Key events<\/p>\n
Nineteen-man breakaway escapes<\/p>\n
121km to go. Ah, looks like Visma-Lease a Bike and the peloton are letting them go, content there are no GC riders up the road. Another group linked up with the frontrunners, swelling their numbers.<\/p>\n
Our 19 breakaway riders then. Quite a group, we have the 2019 Tour winner and a former world road race champion in there: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos), Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobilty), Mauro Schmid (Jayco Alula), Luke Plapp (Jayco Alula), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), George Bennett (NSN), Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Matteo Vercher (Total Energies), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious), Michael Storer (Tudor), Joris Delbove (TotalEnergies), Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RJA) and Cl\u00e9ment Braz Alfonso (Groupama-FDJ United).<\/p>\n
Their lead has quickly gone out to two minutes. Baudin is only 1min 7secs behind Vingegaard on GC. Not perceived as a GC threat to the boys in yellow and black, he could well be riding himself into the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n 127km to go. This has been an uninhibited start to the stage, averaging 47km\/h despite plenty of uphill.<\/p>\n Eleven riders have eked out a lead of 20 seconds: Oliveira, Vervaeke, Vercher, Cort, Baudin, Van Mechelen, Bernal, Plapp, Bennett, Schmid and Pedersen. But the bunch is chasing hard.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Wildfire-related measures mean finale will go ahead without fans<\/p>\n A reminder: the last 45 kilometres of this stage will have a very different look and feel. Once the race crosses the border int France, it will be noticeably quieter after unprecedented measures taken by the Tour de France<\/a> organisation in tandem with the regional authorities because of wildfires raging in the eastern Pyrenees.<\/p>\n The public has been asked to not gather along the route or at the finish line and the Tour will be limited to the passage of riders and vehicles essential to the organisation. The measures have been taken aiming to limit the mobilisation of public resources to what is strictly necessary, so that priority can be given to rescue and firefighting operations. Sobering stuff.<\/p>\n Map of the wild fires<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.54 EDT<\/p>\n 142km to go. Still no breakaway yet, but moustachioed US champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) clips off the front for a few kilometres. So what will it take for the escape to go? The right composition of riders \u2013 they cannot be a threat on GC, ideally, or Visma will fly into action \u2013 working well together, combined with a bunch tired from chasing, or even Pogacar or Vingegaard wanting to knock off the all-out racing and stop for a pee.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 150km to go. Who had the Offspring frontman meeting Paul Seixas on their Tour de France<\/a> bingo card? Not me. Guess he\u2019s pretty fly \u2013 for a French guy. I\u2019m impressed the Chosen One (born 2006) even knows who he is.<\/p>\n Allow Instagram content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.33 EDT<\/p>\n 158km to go. Forced to chase on with some backmarkers after his gear issues, Lenny Martinez\u2019s group is 40 seconds down a whittled-down bunch. The heat is on, literally and figuratively. At the other end of the race, De Lie\u2019s calvary continues, almost six minutes down.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n On riders who could do a job at the World Cup, Robin Lynch has messaged in:<\/p>\n double quotation markGlaringly obvious pick: Ex-Anderlecht and Belgium youth star Remco Evenepoel.<\/p>\n Alternate pick: Luke \u2018Turbo\u2019 Durbridge\u2019s power and energy could pep up a deflated Socceroos team.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 169km to go. The road keeps rising and Mathieu van der Poel gives it a dig, followed by Carapaz and a dozen others. It regroups and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers Netcompany Ineos) surges in that attractive Colombian champion\u2019s kit. Riders spread all over the road as top puncheurs try to force a break.<\/p>\n Bike change for Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) after gear problems. Cannot think of a single other pro cyclist with that first name. He has hardly been out of the top ten this year at stage races, I reckon he\u2019ll do the same at his home race.<\/p>\n Richard Carapaz tries to go off the front on the Catalan roads. Photograph: Pool Luca Bettini\/Belga\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n 177km to go. Up and over that climb, Richard Carapaz gave it a dig, but was marked by rivals. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) beats Romo for the King of the Mountain points, but their freedom is brief. Attack and regroup, that will be the rhythm for a while.<\/p>\n Armirail is two minutes off the back in a 30-strong group, with Arnaud De Lie also in trouble off the back behind him.<\/p>\n Photograph: Lo\u00efc Venance\/AFP\/Getty Images TotalEnergies team\u2019s French rider Thibault Guernalec douses himself with water to cool down. Photograph: Lo\u00efc Venance\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.35 EDT<\/p>\n 180km to go. Big crash at the front of the bunch. Bruno Armirail (Visma-Lease a Bike) goes down heavily, along with Vacek and three Netcompany Ineos riders. It appears to have been caused by a rider trying to squeeze past the Frenchman on the inside. He seems to have banged his knee, this could hinder one of Jonas Vingegaard\u2019s helpers.<\/p>\n Seixas super domestique Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) is back at the doctor\u2019s car too.<\/p>\n Bruno Armirail on the tarmac after his fall. Photograph: Lo\u00efc Venance\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.33 EDT<\/p>\n 184km to go. The accelerations are raining down on the third-cat climb and Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 sprinter Arnaud De Lie has already slid to the back of the bunch. The Belgian has had stomach issues and it was uncertain whether he would even start the Tour. It could be an interminable day fighting to make the time cut for him.<\/p>\n You can read more about him, his plucky Belgian team and find out his nickname in our comprehensive guide:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 193km to go. Under a 35C Catalan sun, the bunch has taken a long time to pootle through the neutralised start after a puncture for Latvia\u2019s Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek). The racing is now on, with a Groupama-FDJ United chancing his arm with an attack.<\/p>\n I expect a lot of moves for the C\u00f4te de Saint Felieu de Codines, the third-category climb crossed after 17 kilometres. The road rises gradually for most of the stage\u2019s first half before reaching the Pyrenees.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Stage three begins<\/p>\n 195.9km to go. The peloton is rolling out of the Spanish town of Granollers, the hometown of former MotoGP racer Aleix Espargar\u00f3. Pogacar and Vingegaard are at the front of the bunch, having a natter.<\/p>\n Maybe they are wondering out loud which Tour cyclist could best do a job at the World Cup. Your answers on a postcard<\/a>. I\u2019d not go for any of the more fragile, lightweight GC contenders. My pick would be big Daan Hoole (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) to do a Dan Burn-esque job at the back.<\/p>\n Leader Jonas Vingegaard amongst the pack at the start. Photograph: Lo\u00efc Venance\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.31 EDT<\/p>\n The jersey wearers for stage three:<\/p>\n White jersey (for best under-25 rider): Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), wearing it because Del Toro is in the maillot vert Allow Instagram content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I fear Isaac del Toro did not pick the best day to garner the full attention of the Mexican media, given the goings-on at the Azteca<\/a>.<\/p>\n Well, the football team is out, the 22-year-old still has three weeks to make his mark on the Tour de France<\/a>. His joyous reaction to his first stage win put a smile on my face, I have to say.<\/p>\n Second in the Giro last year and now a Tour de France stage winner, 48 hours into his debut. Photograph: St\u00e9phanie Lecocq\/Pool Reuters\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.13 EDT<\/p>\n The consensus seems to be that this is a glaring opportunity for the escapees and the big beasts of the bunch will sit back and let them fight it out. Who are the favourites then?<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got to put breakaway whisperer Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) into the frame for a tough day like this, though he might prefer a little more difficulty and more residual fatigue.<\/p>\n I could see Mauro Schmid (Jayco Alula), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) and almost any Netcompany Ineos rider featuring today, but depends which breakaway sticks. I look forward to those faint predictions\/tips being proved totally wrong!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here is ex-racer and Tour de France<\/a> technical director Thierry Gouvenou with his briefing on the stage three:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt\u2019s a long stage with a gradual climb for most of the way. The stage features a category-one climb, the Col de Toses [9.3km at 6.5%], which should prove quite challenging. But overall, there are no major challenges. It\u2019s a perfect stage for the attackers. The finale will separate the riders, especially on the Col du Calvaire near Font-Romeu and the final 1.5-kilometre climb to Les Angles at a seven per cent gradient. So, this is a huge opportunity for attackers to seek out a stage win and why not even the yellow jersey.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n While we wait for live TV coverage, here is Jeremy Whittle\u2019s report from Barcelona.<\/p>\n It was an ominous day: both for UAE Team Emirates-XRG\u2019s show of strength (could be a long Tour for anyone not called Jonas Vingegaard) and the news about the spectator-free third stage finale, with only essential vehicles aloud.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.47 EDT<\/p>\n Preamble<\/p>\n It\u2019s coming home. Not English football<\/a> yet (well, TBD) and probably not French cycling this summer unless Paul Seixas really is the messiah<\/a>, but the 2026 Tour de France \u2013 albeit with an unprecedented third stage representative of our times.<\/p>\n After its Barcelona grand d\u00e9part, where the Montju\u00efc hill was the weekend centrepiece, cycling\u2019s flagship race heads north and over the border into its home country for stage three between Granollers and Les Angles, totalling 195.9km.<\/p>\n The French portion of the route \u2013 the last 44 or so kilometres, including the third-category Col du Calvaire and third-category climb to the finish at Les Angles \u2013 will be entirely without fans. That is because of wildfires raging in the eastern Pyrenees.<\/p>\n Allow Instagram content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Christian Prudhomme, the Tour director, said that the decision was taken on Sunday afternoon. \u201cWe agreed, given the exceptional and frightening conditions of the fire, to limit the road to only the riders and essential organisation vehicles. We ask the public not to come to \u00adroadside or to the finish. All of this was done in agreement with the state authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n A Tour stage in the mountains conducted in incongruous silence and with 40 degree-temperatures expected on the road later in the week: that\u2019s the climate crisis world we\u2019re living in. And some people still say sport, politics and social issues are somehow all separate\u2026<\/p>\n Although there is almost 4,000 metres of climbing on the menu, stage three is a rather benign medium mountain stage rather than the full shebang Pinocchio polygraph stage profile, though UAE Team Emirates-XRG may well set a punishing pace to try and set things up for Tadej Pogacar or yesterday\u2019s stage winner Isaac del Toro after their irresistible one-two yesterday<\/a>. There is no \u201cPogi\u201d-proof stage in this race, after all.<\/p>\n On the other hand, we could see a bunfight for the breakaway and have a stage win fought out by baroudeur-grimpeurs afforded several minutes\u2019 leeway: Visma-Lease a Bike will not want to spend unnecessary energy defending the yellow jersey for Jonas Vingegaard.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s stage starts at 11:10 BST and is expected to finish at 15:54 BST. Grab a coffee and send missives, musings and Del Toro mania to me here<\/a>. I\u2019m already wondering which Tour de France cyclist could hold his own in a World Cup-winning football team\u2026<\/p>\n
Green jersey: Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Yellow jersey: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)
King of the Mountains jersey: Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)<\/p>\n