Watch: Tour de France stage 3 highlights
Jasper Philipsen sprints to victory on first flat stage of race
Matilda Price
Racing News Editor
After two hilly days in the Basque Country, stage 3 brought the first flatter profile of this year's Tour de France as the race crossed back into France on Monday.
The day's breakaway was made up of polka dot jersey Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), hoping to extend his lead in the mountains classification, and Laurent Pichon (Arkéa Samsic) who held on valiantly to claim the combativity prize before he was inevitably caught.
Going into the finale, it was a nervous finish as the sprint teams navigated the technical run-in but eventually it was Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who crossed the line first ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny).
It took some time for the Belgian's win to be officially confirmed as the jury reviewed a slight squeeze he enacted on Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in the final few hundred metres, but eventually Philipsen was named as the stage 3 victor.
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