No gifts on stage 3: Pogačar finishes off Del Toro's lead-out and takes the yellow jersey from Vingegaard

The third stage of the Tour de France was won by Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates-XRG let his team ride all day in a stage that looked like it would go to the breakaway, but the yellow jersey plan was executed perfectly down to the last detail. The world champion won the sprint after an ideal lead-out by Isaac Del Toro: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) finished second, but lost his yellow jersey.

After Visma | Lease a Bike won the team time trial, UAE Team Emirates-XRG struck back hard in Barcelona with a one-two finish: Isaac Del Toro won the stage ahead of Tadej Pogačar. The anticipated battle for the general classification did not materialize, but a new opportunity awaited on Monday, featuring 4,000 meters of elevation gain over nearly 200 kilometers. Would it be a day for the favorites?

Well, it looked more like a day for the breakaway riders. They got to work right from the start. In the hilly opening phase, we saw many top riders at the front: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor)... Everyone wanted to join the move, but no one could break clear.

The opening phase was also marred by a major crash. In a small village, wheels touched, causing about twenty riders to hit the ground, including Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek). Bruno Armirail was also involved. The Frenchman from Visma | Lease a Bike was clearly in a lot of pain but fortunately found his rhythm again later and was able to continue.

Someone who had a harder time was Arnaud De Lie. The Belgian from Lotto-Intermarché is ill and had to drop back after just a few kilometers in stage 3. He was not the only Belgian in trouble, however: Cian Uijtdebroeks also dropped back. The Movistar team leader had to call his domestiques to wait. He was able to rejoin the group, but it was not a good sign.

After seventy kilometers of hard racing, a breakaway group finally managed to pull away. Eventually, nineteen riders formed the lead group, including Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), Luke Plapp, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Michael Storer (Tudor), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), and Alex Aranburu (Cofidis).

Alex Baudin was also part of the move. The Frenchman from EF Education-EasyPost was by far the biggest threat in the general classification, sitting just 1 minute and 7 seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard’s yellow jersey.

Visma | Lease a Bike moved to the front of the peloton, though it was debatable whether they were genuinely worried. Meanwhile, Bernal dropped out of the breakaway; he suffered a puncture and was unable to make it back to the leaders.

The gap grew to around three minutes, but then UAE Team Emirates-XRG took over. They reduced the deficit to roughly a minute. Was it because they wanted Vingegaard to keep the yellow jersey—forcing Visma | Lease a Bike to do the work—or did they harbor yellow jersey ambitions of their own? It remained unclear, but the pace was high.

At the front, the pressure began to mount. Meanwhile, Pedersen was picking up points for the green jersey, but Baudin was fighting for the virtual yellow jersey, and a selection formed: he was joined by Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM), Raúl García Pierna (Movistar), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious), George Bennett (NSN), and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies).

Baudin also took maximum points on the Col de Toses—a first-category climb—meaning he would take over the mountains jersey from Alex Molenaar. After the descent, the race finally crossed the French border, but the breakaway riders seemed to have little chance: Tadej Pogačar’s and Isaac Del Toro’s teammates were working hard. Consequently, Baudin made a move with about forty kilometers remaining.

He was joined by his compatriot Prodhomme. The pair were clearly the strongest riders in the lead group; they pulled away strongly from the other escapees, though the gap to the peloton kept shrinking thanks to the efforts of UAE. Baudin picked up more mountain points, but the mountains jersey was the only one he would receive that day—he had, of course, hoped for more.

The final climb was about seven kilometers long but not particularly steep; the gradient only really ramped up late in the ascent. UAE Team Emirates-XRG entrusted the pacing duties to Felix Grossschartner, followed by Brandon McNulty, though Lidl-Trek (Vacek) and Visma | Lease a Bike (Vingegaard) also moved to the front. Suddenly, it was a scramble for position at the head of the pack! Uijtdebroeks couldn't keep up and was dropped, just as he had been earlier in the day.

On the final climb, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe took control, but Del Toro and Pogačar were already poised for the sprint. The green jersey wearer took over just inside the final kilometer and ramped up the pace dramatically. This time it wasn't a ruse; Pogačar was delivered into a perfect position. The world champion accelerated with 250 meters to go, and no one could match him: he claimed both the stage win and the yellow jersey. Vingegaard finished second, with Richard Carapaz in third.