beat me, but I made it. I’m so happy with this victory – Thank you BORA-hansgrohe.”

Matthews Re-Evaluating Approach

Team Sunweb’s Michael Matthews was there at the end as well, with his teammates Simon Geschke and Warren Barguil  placing him in position on the uphill ride to the finish. Matthews opened up his sprint and a strong acceleration saw him pass three rivals in his conquest to the line. In what was an extremely close finale, Michael crossed the line in second place.

After the finish Michael said: “Today didn’t go as we had hoped, we got a little bit lost on the last climb and we had to revaluate and try something different. We’ll see what happens in the next stages, we have a lot more stages to come with more opportunities.”

Martin Satisfied

Quick-Step Floors Daniel Martin finished third on the stage and was satisfied to move up a little in the G.C. as a result of his effort.

Martin took a total of six seconds on all the other race favourites, a welcomed bonus that helped him move up to 15th place in the overall rankings.

“That’s what I tried today and I’m really happy with how it went. I found the first part of the climb not so hard, but things changed once Richie attacked and lined out the peloton”, a satisfied Dan Martin explained after the stage. “The sprint was very long and I knew it was very important to bide your time. So I sat on Matthews’ wheel and launched my sprint when I sensed everybody was in the red. I never thought I would sprint against those guys, so to get this result at the end of such a hard day makes me very happy and confident. A big shout-out to my teammates, who did everything to bring me in the best position for this finish.”

Porte Tests His Legs

Richie Porte and his BMC Racing teammate Greg Van Avermaet both tested their legs on the uphill finish in Longwy.

Having protected Porte all day, BMC assumed their place at the front of the peloton inside the final 30km as the fight for positioning intensified.

10km before the finish line, the race came back together, and the team showed a strong display of teamwork to position Van Avermaet and Porte in the finale.

Inside the final kilometer, Porte surprised everyone by attacking and gaining a few meters on the strung out peloton behind him, however was ultimately caught about 400m before the line.

Van Avermaet launched his sprint but was not able to get passed eventual winner Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohe) and settled for fourth place on the line.

“I was put in a fantastic position there in the final,” said Porte. “I felt good but with 500 meters to go, I knew it was a bit too far out. I think it’s good for the team. They were really strong today so it’s a shame we couldn’t quite finish it off. For the last 40km it was a hell of a fight. It was a dangerous and tricky final so it was nice to get through that one unscathed. All of the guys chipped in today and they were really strong. It’s good for the confidence to have a bit of a crack.”

“I think Richie did a hard job,” Avermaet added. “Everyone was a little bit ‘à bloc’. Even Peter Sagan left a gap a little bit. Then, it was just about timing. I wanted to go a little bit earlier and surprise Peter a bit and take his wheel. But then he lost his pedal and he restarted his sprint again with me next to him and in the wind. This killed me a little bit I think. The team kept a good position for both of us, Richie and I. We had both options to play and I think this is the best approach to not lose time. Maybe you gain some seconds over the other guys if you are at the front of the peloton so for me it is the best solution to do what we did today. I felt great support from my team.”

Kittel Retains Points Lead:

Marcel Kittel got in the mix at the day’s sole intermediate sprint, behind the escapees, and the points the 29-year-old nabbed there helped him retain the lead in the points standings.

White Jersey for Pierre Latour:

Ag2R-La Mondiale’s Pierre Latour moved into the white Best Young Rider jersey today.

“It was a difficult day with a lot of ‘leg breakers’,” LaTour said. “But I managed. I tried to attack on the final climb, but I just didn’t have the legs for it. I am happy to be wearing the white jersey, though. This completes my collection. But it remains to be seen if I will be able to keep it.”

Injury Updates:

Ion Izagirre:

BAHRAIN MERIDA’s GC rider Ion Izagirre had to stay in Düsseldorf hospital with a lumbar vertebral fracture after his unfortunate crash in the opening stage of the race.

Team’s doctor Luca Pollastri informed us in the afternoon: “This morning Ion went under surgery for decompression and stabilization of lumbar vertebral fracture, which he suffered in the crash on Saturday. The surgery went well without any complications. Ion will remain in Germany (University Hospital of Düsseldorf) for at least 4 days before returning back home to Spain to start his recovery. Recovery is expected to take a few months. The team’s medical staff is in close contact with the surgeon, who performed the operation, and is satisfied with all the feedback. They will accompany the rider through his road to recovery.”