Carapaz 3rd and Baudin wearing polka-dots on stage 3 — will EF change their Tour de France tactics now?

Monday's third stage of the Tour de France was earmarked as a breakaway day by 'almost' everyone. It was no secret that Visma | Lease a Bike wanted to get rid of the yellow jersey, and a lot of riders were keen to take it. Alex Baudin of EF Education-EasyPost was very much one of those riders, and he did not disappoint, in effort at least. Ultimately UAE crushed any breakaway hopes. But with Baudin in the break and Carapaz finishing a surprise third behind Vingegaard and Pogačar, EF can call be very happy with their stage 3 performance.

Baudin was among the EF Education-EasyPost riders who was allowed to attack. The Frenchman, who also wore the yellow jersey in the Tour Auvergne Rhone-Alpes, went all out and was part of the breakaway pretty much every time. Another breakaway hopeful was Richard Carapaz. The Ecuadorian, however, was not allowed to join the breakaway party on stage 3. He responded by finishing third anyway. Does this result change Carapaz’ and EF's Tour de France goals?

“We knew it could be a good day for the breakaway. At the beginning, I tried to join in as well, but I think I had little room to get into the breakaway. Anyway, in the end, my legs did the trick. I think we did very well.,” said the EF leader.

“I think that after all the problems earlier this year, I was able to train well at home and this is the result now. I hope to continue in this way, maintain the growth, and we will see. We know that we can achieve a good result on a stage, and that is the most important goal for me and the whole team,” said Carapaz, who is now in twelfth place overall.

“It was a really super good and fast day right from the start,” Baudin said after the stage to Eurosport. “We really had to fight hard to get into the breakaway. And... yes, I think the yellow jersey was really within reach today. I put a lot of energy into staying in the group, and then building up the lead and so on.”

Ultimately, UAE Emirates-XRG decided to chase the breakaway after all. Baudin acted on that, changed his strategy, and went hunting for the mountain classification. So, no yellow jersey. 'But anyway, the fact that I have the polka-dot jersey now wasn't for nothing. It's a nice reward.'

Baudin said on Instagram: “I can picture myself watching the Tour as a child, dreaming of that jersey. Along with the Yellow Jersey, it’s the one I’ve always wanted to wear one day. Now, you have to fight to keep a jersey. I’m going to try to recover and hold on to it for as long as possible.”

Baudin took the mountains jersey on stage 3, and given the profile of stage 4 (and 5), he will likely wear it for a few days at least. The first proper mountain stage comes on day 6. Whether the polka-dot jersey will affect EF’s racing tactics, or whether they will continue to target stage wins with Carapaz and Healy, it is clear Baudin will defend the jersey for as long as he can.