Merlier wins, Philipsen crashes out in Tour de France dash to Dunkirk
▶️ Revivez un dernier km chaotique qui mène @MerlierTim à la victoire sur l'étape 3.#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/DYNDucuaEU — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2025
BELGIAN TIM MERLIER pipped Italian Jonathan Milan right at the line to win stage three of the Tour de France at Dunkirk on Monday, as Mathieu van der Poel retained the race lead.
The stage was marred by a series of falls, but the two favourites for the title Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished safely in the main pack and remain in second and third place overall behind Van der Poel.
The flat 179km run from Valenciennes along the Belgian border was marked above all by a nasty fall that caused Jasper Philipsen to quit with severe grazing and a suspected fracture.
The fall ripped the green best sprinter's jersey from Philipsen's back two days after he won the opening day sprint, as he slid along the road in the 70kph crash.
😟 @JasperPhilipsen crashed hard as he approached the intermediate sprint. The green jersey was forced to retire ❌
😟 @JasperPhilipsen a chuté violemment à l'approche du sprint intermédiaire. Le maillot vert est durement touché et doit abandonner ❌#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/RdKBQgr8oK — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2025
Advertisement
There were three more falls, including two nasty looking ones in the finale with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, Merlier's teammate, involved.
Merlier, 32, grew up just over the border from Dunkirk and had been hoping to win the opening stage on Sunday.
'That was a mess,' Merlier said of the falls. 'I lost a great deal of energy getting in position but it was a good bike throw. I knew I'd beat Milan.'
Lidl-Trek's Milan led over most of the final 150m, but even without sealing the stage win his efforts were still rewarded as he inherited the green sprint points jersey from the stricken Philipsen.
Van der Poel in the leader's yellow jersey is the grandson of French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who came second in the Tour de France seven times, but never won and also never got to don the yellow tunic.
Another Belgian, the national champion Tim Wellens, gave cross-border fans even more to celebrate as he won the day's only climb, the 2.3km ascent of Mont Cassel at 31km from the finish line.
The 34-year-old will now hold the king of the mountains polka dot jersey overnight.
Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin is in the best under-25′s rider's white jersey afer staying in the finishing mix in all three stages.
Regional police said one million spectators had lined the roadsides on the opening day, and while rain dissuaded that kind of turnout for stage two, huge crowds turned out again for the run to Dunkirk.
The eleven bikes stolen from outside the Cofidis team hotel early Sunday were all found before the stage's end — five of them were recovered abandoned in a forest early Monday with the others being tracked down by the police later in the day.
Tuesday's fourth stage is a 174km run from Amiens, as the Tour leaves the North region, to Rouen in Normandy, with five hills in the final 25km designed to spark a series of race-splitting attacks.
The first section of the Tour is raced through the north and west of France.
The volcanic landscape of the Puy de Dome presents the first mountains as late as stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
9 hours ago
- The 42
Merlier wins, Philipsen crashes out in Tour de France dash to Dunkirk
▶️ Relive an hectic last km that brings @MerlierTim to victory on stage 3. ▶️ Revivez un dernier km chaotique qui mène @MerlierTim à la victoire sur l'étape 3.#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2025 BELGIAN TIM MERLIER pipped Italian Jonathan Milan right at the line to win stage three of the Tour de France at Dunkirk on Monday, as Mathieu van der Poel retained the race lead. The stage was marred by a series of falls, but the two favourites for the title Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard finished safely in the main pack and remain in second and third place overall behind Van der Poel. The flat 179km run from Valenciennes along the Belgian border was marked above all by a nasty fall that caused Jasper Philipsen to quit with severe grazing and a suspected fracture. The fall ripped the green best sprinter's jersey from Philipsen's back two days after he won the opening day sprint, as he slid along the road in the 70kph crash. 😟 @JasperPhilipsen crashed hard as he approached the intermediate sprint. The green jersey was forced to retire ❌ 😟 @JasperPhilipsen a chuté violemment à l'approche du sprint intermédiaire. Le maillot vert est durement touché et doit abandonner ❌#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2025 Advertisement There were three more falls, including two nasty looking ones in the finale with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, Merlier's teammate, involved. Merlier, 32, grew up just over the border from Dunkirk and had been hoping to win the opening stage on Sunday. 'That was a mess,' Merlier said of the falls. 'I lost a great deal of energy getting in position but it was a good bike throw. I knew I'd beat Milan.' Lidl-Trek's Milan led over most of the final 150m, but even without sealing the stage win his efforts were still rewarded as he inherited the green sprint points jersey from the stricken Philipsen. Van der Poel in the leader's yellow jersey is the grandson of French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who came second in the Tour de France seven times, but never won and also never got to don the yellow tunic. Another Belgian, the national champion Tim Wellens, gave cross-border fans even more to celebrate as he won the day's only climb, the 2.3km ascent of Mont Cassel at 31km from the finish line. The 34-year-old will now hold the king of the mountains polka dot jersey overnight. Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin is in the best under-25′s rider's white jersey afer staying in the finishing mix in all three stages. Regional police said one million spectators had lined the roadsides on the opening day, and while rain dissuaded that kind of turnout for stage two, huge crowds turned out again for the run to Dunkirk. The eleven bikes stolen from outside the Cofidis team hotel early Sunday were all found before the stage's end — five of them were recovered abandoned in a forest early Monday with the others being tracked down by the police later in the day. Tuesday's fourth stage is a 174km run from Amiens, as the Tour leaves the North region, to Rouen in Normandy, with five hills in the final 25km designed to spark a series of race-splitting attacks. The first section of the Tour is raced through the north and west of France. The volcanic landscape of the Puy de Dome presents the first mountains as late as stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps.
Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Merlier claims photo finish win in crash-strewn Tour de France stage
Tim Merlier pipped Jonathan Milan to victory on a crash-strewn stage three of the Tour de France that saw Saturday's stage winner Jasper Philipsen forced to abandon in the green jersey. Soudal-QuickStep's Merlier had the power to come around Milan and take the win in a photo finish in Dunkirk, but it was a reduced sprint as two crashes in the final five kilometres split the peloton — with Merlier's team-mate Remco Evenepoel among those to go down. Philipsen had not even made it that far, forced to abandon after a heavy crash at the intermediate sprint on a day when a calm start to the 178km stage from Valenciennes turned into a frantic, dangerous finish. Mathieu van der Poel retained the leader's yellow jersey, still four seconds clear of Tadej Pogacar, but it was a costly day for his team. Alpecin-Deceuninck had enjoyed a dream start with two victories from two, aiming to become the first team to win the opening three stages of a Tour since the French squad in 1961 — but it came to an abrupt end a little under 60km from the finish. As the pace ramped up on the approach to the intermediate sprint, where Philipsen was looking to extend his advantage in the points classification, Laurenz Rex and Bryan Coquard tangled on the right side of the road, sending Coquard left and into the side of Philipsen. The Belgian hit the deck hard and it was immediately apparent his Tour was over, with his team later saying he had suffered a broken right collarbone and a broken rib. As the pace dropped again, Tim Wellens rolled off the front of the peloton and claimed the sole king of the mountains point on offer, enough to relieve his team-mate Pogacar of the the polka-dot jersey. But there was more drama to come as the peloton reached Dunkirk. Evenepoel — third overall last year and again targeting a podium finish in Paris — was caught in the first of two big crashes, rolling to the line holding his left side. There was then another violent incident on the final approach to the line, with Alexis Renard and Cees Bol going down hard at high speed. Merlier emerged from the chaos with his second career Tour stage win, four years after the first. "It was a really hard battle," the Belgian said. "It was difficult to be in position in the battle before the last corner and I must say, my team did an incredible job to the last 5km and then the real battle started. "I was able to get some slipstream next to Milan. It's always difficult to beat him but I'm happy I can take today my second win in the Tour de France. "At first I was sure (I had won) and put my hands in the air but then I was not sure anymore so I was waiting until I was." Tour debutant Milan's second place saw him inherit the green jersey from the unfortunate Philipsen. British debutant Joe Blackmore moved up to sixth overall, 41 seconds off yellow, to go second in the young rider's classification.
Irish Independent
11 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Belgium's Tim Merlier claims photo finish win after crash-strewn Tour de France stage three
Soudal-QuickStep's Merlier had the power to come around Milan and take the win in a photo finish in Dunkirk, but it was a reduced sprint as two crashes in the final five kilometres split the peloton - with Merlier's team-mate Remco Evenepoel among those to go down. Philipsen had not even made it that far, forced to abandon after a heavy crash at the intermediate sprint on a day when a calm start to the 178km stage from Valenciennes turned into a frantic, dangerous finish. Mathieu van der Poel retained the leader's yellow jersey, still four seconds clear of Tadej Pogacar, but it was a costly day for his team. Alpecin-Deceuninck had enjoyed a dream start with two victories from two, aiming to become the first team to win the opening three stages of a Tour since the French squad in 1961 - but it came to an abrupt end a little under 60km from the finish. As the pace ramped up on the approach to the intermediate sprint, where Philipsen was looking to extend his advantage in the points classification, Laurenz Rex and Bryan Coquard tangled on the right side of the road, sending Coquard left and into the side of Philipsen. The Belgian hit the deck hard and it was immediately apparent his Tour was over as he was taken to the side of the road for treatment. As the pace dropped again, Tim Wellens rolled off the front of the peloton and claimed the sole king of the mountains point on offer, enough to relieve his team-mate Pogacar of the the polka-dot jersey. But there was more drama to come as the peloton reached Dunkirk. Evenepoel - third overall last year and again targeting a podium finish in Paris - was caught in the first of two big crashes, rolling to the line holding his left side. There was then another violent incident on the final approach to the line, with Alexis Renard and Cees Bol going down hard at high speed. Merlier emerged from the chaos with his second career Tour stage win, four years after the first. ADVERTISEMENT "It was a really hard battle," the Belgian said. "It was difficult to be in position in the battle before the last corner and I must say, my team did an incredible job to the last 5km and then the real battle started. "I was able to get some slipstream next to Milan. It's always difficult to beat him but I'm happy I can take today my second win in the Tour de France. "At first I was sure (I had won) and put my hands in the air but then I was not sure anymore so I was waiting until I was." Tour debutant Milan's second place saw him inherit the green jersey from the unfortunate Philipsen. Ireland's Ben Healy and Eddie Dunbar were awarded the same time as the winner and sit 41st and 83rd overall, 02' 18' and 06' 38'' off the lead respectively.
