Tour de France: UAE Team Emirates Tadej Pogacar hits out at crashes on Stage 3

Belgian Tim Merlier won a crash-littered third stage of the Tour de France on Monday — the second in three days — from Lorient to Pontivy, as two of the favourites to win the race, Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic, were left licking their wounds after coming down heavily in separate incidents.

Merlier of Alpecin-Fenix led a team one-two ahead of compatriot Jasper Philipsen in a sprint also marred by a crash in which pre-stage favourite Caleb Ewan hit the deck in the final metres and slid along the tarmac on his back. France’s Nacer Bouhanni came third.

Slovenian Roglic, second in Paris last year, crossed the line more than one minute 21 seconds off the pace and almost one minute behind UAE Team Emirates’ defending champion Tadej Pogacar who was involved in another separate crash.

While Pogacar potentially gained an advantage, he was first to hit out at the concerning number of crashes.

“It wasn’t a nice day out there. We saw too many guys go down again and it was really hectic. I heard some of my rivals crashed and lost time, but it’s not what we want to see. These first days have been really stressful and we hope it calms down soon.”

Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.

“In a finale like this, we’ve got general classification guys fighting against sprinters, it’s a dangerous sport,” Van der Poel said. “Danger is everywhere.”

Richard Carapaz was the best placed of the pre-race favourites as he was with the leading group alongside France’s Julian Alaphilippe.

UAE’s Pogacar was 26 seconds behind in a group that also featured 2018 champion Geraint Thomas, who hurt his shoulder when he crashed on a wet road 37km into the stage.

“Geraint Thomas is going for an ultrasound now, having suffered a dislocated shoulder in his crash. It was put back in on the scene by the race doctors. A full update will follow later,” Ineos-Grenadiers sports director Gabriel Rasch told reporters.

The most affected appeared to be Roglic, who fell hard on his left side 10km from the line, sustaining bruises on his left leg and shoulder.

Roglic is also going to have a scan on a sore coccyx, his Jumbo-Visma team sports director Frans Maassen said

In the overall standings, Van der Poel leads Alaphilippe, who could set his sights on a podium finish in Paris, by eight seconds, with 2019 Giro d’Italia champion Carapaz in third place 31 seconds behind the leader.

Pogacar is sixth, 39 seconds behind Van der Poel, with Thomas 1:07 off the pace and Roglic a further 28 seconds behind him.

Tuesday’s fourth stage, a 150.4-km ride between Redon and Fougeres, should again favour the sprinters.