Again second place for the Rockets — but they do take the leader’s jersey in Bessèges

It hasn’t been a straightforward week in France for Unibet ROSE Rockets. Twice already, top cards Kubiš and Dylan Groenewegen had been beaten by surprise young names. Stage 3, the queen stage of the race, offered another chance — with enough sharp climbs to make it a proper test.

A strong group of around ten riders eventually went clear, but it took more than an hour before the break finally stuck. Among them were WorldTour riders Kasper Haugland (Decathlon–CMA CGM), Sébastien Grignard (Lotto), Alexis Renard (Cofidis) and Rockets rider Tomáš Kopecký. With Kopecký up the road, Unibet ROSE Rockets didn’t have to do the chasing for once.

That responsibility fell to Pinarello–Q36.5 and Groupama-FDJ, who kept the leaders within reach for a finale among the GC contenders. The first acceleration came with 50 kilometres to go as Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello–Q36.5) and Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies) tried to go, but they couldn’t make it stick. It did, however, spell trouble for race leader Tom Crabbe, who was dropped. From there, the real selection began.

Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon–CMA CGM) bridged across to the now-reduced front group together with Baptiste Vadic (TotalEnergies). Labrosse then drove the pace on the climbs, with only Kopecký able to follow at first. But Kopecký sat glued to Labrosse’s wheel, and that hesitation allowed the peloton to come back. On the penultimate climb, it was all back together again.

Well… almost all. Around 30 riders remained at the front. Crabbe was no longer among them, but Kubiš — second on GC — was still there, as was Mathieu Kockelmann, Thursday’s stage winner. The tempo rose again when Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ) kicked off the next wave of attacks.

Dylan Teuns (Cofidis), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon), Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin–Premier Tech) and once again Kopecký made the junction, but with riders looking at each other, a sizeable group returned. That included Kubiš, who still had one more climb to survive. It wasn’t the steepest, but after a long day, it did plenty of damage.

In the chaos approaching the final climb, Clément Izquierdo (Cofidis) slipped away. Behind, Unibet ROSE Rockets kept control, but the climbers continued to put them under pressure. Costiou and Lapeira went again, yet the pace was never quite high enough to fully crack the faster men. Around 20 riders crested and started the descent together.

Kubiš wasn’t the only quick finisher there: Uhlig and Jenthe Biermans (Cofidis) also made the front group. The Slovak champion still had three teammates around him, who rode on the front to keep things together. Kopecký emptied himself in the final kilometres, with Wessel Mouris and Niklas Larsen also contributing — helped by Cofidis and Groupama-FDJ as the chase and control work continued.

Teuns tried everything to avoid a sprint on the last uphill drag, taking a small group of favourites with him. Could they stay away from the fast men? The answer was: just not. The Rockets delivered Kubiš, but he got slightly boxed in and was surprised by Uhlig, who once again pushed the Rockets down to second place.