Tour de France 2025: stage three from Valenciennes to Dunkirk
Date: 2025-07-07T10:22:50.000Z
Title: Stage two: Valenciennes to Dunkirk, 178km
Content: Here's a look at today's stage, Monday 7 July: Valenciennes to Dunkirk, 178.3km, with William Fotheringham's preview:
A third very accessible day for UK fans, another ascent of Cassel, but the safe money is on a bunch sprint in Dunkirk, famed among cycling fans for the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque stage race which actually lasts six days. The same proviso as day one: a westerly equals crosswinds on the final exposed 35km and splits in the field. These early days will be packed with crashes and tension, but Philipsen and company will be licking their lips.
Also, you can look ahead to every stage with this handy guide:
Update:
Date: 2025-07-07T10:17:05.000Z
Title: Preamble
Content: Welcome back to the Guardian's Tour de France 2025 live blog! Join me for coverage of stage three – the flattest of the entire race this year. The 178.3km route from Valenciennes to Dunkirk features just one category four climb and 800m of elevation gain. The rollout is expected at 1.10pm CEST (12.10pm BST) and the finish should be about 5.18pm CEST (4.18pm BST) – although often the peloton go faster than the predicted speeds.
Does that mean it'll be boring? Hopefully not. I think it'll be fast and, possibly, furious. The GC contenders will be vying to stay out of trouble, while the sprinters will have their eyes set on a stage win. There's a prediction of windy conditions too, which could cause a bit of tension in the peloton.
So, who might ride to victory today? Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) is a firm favourite with pundits, but it'll be worth keeping an eye on Ineos Grenadiers' Sam Watson with him having triumphed at the Four Days of Dunkirk stage race in May. Other sprinters looking to contest a sprint finish? Obviously there's stage one winner, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), as well as Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula), Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty). Although the latter might be feeling sore after a crash on yesterday's stage. I would love to hear your predictions so please email me your thoughts.
While we wait for the live TV coverage to kick off, here's Jeremy Whittle's stage two race report from Boulogne-sur-Mer:
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