PARIS – Belgian Tim Merlier won the third stage of the Tour de France, a 182.9-km ride from Lorient, as two of the favourites to win the race, Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic, suffered heavy crashes.
The Alpecin-Fenix rider led a team one-two ahead of compatriot Jasper Philipsen in a crash-marred sprint that saw pre-stage favourite Caleb Ewan hit the deck in the final metres.
France’s Nacer Bouhanni came home third, Reuters reported.
Slovenian Roglic, who finished second in Paris last year, crossed the line more than one minute off the pace as defending champion Tadej Pogacar ended almost 30 seconds behind the stage winner after being involved in a separate crash.
“In a finale like this, we’ve got GC (general classification) guys fighting against sprinters, it’s a dangerous sport,” Van der Poel told reporters.
Richard Carapaz was the best placed of the pre-race favourites as he was with the leading group alongside France’s Julian Alaphilippe.
Slovenian 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’s post-stage scan and x-ray were clear and we can confirm he has not suffered a fracture in his right shoulder. He will be reassessed in the morning before stage four,” Ineos-Grenadiers said in a statement later on Monday evening.
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.
“Luckily we saw (from the x-ray) that everything is still in one piece, nothing broken,” said Roglic.
“Not the best day for us but we go on. It was super stressful.”
Roglic is also going to have a scan on a sore coccyx, his Jumbo-Visma team sports director Frans Maassen told reporters.
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.
“It wasn’t a nice day out there. We saw too many crashes again and it was really hectic,” said Pogacar.
“When I crossed the line I didn’t know how much time I had lost. 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.”
Tuesday’s fourth stage, a 150.4-km ride between Redon and Fougeres, should again favour the sprinters.
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