We are three days into the 2021 Tour de France and already there have been plenty of fireworks as the peloton has thrashed its way around Brittany.
Saturday and Sunday saw Julian Alaphilippe and Mathieu van der Poel each take yellow with brilliant late solo attacks, while Monday’s opening sprint stage failed to live up to predictions that it could be a more sedate affair.
Crash Drama Overshadows Stage Three
However, late crashes split the bunch and there was plenty for the commissars to work through after Tim Merlier had taken the sprint, in which favourite Caleb Ewan was brought down by Peter Sagan.
Behind them, Van der Poel kept hold of yellow, defending champion Tadej Pogacar dropped to sixth and rival Primoz Roglic fell to 20th, while Geraint Thomas, who crashed earlier in the day, actually gained two spots to move up to 18th.
Meanwhile, his Ineos Grenadiers colleague Richard Carapaz rose to third to give him a slight advantage over his fellow general classification hopefuls on a stage that Pogacar afterwards described as “war”.
Expect More Control on Tuesday
Another sprint looks set to be on the agenda for Tuesday’s 150.4km cycle from Redon to Fougeres.
After all that’s happened, expect a semi-truce within the bunch and a collective desire for everyone to make it in on a day with little climbing to speak of.
At the time of writing, Green Jersey favourite Ewan was still to finish Monday’s stage so may be out of the picture as far as the win in Fougeres goes.
Merlier showed his form by winning on Monday and Van Der Poel’s determination to set him up demonstrates the type of form the Belgian is in. Nacer Bouhanni, who finished third on stage three may also be one to watch as he looks to finally break his duck in his home tour, as could fellow Frenchman Arnaud Demare.
Get Ready For the Weekend
The first real shake-up of the 2021 Tour is likely to come over the weekend. Wednesday’s time-trial will maybe see a few of the general classification favourites drop a few seconds but with it being just 27.2km, nothing too significant is expected, with Van der Poel in with a real chance of retaining yellow.
An update from @rogla
Normally he can start in stage 4 tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/4bFW1NMuBA
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) June 28, 2021
Friday sees the longest stage of the race as the peloton travels 249.1km to Le Creusot on a day that features this year’s first Category 2 climb and while gruelling, is unlikely to result in huge gaps.
However, Saturday’s route features three Category One climbs as the riders head into the Alps for the first of two painful days.
While Saturday will give any stragglers over the top of the final climb, the Col de La Colombiere, the chance to close due to the final eight kilometres all being downhill, Sunday’s first mountain top finish to Tignes sees the peloton end the day 2,107km above altitude.
Pogacar won the final stage before the first rest day last year and he and his rivals are sure to duel again.