Another day for the sprinters saw Jason Tesson (Team TotalEnergies) take his second straight win and will wear the yellow jersey for Stage 4. The Frenchman took another long, uphill sprint and takes the overall lead with time bonuses he earned throughout the 113km stage from Lebamba to Mouila.
The day started with the tallest climbs of the race coming just 11km from the start. The 1.4km climb at 8.1% average grade was enough to allow a breakaway group of Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies), Mario Aparicio (Burgos-BH), Alexis Guerin, Lennert Teugels (Bingoal WB), Aklilu Arefayne, Henok Mulubrhan (Eritrea), Patrick Byukusenge (Rwanda), Toby Perry (EF Education-NIPPO Development) and Natnael Berhane (Beykoz Team-Turkey) to gain almost a minute on the peloton. With three out of the four trade teams represented at the front, the group looked as though they could extend their advantage, but the cooperation did not last and everyone was back together with about 80km to go.
A second break jumped off the front shortly after, but a crash split the break in two. They eventually came back together, but Adil El Arbaoui (Morocco) had already taken his chance off the front of the break. He didn’t last long though, with Eric Manizabayo (Rwanda), Clovis Kamzong (Cameroon) and Christopher Rougier-Lagane (Mauritius) all trying their luck with less than 30km to go. While they were able to build a lead of over a minute, Team TotalEnergies, Burgos-BH, and Eritrea drove on the front to bring the group back to the peloton with only a few kilometers left in the race.
The catch was just a little too soon though as Aparicio took one final chance before being swallowed up in the bunch sprint at the end in Mouila. Tesson led Alexander Salby (Bingol-WB) to the line with teammate Geoff Soupe celebrating the win behind in the yellow jersey.
Stage 4 will is the midway point of the race, and also the longest day on the bike. The 194km route starts in Mouila and finishes in Lambaréné. The stage will offer more hills than the first three, giving breakaways and GC riders plenty of work to keep their position in the standings. Three intermediate sprints will be available and a single KOM just 1.5km from the finish at Petite Place Avec Barques À Droite). With an extremely tight GC, look for Ourselin to be in the mix for a potential stage win and continue the GC lead for the Team TotalEnergies.
Stage 3
- TESSON Jason (TEN) 2h27’38”
- SALBY Alexander (BWB) 2h27’38”
- SOUPE Geoffrey (TEN) 2h27’38”
- ED-DOGHMY Achraf (MAR) 2h27’38”
- BARTHE Cyril (BBH) 2h27’38”
General Classification After stage 3
- TESSON Jason (TEN) 7h56’06”
- SOUPE Geoffrey (TEN) 7h56’09”
- BARTHE Cyril (BBH) 7h56’21”
- MULUEBERHAN Henok (ERI) 7h56’22”
- JEANNIERE Emilien (TEN) 7h56’22”
KOM Classification After stage 3
- TEUGELS Lennert (BWB) 8
- APARICIO Mario (BBH) 8
- AREFAYNE Aklilu (ERI)) 6
- ANGULO Antonio (BBH) 5
- DAUMONT, Paul (BUR) 5
Sprint Classification After stage 3
- BARTHE Cyril (BBH) 7
- DAUMONT, Paul (BUR) 6
- MULUEBERHAN Henok (ERI) 6
- SOUPE Geoff (TEN) 5
- ACHETKUEYINYI Aurelien (CMR) 4
Points Classification After stage 3
- TESSON Jason (TEN) 77
- MULUEBERHAN Henok (ERI) 62
- SOUPE Geoffrey (TEN) 53
- SALBY Alexander (BWB) 52
- JANNIERE Emilien (TEN) 48
Best Young Rider Classification After stage 3
- MULUEBERHAN Henok (ERI) 7h56’22”
- BLOUWE Louis (BWB) 7h56’22”
- AREFAYBE Aklilu (ERI) 7h56’26”
- ED-DOGHMY Achraf (MAR) 7h56’27”
- AMARI Hamza (ALG) 7h56’28”
Team Classification After stage 3
- Team TotalEnergies (France) 23h49’24”
- Bingoal-WB (Belgium) 23h49’24”
- Erythree 23h49’24”
- EF Education-Nippo DT (USA) 23h49’24”
- Rwanda 23h49’34”
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
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