Stage 3

The road

At the start

Three countries, one uphill finish

Marcel Kittel took the tenth Tour stage win of his career in Liège, and Geraint Thomas keeps yellow with Froome sixth at twelve seconds. Today starts in Belgium, crosses Luxembourg and ends in France, 212 kilometres over six categorised climbs. The last is the Côte des Religieuses, a ramp to eleven per cent inside the final two kilometres up to the citadel at Longwy — a finish for Sagan, or Matthews, or Dan Martin.

How it was won

1. 115 km to go

   Splitting before Longwy

   The late Côte de Villers-la-Montagne stretches the peloton as the sprinters brace for the uphill finale.

2. 210 km to go

   Last man caught

   Lilian Calmejane, the final survivor of the day’s break, is reeled in with 10km to go by a ruthless peloton.

3. 32 km to go

   Sagan’s slip

   On the vicious 11% ramp inside the final 1.6km, Peter Sagan surges — his foot slips from the pedal, but he keeps his composure and re-accelerates.

4. 4At the line

   Sagan wins in Longwy

   Peter Sagan powers past Michael Matthews on the Côte des Religieuses to win the uphill sprint in Longwy, Dan Martin third.

The result