Tour de France, Stage 3: Belgian Tim Merlier wins in a sprint, Van der Poel remains in yellow
Belgian Tim Merlier won the sprint at the finish of the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday, July 7, between Valenciennes and Dunkirk (178.3 km), with Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel retaining the yellow jersey.
Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step), who at 32 years old won his first stage of the Grande Boucle, dominated the Italian Jonathan Milan in a bunch sprint, at the end of a stage marked by several falls.
This is his second Tour victory after 2021. "It was really a big battle. I had to come back in the last two kilometers, I caught a lot of wind," said the Belgian, who had to fend for himself in the final to claim his eleventh victory of the season. Only Tadej Pogacar has won more this year.
The stage, initially very calm to the point that no Combativity Prize was awarded - an exception - was then marked by a succession of often very spectacular falls, including that of the Belgian Jasper Philipsen, winner on Saturday in Lille and first yellow jersey of this 2025 edition, forced to abandon.
🇪🇺 Victory goes to the European Champion @MerlierTim !
🇪🇺 Victory goes to European champion @MerlierTim ! #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/aWO9LFaPNw
This content is blocked because you have not accepted cookies and other trackers.
1. Tim Merlier (BEL/SOQ) the 178.3 km in 4 h 16:55. (average: 41.8 km/h)
2. Jonathan Milan (ITA/LTK) at 0.
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER/TBV) 0.
4. Søren Wærenskjold (NOR/UXT) 0.
5. Pavel Bittner (CZE/DFP) 0.
6. Biniam Girmay (ERI/IWA) 0.
7. Kaden Groves (AUS/ADC) 0.
8. Danny van Poppel (NED/RBH) 0.
9. Pascal Ackermann (GER/IPT) 0.
10. Amaury Capiot (BEL/ARK) 0.
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED/ADC) 12:55:37.
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD) at 4.
3. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TVL) 6.
4. Kevin Vauquelin (FRA/ARK) 10.
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA/TVL) 10.
6. Enric Mas (ESP/MOV) 10.
7. Joe Blackmore (GBR/IPT) 41.
8. Tobias Johannessen (NOR/UXT) 41.
9. Ben O'Connor (AUS/JAY) 41.
10. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/COF) 49.
Tuesday's fourth stage of the Tour de France will take the peloton from Amiens to Rouen, with a finale packed with climbs as they approach Jacques Anquetil's hometown. After around 100 kilometers through the windy Picardy plains, the riders will leave Hauts-de-France, and the action will then get serious in Les Andelys, on the Normandy banks of the Seine.
"After the historic Côte de Bonsecours where they will come across the Jean Robic stele, there will still be the Côte de Grand'Mare and especially that of the Saint-Hilaire ramp and its passage with a 15% gradient, before plunging for five kilometers towards the center of Rouen," explains Christian Prud'homme, the director of the Tour.
La Croıx
