The Mur de Bretagne delivered and the yellow jersey has switched hands, as in both ascents Mathieu van der Poel attacked for bonus seconds and saw Pogacar second on both sprints. The final ascent had a brutal pace for positioning, there were some attacks before the final 500 meters but only when the Dutchman move did the race blow up completely, with an explosive attack leading to a massive solo win and the leadership of the race aswell. Pogacar beat Roglic to the second place sprint, alongside Kelderman they won a couple seconds on the main GC group.
Positive: Van der Poel winning and moving into the lead, Pogacar and Roglic winning some more seconds on the competition.
Negative: Thomas loosing 15 seconds on the GC group, not crucial but not a good sign. Out of the GC contenders Richie Porte and Lucas Hamilton also shed some more time. Matthews was expected but missed out on some crucial points.
The Route
Stage 3 should be the race's first bunch sprint, still in the roads of Bretagne it'll be a largely flat day with few obstacles for those looking to focus on the win, the day will be all about the fast finish that's set to happen in Pontivy. There will be a slight descent leading up to the final kilometers which will surely be quite dangerous judging how these initial stages have been, hopefully everyone makes it through and we have a safe finale.
It's not a very technical one, it will be tricky though as this is the first time the pure sprinter leadouts will be firing all cylinders and it can get very dangerous with some downhill kilometers aproaching the town and some technical features just outside the 2Km to go mark. If everyone manages to go unscathed though they should make it to the line safely, a 90º turn with 1.5Km to go will put the riders in the finishing straight that is quite wide.
The Weather
It's not set to be a pleasant day, rain is also on the forecast and it is very likely to be part of the finale making it even more dangerous. Besides there will be a northern breeze throughout the day, not massive but will be felt, surely no-one will actually want to be in the breakaway, it may make a difference in the final sprint as it should have a headwind if the buildings don't block it.
The Favourites
This is going to be a very dangerous and stressful end to the stage there's no hiding it. There are countless sprinters who can win this one for one, secondly it's the first sprint stage so everyone will be fresh and thinking they have the legs to win it, and most importantly the GC teams will absolutely be fighting hard to be in front for the descent. All of this with the likely wet descent included will lead to a very tricky finale where big risks will be taken. The leadouts will have to be used very well, priority must be stay in front instead of following teammates. Whoever has teammates with 1.5Km to go may use them to get to the front, but the headwind sprint also means that being in the absolute front in the final corner isn't crucial. Nonetheless it's the first sprint of the race, so as I usually do, here are the leadouts to watch out for:
Caleb Ewan - Jasper de Buyst - Roger Kluge - Tosh van der Sande
Tim Merlier - Jasper Philipsen - Jonas Rickaert - Silvan Dillier
Arnaud Démare - Jacopo Guarnieri - Miles Scotson - Stefan Kung
Mark Cavendish - Michael Morkov - Davide Ballerini - Kasper Asgreen
Cees Bol - Casper Pedersen - Nils Eekhoff - Joris Nieuwenhuis
Mads Pedersen - Edward Theuns - Jasper Stuyven
Wout van Aert - Mike Teunissen
Peter Sagan - Daniel Oss - Nils Politt - Lukas Postlberger
I wouldn't expect to see them in control of the final sprint as they aren't bringing in top leadouts however you could expect something to come out of the likes of Nacer Bouhanni and Danny van Poppel who have been riding quite actively so far, and also Andre Greipel who shouldn't enjoy the dangerous finale but still has quite a brilliant max power.
Furthermore you've got some sprinters who would prefer some climbing on the route but will have to settle with what they get. Michael Matthews will have to be there in order to keep his points classification aspirations alive, as for riders like Sonny Colbrelli, Christophe Laporte and Bryan Coquard they'll have to hope for some luck to be in the top places with such competition.
Inside the Bus
This morning I talk to...
#91 Guillaume Martin - Guillaume the plan is plain and simple for today, stay in the backend of the peloton. It's going to be dangerous out there, no place for you, GC is also not the goal so don't be shy of loosing some seconds, no need to be spending unnecessary energy here, the guys will take care of Christophe.
#186 Hugo Houle - Stay near the front with the guys Hugo, Alex isn't strong enough for the sprint and we aren't yet sure what Jakob will be doing later on in the race, so no need to go crazy within the sharks, stay with them in the middle of the pack, make sure Jakob stays safe and if there's any opportunity for Alex to try and fight it out for the win give him a hand.
#225 Cyril Gautier - Easy day today Cyril, Bryan will be seeing if he finds his way in the sprint but you can stay towards the back, better days will come.
Prediction Time
⭐ WV.Aert, Bouhanni, van Poppel, Greipel, Laporte
No jokes I see Mark Cavendish win tomorrow. Deceuninck are just about the best leadout out here, of course the competition is very big, but in Michael Morkov at least he should find a perfect wheel to navigate the brutal final kilometers, and the other reason for this pick is the final straight which should feature a headwind which will favour the likes of Cavendish and Ewan, but I don't think the Australian will be in contention for the stage taking into acount the risks that will need to be taken.
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