Julian Alaphilippe held onto the Maillot Jaune in the 3rd stage of the 2020 Tour de France today, but the big story was a brave 182km solo breakaway by Jerome Cousin of the B&B Hotels/Vital Concept team. Caleb Ewan of the Lotto Soudal team was the stage winner over Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) and Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling)
The race headed out of Nice today with a 198km stage to Sisteron. Julian Alaphilippe started the day in yellow, marking his 15th day in the maillot jaune overall. The day was another hilly one, with three Category 3 and one Category 4 climbs on the slate.
After the official start, it was Cousin, along with Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Benoit Cosnefroy and Oliver Naesen (AG2R LA MONDIALE) that made the early escape. Naesen sat up rather quickly, leaving the remaining trio to bump up to an early 3 minute lead. Cousin found himself riding alone after km 71 when Cosnefroy and Perez rejoined the peloton.
Cousin continued to lead the race through 16km from the finish, riding alone over the climbs and fighting the occasional rain showers.
Alaphilippe’s yellow jersey briefly looked to be in danger as he briefly trailed the peloton by 30 seconds with about 20km to go, but his team sent a rider back to help him rejoin the group and got him safely back to the front.
KOM leader Benoit Cosnefroy went down on the exit of a roundabout with about 6km to go, but was able to get back on the bike.
While the finish was not expected to be one for the sprinters, they nonetheless started to make their moves with about 4km to go. Andre Greipel, Caleb Ewan and Alexander Kristoff were all there with their sprint trains. Bryan Coquard was there, too.
Peter Sagan made a brief surge, but it was Caleb Ewan for his 4th Tour de France victory ahead of Sam Bennett.
2020 Tour de France Stage 3 Results:
- Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) in 5h 17’42”
- Sam Bennett (DECEUNINCK – QUICK – STEP) s.t.
- Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling) s.t.
- Hugo Hofstetter (Israel Start Up Nation) s.t.
- Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 3
- Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) at 13h59’17”
- Adam Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) at 4″
- Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) at 7″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at 17″
Ron is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
Websites:
Bike World News
Ron’s Bike Garage
Current Bike Quiver:
Bird Bikes Zero 29 29″ hardtail mountain bike
Commencal Absolut 26″ Dirt Jump/Pump Track bike
Commencal Tempo 29″ full suspension mountain bike
Felt ZA 700c race bike
Kona Kilauea vintage 26″ mountain bike
Niner RLT9 700c road/gravel bike
Specialized Stumpjumper vintage 26″ mountain bike
Day Job: Digital Marketing
Night Job: Digital Marketing, eCommerce Consultant, Web Consultant, Bike Shop Operator, Husband, Dad, Tenor