From Calm to Carnage on Stage 3 - Domestique Debrief

The final stage of the Lille-Nord de France Grand Départ saw yet more drama, multiple crashes, and significant withdrawals. Despite a lack of action in the crosswinds which briefly suggested themselves, the nerves kicked in with around 65 kilometres to go, after the early the first two-thirds of the race passed without incident. From there, the tension ramped up dramatically, ensuring that the final section of the race would be fraught with dangers and marred by numerous crashes.

As we've seen in the past, particularly at the Tour de France, quiet sprint stages all too often explode into chaos, as the smiles, waves and good-natured chit-chat of a long, flat parcours gives way to sudden panic.

Three major crashes reshaped the race on yesterday's stage, particularly the competition for the green jersey, with former leader Jasper Philipsen being taken out in an early crash at the intermediate sprint point, followed by two later crashes on the run into the final sprint. Casualties included Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana), and Emilien Jeanniere (TotalEnergies). 

It was yet another unpleasant reminder of the dangers of the sport, dangers we see all too often these days, particularly when teams are under so much pressure, just as they are at the Tour de France, with every team desperate to score a coveted stage win, whether to please sponsors, gain UCI points, or simply to add to their own palmares. The resulting tension in the bunch causes chaos as no-one dares to give an inch, and the slightest deviations are compounded by the incredibly high speeds, and exacerbated in some cases by course design, as was the case with the chicane that caused the final crash on today's stage, coming with around 300m remaining on the stage - once again, a seemingly unnecessary hazard that could have had even more serious consequences.

As discussed in an earlier feature while it's fair to continue to include stages for sprinters, the appetite for this style of flat stage seems to be diminishing - with no fight for the breakaway, no combativity prize was awarded yesterday, with teams happy to sit back and allow the day to go to the sprinters. The resulting stress is good for no-one however, and perhaps it's worth considering what value stages such as this really add to Grand Tours, when other more tantalising - and less dangerous - alternatives exist.

Despite leading the charge through the five kilometre to go mark, Remco Evenepoel slipped out of position at the wrong moment and was impacted by the ripple effect from the crash of Meeus and Pithie. The world ITT champ was seen rubbing his left hip and elbow, and looked out of sorts, consoled by Roglič, as the pair of podium contenders continue to suffer from less than auspicious starts at this Tour de France.

Quickstep went on to redeem their day with a second victory at the Tour for Tim Merlier, after he went head-to-head with Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) in a battle for supremacy, one which may foreshadow the fight for the green jersey that unfolds from here on out, particularly in the wake of the loss of Philipsen from the race.

The intermediate sprint was a mess, but either everyone was to blame for Jasper Philipsen's crash, or no-one was. 

Keyboard warriors took to social media to vent their anger at Bryan Coquard of Cofidis, who lost control of his bike and caused Philipsen to fall, but the critics apparently failing to take note of the chain of events that led to the ultimate outcome. While the UCI saw fit to punish Coquard with a yellow card, and a sorrowful Coquard himself apologised for the incident, Philipsen's boss, Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Christoph Roodhooft, was more pragmatic, stating 'it's not about blaming, it's just a stupid crash. I think bad things happen sometimes.”

Watch the incident multiple times and you can see the ripple effect which shifts its way back through the small group of sprinters in a split second. A slight drift to the right from Hugo Page causes a brief pause in the pedalling of Simone Consonni, triggering Jonathan Milan to go round his lead-out and launch his sprint, which presses Coquard into Laurenz Rex who leans in to hold his own space. 

It's a racing incident, rather than anyone being at fault - it's a horrible outcome and not what anyone wants to see, but apportioning blame in this scenario feels unwarranted, unnecessary, and ultimately doesn't benefit anyone.

Tim Wellens was the ultimate domestique for his team today - and he'll wear the maillot à pois tomorrow for his troubles. The newly-minted Belgian champion took the King of the Mountain jersey after going solo ahead of the day's only categorised climb, Mont Cassel, to take the single available point, thus wresting control of the polka dot jersey from his team leader, Tadej Pogačar. Why is this good news? Well, in doing so, Wellens removed all post-race responsibilities from Pogačar, who undoubtedly would have been enjoying his extra half an hour or so relaxing in the team bus while Wellens got to enjoy the fruits of his labour, serving podium duties in Pogi's stead.

It's a win-win situation for the team, relieving Pogačar of duty while retaining a prestigious special jersey, one which may end up with a team anyway as the race continues.

Alpecin-Deceuninck have played a blinder in the race thus far, winning both of the first two stages and taking both yellow and green, it was looking like a case of job well done for the Belgian team, who proved that dialling in on specific goals could pay dividends. 

However, with Philipsen out of the race with a broken collarbone, the team's focus must now shift to Kaden Groves in the sprints, proving the usefulness of their strategy of bringing two top sprinters. Yesterday the shift wasn't quick enough, with Groves out of position when van der Poel launched his lead-out which ultimately proved fruitless - but there are many more chances remaining for Groves to grab a golden opportunity to take his first Tour de France stage win.

It could also throw pressure back onto van der Poel to contest the green jersey, a competition which he has previously said he wasn't interested in. However, with Philipsen's departure and plenty more stages suited to the Dutch powerhouse, perhaps there is a world in which van der Poel reconsiders and takes one for the team. Two of the next four stages suit his capabilities perfectly, not to mention a unique, punchy final in Paris that is bound to appeal to him. It's hard to imagine that the prospect of fighting for such a coveted prize will not be tempting for the former world champion.

On a day in which many sprinters were caught out in crashes, it was close, but not close enough for Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain-Victorious and Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), finishing third and fourth on the stage. The two sprinters arrived just behind the current in-form fast men, which bodes well for the rest of the race; as we saw yesterday, anything really can happen, and simply ensuring you're up at the front of the race promises hope for anyone with the legs.

Outside of these two, Picnic-PostNL positioned Pavel Bittner well, and Paul Penhoët also looked to be in the right place at the right time, at least until he was wiped out by the late crash, which ended in him walking his bike over the line. These guys are all worth keeping an eye on in future fast finishes.