Bauhaus third, Philipsen out
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By Guido Scholl
07.07.2025 | (RSN)-Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick-Step) won the 3rd stage of the Tour de France in the mass sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious). In a stage final characterized by falls, the European champion jumped past the Italian shortly before the finish in Dunkirchen, who continues to wait for his first day of the day on the tour of France. For Merlier it was the second stage victory after 2021. Even then he had won the 3rd stage.
Sören Waerenskjold (UN X X Mobility) and Pavel Bittner (Pinic – Postnl) lined up in places four and five. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché – Wanty) became sixth and thus missed the takeover of the green jerseys that went to Milan. However, the Lidl Trek professional benefited from the fall-related departure of Jasper Philipsen’s (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who had seriously fell at the intermediate sprint 60 kilometers before the finish and was taken to the hospital with a shoulder injury.
“It was a really hard struggle. The positioning was very difficult today. I lost Bert (Van Lerberghe, but the team did a fantastic job,” Merlier described the hectic final. He had to fight over two kilometers to work forward on his own, only 500 meters before the finish he had gone shade again. Sprints, it’s always difficult to hit him. ”
Wellens drives into the mountain jersey
The ranks seven to ten occupied cades groves (Alpecin – Deceuninck), Pascal Ackernann (Israel – Premier Tech), Amaury Capiot (Arkea – B&B Hotels) and Alberto Dainese (Tudor). Danny van Poppel (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe), originally driven as a eighth over the finish line, was relegated.
Mathieu van der Poel defended his yellow jersey in the long time of existence 178.3 kilometers between Valenciennes and Dunkirk. In the other places there are unchanged Tadej Pogacar (UAE – Emirates – XRG, +0: 04 seconds), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease A Bike, +0: 06), Kévin Vauquelin (Arkea – B & B Hotels, +0: 10) and Matteo Jorgson (Visma – Lease A Bike, +0: 10). The best German in the overall ranking is still the overturned Emanuel Buchmann (Cofidis, +0: 49), who is anticipated in position ten.
The mountain jersey took over Tim Wellens, who was the only outlier of the day shortly before the Cote de Cassel (4th category) and secured the mountain point there. So he is now on par with his captain Pogacar. However, the Belgian champion bears the special jersey because of the larger number of climbing ratings obtained. In the youth classification, Kévin Vauquelin (Arkea – B&B Hotels) kept the lead ahead of Joe Blackmore (Israel – Premier Tech, +0: 31) and Oscar Onley (Picnic – Postnl, +0: 39). Groupama – FDJ stayed in front of Visma – Lease A Bike at the top of the team class. The Dutch are 31 seconds behind the French team. Alpecin – Deceuninck continues to rank third with a distance of two minutes.
So the 3. stage of the Tour de France 2025 ran:
After the sharp start was delayed by a few minutes, among other things because Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers) had a defect during the neutralization, the drivers also hesitated with attacks after Christian Prudhomme swung the yellow flag. Apparently the tour participants feared the headwind. In addition, the chances of a successful escape were hardly available.
The profile of the 3rd stage of the Tour de France | Photo: Asso
It was only after 20 kilometers that the peloton took up by the Alpecin – Deceuninck team. However, an outlier group did not form. Jonathan Milan won the intermediate sprint 60.1 kilometers before the finish line ahead of Paul Penhoet (Groupama – FDJ) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin – DeceUninck). But much more decisive: Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) brought down the man in green, Jasper Philipsen, after a collision with Laurenz Rex (Interarché – Wanty). The Belgian fell on the right shoulder and had to give up the race. Coquard was able to keep on the bike with a lot of skill – however, Philipsen’s front wheel left a burn on the Frenchman’s calf, which also bought a knee injury.
A further fall further in the field occurred 38 kilometers before the finish. However, all those affected were able to continue the race. Then Tim Wellens (UAE – Emirates – XRG) sat down to secure the only mountain point of the day at the Cote de Cassel (4th category). This took the lead in this special rating. The Belgian champion made no appearances to continue the escape afterwards, despite the windows of the two minutes driven out. So the field rolled towards the destination.
On the way there there were two more falls. One of them occurred on the three-kilometer mark. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick -Step), who brewed slight injuries to the arm, was also involved in it. However, none of the favorites lost time because of the five-kilometer rule. The second happened to the last 500 meters.
Picnic – Postnl brought Pavel Bittner to a great position in the absolute final, but Milan sprinted past him with ease and looked like the safe winner. On the last few meters, Merlier fought himself past the Italian with the highest final speed of everyone.