Visma | Lease a Bike win the Rhône-Alpes team time trial despite off colour Van Aert, EF keep yellow
CyclingTuesday, 09 June 2026 at 17:16
Visma | Lease a Bike won the team time trial at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in impressive fashion. The big dress rehearsal for the Tour de France team time trial turned into a fine battle, with the leaders eventually allowed to set the best time without their teammates. Visma | Lease a Bike impressed by winning despite setbacks for Matteo Jorgenson.
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The team time trial in France was held on Tuesday around Perreux, over a distance of 28.4 kilometres. With the rule once again that only the team leaders were allowed to cross the finish line, the big question was: which leader would get the best lead-out on the stingy rise to the finish?
With the still relatively new format of the TTT, it was not really clear beforehand who should be seen as the favourite, and so the race was full of surprises. Jayco AlUla and Movistar produced strong rides in the middle of the start order.
Jayco AlUla set a finishing time of 33 minutes, 46 seconds and 56 hundredths, before Movistar went quicker. Cian Uijtdebroeks was the final rider left for a very strong team time trial, with hardman Iván Romeo among those on board.
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Seixas struggles against Lidl-Trek
The Spaniards have already shown recently that they are strong in this discipline, and so they moved into the hot seat. UAE Emirates-XRG slotted in between Movistar and Jayco, with Isaac del Toro already knowing that he would lose time today.
Once the last teams had rolled off the start podium, it quickly became clear that Movistar would not be the winners of the day. At the first and second time checks, Netcompany INEOS were still much faster than Visma | Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek.
At the finish, Lidl-Trek were the first of the major teams to post a time. It was 19 seconds faster than Movistar, and Mattias Skjelmose and Juan Ayuso saw Paul Seixas crack by 13 seconds with Decathlon CMA CGM.
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Visma | Lease a Bike wins, despite losing Van Aert
Visma | Lease a Bike had started well, but saw Wout van Aert dropped after just nine minutes, and Ben Tulett also suffered a puncture. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe then rode to the second-fastest time, eight seconds behind Lidl-Trek. But what would INEOS do at the line?
The British squad opened at a furious pace, but lost big engine Sam Watson to mechanical trouble along the way. When Oscar Onley also briefly dropped his chain, victory seemed to be slipping away, but even with all that bad luck Onley and Kévin Vauquelin still went 22 seconds under Lidl-Trek.
Was that the winner of the day? No. Despite Van Aert and Tulett dropping out so early, Visma | Lease a Bike still managed to go a further nine seconds quicker than INEOS. EF Education-EasyPost produced a solid third time with Alex Baudin, 29 seconds slower than the stage winners. Baudin therefore keeps the yellow jersey.
Results of Stage 3 of the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]
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Latest Comments
- - Love the narrative arc here: puncture on stage 1, podium in the rain on stage 2, caught in the split on stage 3, then leader’s jersey on stageShades of Corbin Strong last year. If Sheehan pulls this off, that Wallonie-Arctic double template could be in play again.tourdeforce905-06-2026
- - Three seconds over Oliver and De Lie is nothing with one stage left. If NSN wants to keep the jersey, they’ll have to patrol every move and mop up sprint bonuses. Curious whether Sheehan goes defensive or tries another punch on the climbs—his style seems to suit the parcours.patriciaw05-06-2026
- - De Lie needed that one. You could see the weeks of frustration come off his shoulders when he collapsed on the bars. Classic Belgian timing on home roads. Also, credit to NSN—seven guys riding strong and still brave enough to attack for bonus seconds. That’s racing.raceready705-06-2026
- - What a rollercoaster finish. Sheehan emptying the tank solo on the Côte de Frankendelle and then De Lie launching that last-gasp sprint… absolute heartbreak and brilliance in the same frame. Still, orange jersey earned. Tomorrow’s going to be tense with those intermediate sprints.cyclechamp4505-06-2026
- - Slimme keuze om de overgang na de Tour te doen. Continuïteit is key. Dankjewel, Luca, voor 16 jaar toewijding. Benieuwd of we onder Schleck een nog agressievere koersstijl gaan zien met dezelfde warmte achter de schermen.bikebuffj05-06-2026
- - Helemaal eens over Mads Pedersen en dat Monument. Hij rijdt zo consistent en neemt altijd verantwoordelijkheid voor het team. Hopelijk valt het dit jaar of volgend voorjaar eindelijk eens goed. Hij verdient het zonder twijfel.andrewf05-06-2026
- - Het raakt me nog steeds als ik denk aan “Forza Luca”. Dat zegt alles over de cultuur binnen Lidl-Trek. Als die teamspirit behouden blijft onder de nieuwe leiding, kan dit echt een volgende stap worden.tourdeforce905-06-2026
- - Wat een einde van een tijdperk. Guercilena heeft echt de ziel van dit team mee gevormd, zeker door die focus op zorg en structuur. Petje af dat hij na zijn ziekte zo sterk terugkwam. Ben benieuwd wat Andy Schleck en Niermann gaan brengen.samanthak05-06-2026
- - Hij heeft etappes in Tour én Vuelta, en nu sluit hij z’n Grand Tour-hoofdstuk af met waardigheid. Geen Giro-etappe verandert echt niets aan zijn status. Nog twee jaar tothopelijk zien we hem nog een keer stunten in eendagskoersen of een bergtrui-jacht.samanthak04-06-2026
- - Leuk detail over de slotrit in Rome: “gevouwen over je fiets” en ondertussen nadenken over het programma na de Giro. Eerst afmaken, dan pas plannen — echte profmentaliteit. En Groenewegen net naast het podium, zonde!robert6504-06-2026
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