2020 Tour de France: Stage 3 News, Notes and Quotes

The win for Stage 3 of the 2020 Tour de France went to Caleb Ewan, with Julian Alaphilippe holding onto yellow, Peter Sagan grabbing the green jersey and Benoit Cosnefroy getting another day in the polka dots.

Caleb Ewan sprints to precious first Tour de France stage win

Caleb Ewan won the 3rd stage of Tour de France finishing in Sisteron. In a bunch sprint the 26-year-old Australian was faster than Sam Bennett and Giacomo Nizzolo. For Ewan it is his fourth stage win in the Tour de France.

“Unfortunately team Lotto Soudal is down to six riders after the crashes of Phil and John in the opening stage,” Ewan said at the finish. “But everyone stayed motivated. We knew that when everything went right I could win the sprint today. All my teammates gave 110% today and made up for the two guys that were missed. And yeah, it worked!

“The guys did a great job of keeping me in the front in the final. In the last kilometer I was literally too far forward, so I dropped back into the wheels. That gave me some time to rest the legs a little bit before the final leadout. Coming from behind was a bit of a risk but I found my way through the barrier and I came with a lot of speed. In the end it worked out perfectly.

“We knew today was gonna be possibly quite hard. In the end only a little break went up the road and it was quite controlled. We need to take every sprint opportunity we can, because they are pretty rare this year.

“This is the Tour de France. It is the biggest race and the world, where every rider wants to win at. I am so happy to get another win here. I hope to keep coming back and keep winning. With the caliber of sprinting here it is always gonna be hard to win more stages. But we have some more chances, and we will take them as they come.”

Peter Sagan grabs Green Jersey with points haul and sprint fifth

Having taken points on yesterday’s stage, Peter Sagan was on the hunt for more, and with Daniel Oss leading him out, the Slovak rider was the first from the bunch to cross the line in the intermediate sprint. From there, it was a race to see who was going to take the stage win, and with the solo rider’s lead down to under a minute, it looked like the day would end with a sprint. By 20km to go, the peloton was less than thirty seconds behind, and the catch was made 5km later. The pace ramped up here and the BORA-hansgrohe riders were keeping safe as some road furniture created nervousness in the bunch, with no one team wanting to take control.

The slight uphill to the line, along with a headwind, slowed the sprinters, but Daniel Oss created space for Peter to start his kick, keeping the power down and looking strong to take 5th position, having started a little early. The day’s points total saw him end the day with the prestigious Maillot Vert on his back as he climbed to the top of the points standings. A crash in the final 7km saw Lukas Pöstlberger take some abrasions but the Austrian rider completed the stage and will undergo tests to be sure there is no concussion.

Benoit Cosnefroy keeps the polka dot jersey

“It was a great day. I was very keen to defend this polka dot jersey. I went in the breakaway with Anthony Perez who placed ahead of me on the first two climbs, à la pédale,” said Cosnefroy.

“On the third ascent, Anthony had a flat and then had to abandon after crashing on the descent. I am really thinking of him tonight because he really should have taken the polka dot jersey today. It’s a strange way to keep the jersey, even if I am still proud to wear it.

“I myself crashed when I was trying to be careful at the back of the peloton so as not to take any risks four kilometers from the finish. My second crash in three days, and falling on the same wounds. But that’s how it goes sometimes, that’s the way of the Tour.“

Julian Alaphilippe collects his 16th yellow jersey

Many were expecting a ferocious battle for the breakaway at the start of stage 3, but the actual fight to feature at the front during the 198km trek between Nice and Sisteron concluded after the first kilometer. Four riders jumped from the peloton and padded out their lead to four minutes, before three of them decided to drop out of the group, leaving only Jerome Cousin (Total Direct Energie) in the lead.

Back in the peloton, Julian Alaphilippe was enjoying his 15th day in the yellow jersey, a record among this year’s Tour de France starters. The whole Deceuninck – Quick-Step team rallied around the overall leader, Danish Champion Kasper Asgreen, Dries Devenyns, Tim “El Tractor” Declercq, TGV of Clermont-Ferrand” Rémi Cavagna devoted all their energy working for Alaphilippe and maintaining a steady pace.