In the lead up to the start of the 102nd Tour de France in Utrecht, letour.com has chosen to highlight five key stages. Of symbolic importance in the development of the race or perhaps decisive with regard to the final general individual classification, they feature the required characteristics for an extraordinary sporting show. The last episode is l'Alpe d'Huez where the final battle is scheduled on the eve of the grand finale in Paris. In a recent past, Frenchmen have performed on the so-called «Dutchmen's climb». Will they do well again this year?
16:51 Greipel wins the intermediate sprint
Greipel overtakes Bouhanni to win the intermediate sprint at Havelange.
16:50 Pinot and Bardet back in the first group
Greg Van Avermaet, Alejandro Valverde, Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet make their way back to the first part of the peloton.
16:46 Riders in pain
Due to the consequences of the crash, some riders are very far back, suffering a lot: Michael Matthews (Orica), Johan Vansummeren (AG2R), Greg Henderson (Lotto), Laurens ten Dam (LottoNL-Jumbo).
16:44 5km to the sprint
There are 15 seconds between the two parts of the peloton 5km away from the intermediate sprint in Havelange, km 128.
16:40 Cancellara at the back
The bunch is split in two. Cancellara is at the back.
16:39 On a high speed again
Team Sky started pacing the bunch on a high speed again. Now Tinkoff-Saxo puts the bunch in one lane.
16:38 A year of bad luck for Gerrans
It’s a sad series of crashes for Simon Gerrans this year. He missed out on the beginning of the season after breaking a collarbone while training on a mountain bike between Christmas and New Year. He broke an elbow on his come back race, the Strade Bianche in early March. He crashed twice during Liège-Bastogne-Liège where he was the defending champion. He also quit the Giro due to a crash on stage 11 after wearing the pink jersey in stage 2.
16:32 Kozontchuk abandons
Dmitry Kozontchuk (Katusha) quits the Tour de France.
16:26 Peloton in slow motion
The peloton is riding slowly. No attack is taking place.
16:23 The race is on again
A new start is given at 16.23.
16:16 New start
The côte de Bohisseau is neutralized. The riders are moving again but a new start proper will be given at the top of the hill with 50km to go.
16:07 Bonnet,, Dumoulin and Gerrans abandon
First three riders to abandon the Tour de France: William Bonnet (FDJ), Tom Dumoulin (Giant) and Simon Gerrans (Orica).
16:06 The race is stopped
All the riders are stopped at the bottom of the côte de Bohisseau, km 107.
16:05 Dumoulin in the ambulance
Tom Dumoulin probably abandons the Tour de France. He’s in the ambulance.
16:03 Neutralised again
The race is neutralised for the second time at the bottom of the côte de Bohisseau.
16:03 The race is on again
The race has started again. Cancellara is still at the back.
16:02 Cancellara is back on his bike
Cancellara is back on his bike but he looks suffering.
16:00 Race is neutralised
Due to the importance of the crash, race director Thierry Gouvenou has decided to neutralise the race.
15:59 Cancellara crashed
Yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara also crashed. He looks injured.
15:58 Crash!
Big crash: Rui Costa, Dumoulin, involved. Followed by a second crash
15:57 Only fifteen seconds
Peloton getting very close to the four leaders: 15 seconds
15:50 GC contenders show up
Teams of the GC favourites are moving up to position their respective leaders at the front ahead of the first climb of the Tour de France, the côte de Bohisseau.
15:48 Less than 30 seconds
With 66km to go, the leading quartet is about to get caught.
15:47 42.7km/h after two hours
Bryan Nauleau (Europcar), Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) and Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) have covered 40.3km in the second hour of racing. Average speed so far: 42.7km/h.
15:45 Tim Wellens: “I’m curious to see when the battle will begin”
Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) is at the centre of a lot of attention today. He’s kind of a local rider as he hails from Sint-Truiden, only a few kilometers away from today’s course. He also speaks an excellent French learnt with his grand-parents who live in Wallonia fifteen kilometers away from Huy, so he’s on his training roads today. “Yesterday’s victory [by André Greipel] has boosted the whole team”, he declared at the start this morning. Today it’s a light Flèche wallonne with four climbs at the end. For a Belgian rider, this is probably the nicest stage along with the last one in Paris because of the crowd on road sides. It’s a good occasion for me to show off. Of course I’m not the only Tour de France rider who wants to do so but since we’re racing close to my home, it’s a special day for me. I’m curious to see how the race will unfold in the finale and when the battle will really begin.” We are too…
15:43 1.40 with 70km to go
The time gap is going down: 1.40 with 70km to go.
15:20 Alejandro Valverde firstly at the service of Quintana
Questioned by Belgian newspaper La Meuse, triple Flèche wallonne winner Alejandro Valverde downplayed his chances of winning once again atop the Mur de Huy. “Better not exaggerate my possibilities”, the Spaniard said. “If all the conditions are united for me to take my chance, yes I’ll try. But in the Mur, I might ride as a pilot for Nairo. That’s the priority. However, both duties can be compatible. I can be a help and sprint for the victory as well. It can happen in other stages that I have pointed out. I’ll show up only if my team leader is up the road and any initiative on my side doesn’t ruin his chances.”
15:16 New time gap: 2.40
Approaching half way into the race, the time difference between the four leading riders and the peloton is reduced to 2.40.
15:10 Martin has a flat
Runner up Tony Martin (Etixx) has a flat tyre but he’s able to make it back quickly in the bunch.
14:58 Eusebio Unzue: “There’s a lot of stress to handle”
Movistar team manager Eusebio Unzue spoke to letour.com this morning: “The Tour is decisive every day. It might be the case again today with the crowd, the wind and many other things that can impact the race. Our leader Nairo Quintana only weights 50kg. On the cobblestones, he can hardly compete with the specialists or the 80kg heavy riders but Contador and Froome are also pretty skinny. Tomorrow, all the GC riders will be cautious. Nairo’s morale is intact even after losing a bit of time yesterday. He spent 50km off the back yesterday but managed to come across to the other favorites except from Froome and Contador. I’ll tell you on Sunday after the team time trial what our goal can be. Everything we could say until Sunday doesn’t make much sense. There’s a lot of stress to handle by then.”
14:49 Km 50: 3.20
After 50km of racing, the time gap remains 3.20.
14:40 45.1km in the first hour
The leading quartet has covered 45.1km in the first hour of racing. They are 3.20 ahead of the peloton.
14:30 Visiting Merckx’ native town
At km 47.5, the Tour de France will visit Eddy Merckx’ birthplace: Meensel-Kiezegem where his statue will be unveiled today. The world’s greatest cyclist ever will follow today’s stage with Bernard Hinault. He turned 70 in June.
14:29 3.55 the new gap
At km 40, the time gap is 3.55.
14:27 Dennis goes down
Stage 1 winner Rohan Dennis had a crash but gave the TV cameras the thumbs up to show that he’s all right.
14:18 Adam Hansen: “I had my best sleep ever”
Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal) who is chasing the record of twelve consecutive Grand Tour completed was probably the most injured rider yesterday. He spoke to letour.com this morning: “The doctor said I’d be pulling my strength for the next three weeks. I don’t feel very good. When I’m in a fixed position it’s alright. But I can’t pull up on the handlebars so I can’t sprint. The doctor said the worst part will be the next three or four days and then it should get better. I will try, knowing that it’s going to be a long way to the finish. It’s only pain, right? It’s dislocation, on the X rays you can see the difference. They gave me pain killers last night, I had my best sleep ever, didn’t want to wake up. The motivation came just when I made up my mind to keep going. The team don’t expect much from me, they’ve been very supportive. Maybe I can do the early part of the work in the sprint stages.”
14:14 Km 24: 3.25
After 24 kilometres of racing, Bryan Nauleau (Europcar), Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) and Martin Elmiger (IAM) are 3.25 ahead of the peloton still led by Trek.
14:04 Sean Yates: “We want Contador to stay out of trouble”
Tinkoff-Saxo directeur sportif Sean Yates told letour.com this morning: “The number one goal is [for Alberto Contador] to stay out of trouble. It was also the number one goal yesterday but we just managed to find ourselves in the right position to work with Quick Step. I wouldn’t say there was a plan but yes, we have a bunch of experienced riders who know how to manage that sort of situation. Today, it’s not up to us to dictate the race. I’m not saying that Alberto is going to ride conservatively. You don’t ride conservatively on the Mur de Huy with riders like Froome, Quintana or Nibali by your side. But for sure guys like Nibali, who missed out yesterday will be eager to make amends. Do I expect one of the big guys to win the stage? Well, you have guys like Valverde who already won Flèche Wallonne and holds the record for Mur de Huy, he must be a favourite today. Purito Rodriguez also won Flèche. I wouldn’t count out riders like Peter Sagan because it’s a reasonably short climb at 2.5 kms and if he has the legs he had yesterday in the sprint, you can’t rule him out in spite of his weight. The same applies to Fabian.”
13:59 Time gap on the up
Trek sets the pace of the bunch on a slower mode. The time gap goes up to 2.20 after 17km.
13:54 1.40 at km 10
At km 10, the four escapees have an advantage of 1.10 over the peloton led by Trek Factory Racing.
13:51 Astana and FDJ lead the bunch
Andriy Grivko for Astana and Benoît Vaugrenard for FDJ lead the bunch at quite a high speed before Trek takes over.
13:48 1.10 at km 6
Time gap at km 6: 1.10 in favor of Bryan Nauleau (Europcar), Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) and Martin Elmiger (IAM).
13:46 Pauwels in the lead at home
Serge Pauwels has managed to pass his native town of Lierre in the breakaway. The 2011 Tour of Flanders winner and recently retired Nick Nuyens is also from Lierre.
13:44 Van den Broeck as a spectator
Lotto-Soudal rider Jurgen Van den Broeck who hasn’t made the team this year as they decided to focus on stages only rather than GC as well, has planned to go and watch the race near Heist-op-den-Berg around km 16. He was third overall in the 2010 Tour de France and fourth in 2012.
13:42 Four riders on the move
Four riders at the front from the gun: Bryan Nauleau (Europcar), Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) and Martin Elmiger (IAM). 30 seconds advantage at km 3.
13:40 Nauleau first attacker
Start proper given at 13.39. Bryan Nauleau (Europcar) is the first attacker of the day.
13:39 No flying start because of a flat tyre
A rider from Katusha has punctured so there’s no flying start today. According to the rules, the riders must be all together to start.
13:33 Sagan’s collection of second places
Peter Sagan was second again yesterday. Since his last stage victory at the Tour de France in Albi in 2013, he has finished second six times.
13:31 Sieberg’s prediction was right
On Tuesday last week, the Lotto-Soudal team introduced their Tour de France line up to their sponsors at Kinepolis in Antwerp, today’s starting town. Asked when they would win their first stage, lead out man Marcel Sieberg answered: “The first day after the time trial of course!” They did it with a superb job by Sieberg for André Greipel to outsprint Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish yesterday in Zealand.
13:30 Kwiatkowski with the red number
Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) wears the red number of most aggressive rider during yesterday’s stage.
13:29 BMC still the best team
BMC Racing Team lost the yellow jersey as Rohan Dennis didn’t make the front group yesterday but the American outfit still leads the teams classification with an advantage of 4 seconds over Etixx-Quick Step and 51 seconds over Team Sky.
13:28 Dumoulin, a man to watch today
Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) leads the best young rider classification for the first time. Yesterday, he already wore the white jersey as a runner up to Rohan Dennis but now he holds it with an advantage of 27 seconds over Peter Sagan and 1.13 over world champion Michal Kwiatkowski.
13:27 First polka dot jersey to be presented in Huy
There’s no polka dot jersey in the peloton today since the first two stages in the Netherlands didn’t feature any climb but there’ll be one at the end of today’s stage.
Climbs of the day:
- Km 109: Côte de Bohissau (cat. 4), 2.4km at 5.5%
- Km 143: Côte d’Ereffe (cat. 4), 2.1km at 5%
- Km 154: Côte de Cherave (cat. 4), 1.3km at 8.1%
- Km 159.5: Mur de Huy (cat. 3), 1.3km at 9.6%
13:25 25°C at the start
It’s sunny in Antwerp. The outside temperature is 25°C.
13:24 Intermediate sprint can be decisive today
André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) is in the green jersey for the first time at the Tour de France with 55 points. Peter Sagan follows with 39 points and Fabian Cancellara with 35. Today is considered a coefficient 2 medium mountain stage, so 30 points, 25, 22, 19, etc. will be awarded on the line. The intermediate sprint at Havelange (km 128) might be of a high importance for the points classification today. Sprinters’ teams are likely to contest it like a sprint finish. In the past few years, Greipel wasn’t interested by the green jersey. Yesterday at his press conference, he kept it secret whether or not it is a goal for him this time. On the other hand, Alexander Kristoff of Katusha has made clear that he targets it.
13:22 No Walloon on the road, Pauwels on home soil
Today’s stage is fully on Belgian soil, starting in Flanders, finishing in Wallonia. There are eleven Belgian riders at the Tour this year, all Flemish! Walloon hero Philippe Gilbert expected to ride for BMC after winning two stages at the Giro d’Italia but a small knee fracture was detected prior to the Tour de France, so he was advised to rest instead. Most of the Belgian participants are from Western Flanders but there’s one local rider in the starting province of Antwerp: MTN-Qhubeka Serge Pauwels is from Lierre at km 4.5 on the course of stage 3. “It’s very exciting to be part of the first African team riding the Tour de France”, the 31 year old told letour.com. He’s a very experienced rider, regularly on demand on the transfer market by teams looking for a domestique who can climb, but it’s only his second participation to the Tour de France after the 2010 edition with Team Sky.
13:21 Cancellara equalled Eddy Merckx
Fabian Cancellara equaled Eddy Merckx in another statistic: leading the Tour de France in six different Tour de France. Only Bernard Hinault is above them as he took the yellow jersey in the eight Tour de France he took part in, from 1978 to 1986. He missed only one edition in that period, being injured in 1983.
13:18 Cancellara second to Gino Bartali
Fabian Cancellara took the yellow jersey again yesterday eleven years after the first one, in Liège (2004). Only Gino Bartali did better than him in this kind of longevity as he led the race in 1937 and 1949.
13:17 Cancellara: “It’s not official but it’s my last Tour de France”
Fabian Cancellara spoke to France Televisions just before the start: “It’s a great day for me, for my team and for my history at the Tour de France. It’s not official yet but yes, this is my last Tour de France, because next year at Mont-Saint-Michel, it won’t start with a time trial. I want to quit the sport with good memories.”
13:13 Riders on the move
The 198 participants of the Tour de France are now in the neutral zone. It’s a long one, 13.3km, in the streets of Antwerp.
13:11 Cancellara under Dumoulin’s threat
Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) is in the yellow jersey for the 29th time in his career. He was third on GC after the inaugural time trial. Race leader Rohan Dennis wasn’t in the front group yesterday at the difference of runner up Tony Martin but Cancellara’s third place on the finishing line in Neeltje Jans awarded him four seconds of time bonus, so he now leads the race by 3 seconds over Martin, 6 seconds over Tom Dumoulin and 33 seconds over Peter Sagan. Dumoulin is kind of the favorite for taking over from Cancellara today, providing that he makes the front group in the lead up to the Mur de Huy.
13:09 Cancellara with number 29
The riders are at the assembly point, Fabian Cancellara has a number 29 on his yellow jersey, as his number of days leading the Tour de France.
12:54 Welcome
Welcome to the live coverage of stage 3 of the 102nd Tour de France. It’s a Belgian stage from Antwerp to Huy on a 159.5km course with an uphill finish atop the Mur de Huy that is also the home of the finale of the Flèche Wallonne.
12:28 Joaquim Rodriguez: “I’m worried about my knee”
Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez was one of the injured riders after yesterday’s stage. He punctured once and crashed twice. “My elbow, hip and knee are injured”, he said after visiting his physiotherapist. “It’s been a day of suffering, more than in a mountain stage. I’m not that worried about the time lost (1.28), that can happen to other riders, today or tomorrow, and there are stages to make it up if I’m fine. I’m more worried about my knee. I hope it’ll be ok.”
12:04 Alain Gallopin: “Fabian will have to limit the losses”
Alain Gallopin, assistant directeur sportif of Trek Factory Racing, told letour.com this morning: “Today it’s a mini Flèche wallonne, tomorrow it’ll be a mini Paris-Roubaix, which won’t be a problem for Fabian [Cancellara]. Today it’ll be harder. He’s 15kg heavier than other riders. It makes a difference in a climb with a gradient up to 19%. We’ll have to limit the losses to keep the jersey or to take it back tomorrow. With Fabian, we never know. He’s a great champion. He might be less strong than before but he compensates it with his experience.”
19:59 A taste of Flèche wallonne at the Tour de France
It’s common saying that the Tour de France is a classic every day. It’s even truer this year. After a day of crosswinds and echelons in Holland, which has certainly affected some riders’ physique, stage 3 features one of the most stunning finishes of the Spring classics. Starting in Antwerp, the race ends up atop the Mur de Huy. It’s the home of the Flèche wallonne since 1983. The Chemin des Chapelles – its real name – is a 1.3km long climb with an average gradient of 9.6% and a maximum of 19%. It’s the perfect location for a thrilling finale but most of the drama is expected to happen earlier on. Positioning before the côte d’Ereffe, whose summit is 16.5km ahead of the finishing line, will be the key for not losing time in Huy. After losing 1.28 to Chris Froome and 1.24 to Alberto Contador and Tejay van Garderen, the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana and Thibaut Pinot have the possibility to make it up. A specialist like Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez or Michael Albasini is also likely to emerge for a stage victory of a very high value. Leaving the Netherlands, a Dutchman might finally enjoy the yellow jersey as Tom Dumoulin is supposely a better climber than Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin.
