Stage 3

The road

At the start

Four Jumbo men in the top five

Jumbo-Visma won the team time trial by twenty seconds and now fill four of the top five places, Teunissen still in yellow, with Bernal and Thomas half a minute down. Today is a stage of two halves: flat and open to the wind as far as the French border, then four categorised climbs in the last forty kilometres to Épernay, the twelve-per-cent Côte de Mutigny fifteen out and a fifteen-per-cent ramp to the line.

How it was won

1. 148 km to go

   Wellens goes it alone

   With 48km to go Tim Wellens attacks his breakaway companions and holds close to two minutes over the narrow, twisting Champagne climbs.

2. 220 km to go

   The bunch thins on the Champillon

   Astana and Bora lift the tempo over the Côte de Champillon; the pure sprinters are shelled and overnight leader Teunissen dangles off the back.

3. 315 km to go

   Alaphilippe attacks the Mutigny

   Near the summit of the Côte de Mutigny, 15km out, Julian Alaphilippe launches a bold, decisive solo move; even Egan Bernal cannot respond. He catches the last escapee Wellens and kicks again over the top.

4. 4At the line

   Alaphilippe wins in yellow

   Despite Ineos and Jumbo hauling the gap toward 30 seconds, Alaphilippe holds on to win in Épernay and pull on the first yellow jersey of his career, celebrating wildly.

The result