It was a day of holding, holding, holding... As expected I should say, was unlikely that any of the big GC riders would begin to wear out their legs here, however it was an opportunity for the puncheurs to nab a stage and a jersey and that happened as to anyone's scrip with Julian Alaphilippe taking the win after an attack on the final climb, beating Hirschi and Yates in a group sprint in Nice, the Frenchman is now replicating last year's scenario where he jumps onto yellow early on.
Positive: Adam Yates was a part of that cat-and-mouse in the end but he didn't have a chance, he should've focused on gaining some more time, nonetheless he got 13 seconds on his rivals and is looking really sharp. Alaphilippe and Hirschi very well, Valverde and Pogacar managed to save their day despite punctures. at bad times.
Negative: A very bad day for EF, after working a bit they lost Daniel Martinez's GC ambitions due to a crash and Higuita had to see the front group taking a possible win from him, Zakarin and Aru could be considered minor GC candidates but they also lost time.
The Route
Stage 3 is a goodbye to Nice. It's another mixed stage where the sprinters are bound to get their opportunity, however they will have to sweat quite a lot to be in with a shot of the stage. The stage finishes in Sisteron near the Alps and the riders have 7 categorized climbs on the way. None of them are excessively hard, however there are almost 3000 meters of climbing and most are concentrated in those first 120 Kilometers. Breakaway specialists will be smelling an opportunity, the sprinter teams will try to control everything without going too hard too early.
There's a lot of climbing, although none is particularly hard, the Col des Lèques finishes with 80Km to go, not a hard climb but if some team wants to push it can cause some sprinters to loose ground, specially with the constant efforts they've went through in the previous hours.
The finish is again quite straightforward. It's a good idea, safety in the sprints should be a priority at this point, the final kilometers only have a roundabout, then a straight finish into the center of Sisteron.
The Weather
The temperatures will be lower to the satisfaction of some, the wind will be mixed throughout the route but what's important to notice is that around Sisteron there's a northwestern wind, which means a headwind will mark the final half of the stage.
The Favourites
It's a good profile for a breakaway but seeing how in the opening stage there was very little interest, I reckon it'll be similar tomorrow. The stage isn't easy but I think a small group will go in front that will be in control and the sprinter teams will push hard in the latter half to bring it all back.
Sprint finishes are usually a mess and tomorrow it should be just that, finish is rather narrow, the first day had some unusual sprints because of the rain fatigue and set of crashes, tomorrow should be a pure sprint without any interferences. Hence, although it wasn't even close to be that, I expect a Bennett/Ewan duel tomorrow, although Ewan has lost already two pieces of his team none were vital to his leadout, but it's notorious that he isn't as good at positioning as some of his rivals and that can cost him. As for Bennett his team is in yellow right now, there may be a bit of extra work at hand but I think they can take it. And the rest of the sprinters well you know them, Kristoff looking real good but he for sure didn't take it easy at all today I don't know if he'll be on his best legs tomorrow, Cees Bol also looked superb and is the kind of sprinter that can take this up really well, Nizzolo as looked to struggle in the climbs more than expected however if he wasn't blocked he would be close to the win some days ago, and except for Kristoff all of these have strong leadouts that can put them in good position. Also Sagan aswell got some fatigue today but he never misses a sprint.
As do Trek, Mads Pedersen has done superb sprints lately and seems to have given enough evidence to have his leadout set him up, Trek is one of the best teams at it and Stuyven/Theuns combo are brilliant at this. Trentin, Coquard and Bonifazio are some riders that have been eyeing the points classification, all are second tier sprinters but could very well budge there in the mix, Luka Mezgec aswell and he's looked good on stage 1 with the leadout, just got blocked aswell, Elia Viviani is always a wildcard to consider although expectations aren't that high, Greipel has his power but positioning is rough for him and he's had a bad crash yesterday, and finally a mention to Sonny Colbrelli.
Prediction Time
⭐ Viviani, Nizzolo, Mezgec, Trentin, Coquard
Going for a Sam Bennett win, he was there in stage one but I reckon the day took a toll on him, tomorrow should be a more normal sprint, he has the leadout and I'm sure he has the legs, Ewan isn't looking good and the others will have to count on luck to take a win but not the Irish!
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