Pogacar wins Tour de France stage 3 in Les Angles, takes yellow jersey from Vingegaard
Tadej Pogacar outsprinted Jonas Vingegaard to win the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday, claiming the overall lead by the slimmest of margins after a tie on time.
Stage victory and the yellow jersey
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) won the 195.9 km third stage from Granollers to Les Angles, attacking with 200 metres to go on the final climb. He crossed the line two seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), with Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) in the same time. The victory moved Pogacar into the yellow jersey, tied on overall time with Vingegaard but ahead on the sum of stage placings.
It wasn't really the plan to go for the stage win today.
Yates, a UAE teammate, underlined that the team had not targeted the stage, yet Isaac Del Toro's fierce pace-setting on the final ascent set up Pogacar perfectly.
How the stage unfolded
An 18-rider breakaway animated the early kilometres, with Mads Pedersen collecting points for the green jersey. Arnaud De Lie was dropped early and rode alone against the time cut. On the Col de Toses the escape thinned; French riders Alex Baudin and Nicolas Prodhomme proved the most resilient. Baudin led over the Col du Calvaire before being reeled in. UAE Emirates XRG then took control, bringing a compact peloton into the final 10 km.
- An 18-rider breakaway forms, with Mads Pedersen collecting green-jersey points.
- The breakaway thins; Alex Baudin and Nicolas Prodhomme emerge as the strongest.
- Baudin leads over the summit before being caught by the peloton.
- UAE Emirates XRG takes control, setting a high tempo on the approach to Les Angles.
- Pogacar launches his sprint and wins by two seconds.
Evenepoel and the other contenders
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) finished eighth, four seconds down, and remains third overall at 23 seconds. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) took sixth in the same four-second group, while Florian Lipowitz placed seventh. Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) was twelfth at 12 seconds.
- Tadej Pogacar
- 0 seconds
- Jonas Vingegaard
- 2 seconds
- Richard Carapaz
- 2 seconds
- Paul Seixas
- 2 seconds
- Lennert Van Eetvelt
- 4 seconds
- Remco Evenepoel
- 4 seconds
Uijtdebroeks ill and losing time
Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar), who targets a top-10 finish, conceded nearly three and a half minutes after struggling with a fever that began on Sunday. He finished 27th on the stage.
When you're not healthy, it's difficult. But I fought. I have a fever since yesterday. When you have that, it costs a lot of energy. I'm just not well and I feel a bit dizzy, among other things.
A muted return to France
The Tour's arrival on French soil was marked by a scaled-back caravan and subdued festivities because of a wildfire burning in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. Organisers deployed a lighter logistical footprint to avoid disrupting emergency operations.
