Tour de France 2020: Ewan sprints to victory, Alaphilippe still leader

Jérôme Cousin rides solo at the front for tens of kilometres before he is brought back with 16 kilometres to go. In the ensuing bunch sprint Caleb Ewan outguns Sam Bennet on the line. Julian Alaphilippe stays in yellow. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 3rd stage Tour de France 2020

1. Caleb Ewan (aus)
2. Sam Bennett (irl) s.t.
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (ita) s.t.
4. Hugo Hofstetter (fra) s.t.
5. Peter Sagan (svk) s.t.
6. Edward Theuns (bel) s.t.
7. Cees Bol (nld) s.t.
8. Matteo Trentin (ita) s.t.
9. Brian Cocquard (fra) s.t.
10. Niccolò Bonifazio (ita) s.t.

GC after stage 3
1. Julian Alaphilippe (fra)
2. Adam Yates (gbr) + 0.04
3. Marc Hirschi (swi) + 0.07
4. Tadej Pogacar (slo) + 0.17
5. Davide Formolo (ita) s.t.
6. Egan Bernal (col) s.t.
7. Tom Dumoulin (nld) s.t.
8. Sergio Higuita (col) s.t.
9. Guillaume Martin (fra) s.t.
10. Esteban Chaves (col) s.t.

11. Nairo Quintana (col) s.t.
14. Richard Carapaz (ecu) s.t.
15. Primoz Roglic (slo) s.t.
16. Emanuel Buchmann (ger) s.t.
17. Romain Bardet (fra) s.t.
18. Bauke Mollema (nld) s.t.
21. Miguel Ángel López (col) s.t.
26. Mikel Landa (spa) s.t.
30. Thibaut Pinot (fra) s.t.
44. Daniel Felipe Martínez (col) + 3.53

Race report
Jérôme Cousin and Anthony Perez attack from the gun, while KOM leader Benoît Cosnefroy bridges across with the help of his team mate Oliver Naesen. The Flemish rider sits up when the catch is made and the other three race to a lead of 3 minutes before the peloton takes control.

Perez and Cosnefroy are battling it out for the polka dot jersey. Perez is the first leader over the Col de Pilon and Col de la Faye to move into the KOM lead.

A little later the two rivals stop their efforts and leave Cousin alone at the front. The peloton grants the lone attacker a lead of 4 minutes.

Team mates Benoît Cosnefroy and Nans Peters crest the Col des Lèques together before reopening the chase, while Antony Perez goes down in the descent. He is forced to abandon the race with a broken collarbone.

The peloton brings back Cousin with 16 kilometres remaining.

The race boils down to a Bennett-Ewan clash. The Australian stays on the wheels long to avoid the strong headwind, but then he showcases his bike handing skills with a swerving zigzag manoeuvre. He overhauls Bennett just before the line to win the race. Nizzolo is the best of the rest.

Alaphilippe finishes safely in the peloton to extend his GC lead.

Other interesting reads:
– route
– KOM classification
– points classification