Tim Merlier won the bunch sprint on stage three in Dunkerque, on a dramatic day that saw the abandon of the Green Jersey Jasper Philipsen. Inside the final 60km with the intermediate sprint, the race sparked into life, Jasper Philipsen crashed hard and was forced to to abandon the race. Jonathan Milan took maximum points at the sprint, with his intention ahead of the finale.
"It was a really hard battle, it was difficult to be in position. The team did a good job until the last five K, then the real casino starts. It was really difficult to find position. At 2Km I fought back from behind to be in position. I was always in wind."
-Tim Merlier
"To be honest, every time when I hear behind me crashes, my heart rate goes to 300, so I felt super sorry for the guys who crashed, including Philipsen. It's not nice to see someone crash, especially at super high speed, and I'm super happy to finish safe today. In one moment, I really realised I thought today, if I finish safe, I will be happy. I was almost close to stopping pedalling because it's super hard. I had not idea what was going on today, I'm happy just to finish safe.
-Biniam Girmay
"Everyone was fresh, and everyone was fighting. If you're a lead-out man, you want to do a good job for your sprinter. If you're a sprinter, you want to finish the job that everyone does for you. Maybe I'm just old now and see the danger more, but just... chill."
-Geraint Thomas
Biniam Girmay in second place for the green jersey of TdF after three days.
Green Jersey Classification:
1. Jonathan Milan: 81 pts
2. Biniam Girmay: 77 pts
3. Tim Merlier: 63 pts
Tim Wellens in polka dots!
Look back...
Greg LeMond conquers stage 13 Pau-Superbagneres 1986 TdF
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